Comparative Research In Manichaean Documents Discovered In Duanhuang And Xiapu County

Manichaeism is a religion from Persia,founded in the third century AD,named for its founder Mani.It was translated initially into Chinese as Mo Ni Jiao(???),Ming Jiao(??)and so on.Among all kinds of Manichaean classical documents of different languages,the three kinds of Manichaean literatures in Chinese that early China scholars concerned themselves with were unearthed in Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes:The treatise;The Compendium of the Doctrines and Styles of the Teaching of Mani,the Buddha of Light;The Chinese Hymnscroll.In 2008,a large number of Manichaeism ruins,relics,documents were found in Xiapu County.These documents include mainly Mani the Buddha of Light,Xing Fu Zhu Qing Dan Ke,Le Shan Tang Shen Ji,Ming Fu Qing Fo Wen and so on.Although most of them have not been published in public,some experts and scholars have mentioned them in many published papers.The author had the chance to see some of the photos.In this paper,taking Mani the Buddha of Light as the main research object,according to the photos and by the use of Chinese linguistics and philology,textual criticism,science of religion and other multi-disciplinary knowledge,the author made an initial attempt to textual collating and recording on it firstly.Making a contrast between it and Dunhuang Chinese Manichaean literatures is the main research thinking in this paper.Mani the Buddha of Light has important academic value as follows:it can help us to corroborate scholars' corrections on Manichaeism Chinese literature in Dunhuang,to collate characters of The Chinese Hymnscroll,to solve disputes such as the Manichaean afferent pathway and the Manichaean extinction time and the punctuations in "Firstly:Light-Venerableness",to clarificate doubts around what Shishi refers to in "Shishi Fa",to supplement the material of Mani's birth from Dunhuang and of other Chinese sources,to clarify the relationship among Ming Jiao Wen Fo,Da Ming and Ming Jiao,and to understand the true meaning of "blood food".In addition,the concept of "Zhen Ming" suggests that we think new propositions in the study of Manicheism.Compared with the Dunhuang literature,there are a lot of same or similar words and sentences in Mani the Buddha of Light,supplemented by the same or similar use of palindrome and characters of handwriting.Taking consideration of the verse of the Song Dynasty in Mani the Buddha of Light and the characteristics of Manichaean mission in its later stage,the author has formed my own opinion that Mani light the Buddha discovered in Xiapu is derived from the three manuscripts discovered from Dunhuang.In Mani the Buddha of Light,there are many of the so-called "Sanskrit"words such as "afrin","frystg","frystg'n","nyws'g","nyws' gbed","nyws'gc'n","hasenag" and "k'dws" and so on.In fact,they are the Middle Persian and Parthian,and their diaphones in "Sanskrit-Chinese" Translation can also be found in Dunhuang literatures,but in the literature discovered from Xiapu,"Sanskrit" retains the original appearance of Manichaeism transliteration.Similarly,the narration of the birth of Mani in Mani the Buddha of Light retains the original appearance in the initial stage of chinesization with regard to the position of Mani as an embryo in his mother's body,the description of the orchard before and after the birth of Mani,Mani's mother reaching for branches of trees in the orchard,Mani's taking the shape of a pomegranate,the communion of pronunciation between Maya and Maryam,some spiritual phenomenon before the birth of Mani and the association between Yamag and the Good Thoughts and so on.Considering the adaptation of Mani the Buddha of Light,the producer's important and kind intention to integrate Manichaeism with Buddhism and Taoism can be easily detected.Dunhuang literatures are the concentrated reflection of Manichaean Buddhization and Mani the Buddha of Light is a follower of this tradition.The five Buddhas in Mani the Buddha of Light,Narayana,Mani the Buddha of Light,Zarathustra,Sakyamuni Buddha,Jesus,are mainly affiliated to with Buddhism directly or indirectly.Some religious terms,"Pancakasaya","Adhiratva","Panca-gatayah","Caturmahabhuta","Mahatma","Trisaranagamana","Treasure","Amrita",originated directly from Buddhism.But some names of mythological figuressuch as First Man,Maiden of Light,Jesus the Splendor,Third Messenger,Living Spirit,Mother of Life,are leading the people to reconsider "the Solar Palace"and "the Lunar Palace" as concepts of Manicheism instead of Buddhism.In Dunhuang documents and other historical materials,there are records of Lao Zi's turning into Mani,but no data about the practice of Manichaean Taoismization.Fortunately Xiapu manuscripts have made up for the lack of data.In Mani the Buddha of Light and Xing Fu Zhu Qing Dan Ke with characteristic of Buddhization have appeared the gods of Taoism such as Jade Emperor,Celestial Worthy of Original Beginning,Celestial Worthy of The Tao and Its Virtues,Celestial Worthy of Numinous Treasure,God of Town,MA(Hua Guang)Zhao(Gongming)Two Divine Marshals,Xing Fu Du Lei Shi(Xing Fu Du Lei Apostle),Xing Fu Lei Shi Li Zheng Zhen Jun(Xing Fu Thunder Apostle Li Zheng Lord),Gan Ying Xing Fu Lei Shi Zhen Jun(Gan Ying Xing Fu Thunder Apostle Lord),Dong Tian Gan Ying Xing Fu Lei Shi Zhen Jun(Dong Tian Gan Ying Xing Fu Thunder Apostle Lord),Jiu Xuan Qi Zu(Nine Deities and Seven Progenitor),Ling Xiang Tu Di(Spirit Phase and God of Land),etc.Moreover,other Taoism terms such as Dan Tai,Zi Fu(PurpleMansion),Zhen Ling(True Spirit)and Jing Ming Sheng Bao have also frequently appeared in the literatures.In addition,Manichaean statements such as "Jiangjie-Paihuai","Dongzhen-Faxing Xiang","Daode-Lingbao Xiang",have their corresponding equivalents in Taoism classics.The most common Gods of Taoism can be analyzed in the sense of Manichaeism and Buddhism.In a word,in Taoism,the names of mythological figures and the divinity nature are highlighted by Manichaean featurs.In the process of Manichaean Taoismization,a lot of Buddhas,the Taoist gods and the local gods have been assimilated into Manichaeism.And many names of Buddhas and gods in Zou Shen Die Shu Ke Ce,Le Shan Tang Shen Ji,Ming Fu Qing Fo Wen,Fo Shuo Shan Zao Jing and Yu Shu Die Zhuang Shi are just examples of these assimilated Buddhas and gods,some of which may not be familiar to those out of some religion.As to the names and titles of Manichaean gods such as Guangming-Shangtian Yi Shu He Fo(Guangming-Shangtian Jesus Buddha),Lingming-Datian Dian Guang Wang Fo(Lingming-Datian Light Maiden Buddha),Taishang-Zhentian Mo Ni Guang Fo(Taishang-Zhentian Mani Buddha of the Light),Taishang-Qingzhen Mo Ni Ru Lai(Taishang-Qingzhen Mani Buddha),Taishang Mo Ni Ru Lai(Taishang Mani Buddha),Mo Ni Zun Fo(Mani Deity Buddha),Mo Ni Guang Fo(Mani Buddha of the Light),Mo Ni Ru Lai Zheng Jiao Zhu(Mani Buddha the Founder),Mo Ni Ru Lai(Mani Buddha),and Taishang Jiao Zhu Mo Ni Guang Fo(Taishang Mani Buddha the Founder),titles of Taoism and Buddhism have been assimilated into the names of Manichaean main gods.It is obvious that the real purpose of Manichaeism naming its gods is only to confuse the boundary of Manichaeism,Buddhism and Taoism by using the theory of Unity of Three Saints and to do missionary work secretly.Thanks to the previous the pretext,most people have mistaken Manichaeism for Buddhism and Manichaean temples for Taoism temples.Furthermore,the ultimate and most immediate result is that Manichaeism has moved towards the folk men and hidden for survival.