Chinese Manichaeism

Manichaeism was introduced into China during the Tang dynasty through Central Asian communities[8] and was regarded as an improper form of Buddhism by the Tang authorities. Although religions of the Western peoples (including those of Bactria and Sogdia) were not outlawed, they were prohibited from spreading among the native Chinese population. However, Manichaeism was a popular faith in northern China during the Tang dynasty.[9]

Fragment from a Manichaean text depicting a "Sermon Scene" in the Uyghur-Manichaean style

The north-western Uyghur Khaganate learned of Manichaeism from Sogdian foreigners. After the Khagan Bögü Qaghan (759–780) held a three-day discussion with members of the Manichaean clergy, he converted to the religion in 763. Manichaeism subsequently became the official religion of the Khaganate, prompting the Babylonian headquarters of Manichaeism to send high-ranking clerics to the north-western Uyghur territory.[10][11] Due to the peace between the Uyghurs and Han populations during this time, the Tang government relaxed its restraints on Manichaeism, allowing it to flourish with monasteries built by the Uyghurs in places such as Shaoxing, Yangzhou, Nanjing, and Jingzhou, with the first being built in 768.[10]

The years of prosperity for Manichaeism came to an end in the wake of the Kyrgyz's defeat of the Uyghur Khaganate in 840 and a rising resentment for non-Chinese foreigners. Manichaeism was officially banned and persecuted through the suppression of non-Chinese religions started by the Emperor Wuzong of Tang in 843. During that year, the Tang dynasty government confiscated all of the property belonging to the Manichaean monasteries, destroyed the temples, burnt their scriptures, laicized or killed the clergy, and specifically executed seventy Manichaean nuns in Chang'an.[11]

Instead of their traditional clothing, the Manichaean priests were ordered to wear the hanfu, as the typical attire of Manichaeism was deemed un-Chinese. In some cases, the Manichaeans were ordered by Tang authorities to dress like Buddhist monks and, also since Manichaean priests were known for their long hair, they were forced to have their heads shaven. Over half of the Manichaean population is estimated to have been killed due to Emperor Wuzong's Great Anti-Buddhist Persecution.[12] Two years after the persecution began, a total ban on foreign relations caused Manichaeism to hide underground, from which it has never regained its past prominence.[10]

Detail of the Yuan-era Manichaean Diagram of the Universe silk painting

Though they participated in rebellions against the government during the Song dynasty, the Chinese Manichaeans were continually stamped down by the successive Chinese dynasties, with the Confucian authorities of the Song era disregarding the local Manichaeans as “vegetarian demon-worshippers" (Chinese: 吃菜事魔).[13] During this time, they had a "holy book" that discussed the natures of light and dark, as well as the past, present, and future, which were viewed as separate "worlds".[14]

Manichaeans of this era were buried naked, "would not touch liquor...[,] eat meat, [and would not consume] milk and cheese" and did not worship Buddha.[14]

Their fortunes changed during the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty, where the religion enjoyed a stable existence while the Sakya sect of Tibetan Buddhism served as the ‘’de facto’’ state religion of the Yuan.[15] Two elaborate silk paintings survive from this era: Manichaean Diagram of the Universe and Sermon on Mani's Teaching of Salvation. These works provide an insight into Yuan-era cosmology of Chinese Manichaeism.

Manichaeism survived among the population and had a profound influence on the tradition of the Chinese salvationist religions, integrating with the Maitreyan beliefs such as the White Lotus Sect.[16]

Chinese Manichaeism took inspiration from Taoism as well as forms of Buddhism including Chinese Buddhism.[9]

Due to the rise of the Ming dynasty, the name for Manichaeism, Mingjiao, was seen as offensive to the Emperor, so it received particular persecution.[15]

During and after the 14th century, some Chinese Manichaeans involved themselves with the Pure Land school of Mahayana Buddhism in southern China. Those Manichaeans practiced their rituals so closely alongside the Mahayana Buddhists that over the years the two sects became indistinguishable.[1] The Cao'an temple in Fujian stands as an example this synthesis, as a statue of the "Buddha of Light" is thought to be a representation of the prophet Mani.[17]

Cao'an ("Thatched Hut") in Jinjiang, Quanzhou, Fujian.

In modern China, Manichaean groups are still active in southern provinces, especially in Quanzhou and the rest of Fujian[18] and around the Cao'an, the most noted Manichaean temple that has survived until today.[19][20]

Today, rituals conducted for the Lin Deng 林瞪 (1003–1059), a Chinese Manichaean leader who lived during the Song dynasty, are still conducted in the three villages of Baiyang 柏洋村, Shangwan 上万村, and Tahou 塔后村 in Baiyang Township, Xiapu County, Fujian.[21]

Qianku in Cangnan County, Zhejiang was an ancient center of Manichaeism, one of the last surviving temples, and to this day continues to have traditions on the 1st and 15th days of the lunar month, where many locals perform the following:[20]

• Eat vegetarian food on those days. The dishes served are mainly pickles, green vegetables, shiitake mushrooms, fungus, day lily, etc. Any miscellaneous food including animal oils and so on.
• Burning incense and worshipping on those days
• Avoiding using feces or urine for fertilizer on those days. In the 1980s-1990s the peasants placed the urine bucket on the side of the road to make it convenient for passers-by. If it is almost full, it must be disposed of early. Especially on the day before the first and fifteenth day of the new year, the inspection must be carried out. If it is a little full, it must be processed in advance, and rainy days are no exception.
• People avoid travel on these days; however, this norm is fading
• People often choose these days as auspicious days to plan events, doctor's appointments, opening businesses, and marrying. This approach is costly and time-consuming. In the past, some people in the Qianku area used to have a catchphrase: "You don't need to turn over the books on the first and fifteenth day of the middle school."

There is a custom of fishermen eating three bites of white rice a day. These three bites of white rice represent vegetarian meals for three meals a day. This is similar to the welcoming activity of the Manichaeans worshipping Lin Peng in Xiapu, where farmers used three small cups of white rice to worship the gods.[20]

There is also the custom of wearing plain white clothes to honor the dead among the people in the Qianku area. This is the relic of the Manichaean believers' custom of white clothes and white crowns.[20]

There is also a strong veneration of the Sun and the Moon, which are often called the Sunlight Buddha and Moonlight Buddha by locals.[20]