Dr. R.  Banerjee (Chinese and Central Asian Scholar) Dr. R.  Banerjee

 

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MANICHAEN INPUT TO CHINESE CULTURE AND ART

R. Banerjee

 


Manichaean art has left its mark also in the cave art of Central Asia. All the three temple complexes of Turfan, i.e. Toyuk, Bezeklik and Sangim, contain many Manichaean grottoes which have been studied in great details by Prof. Chao (Zhao) Huashan of the Bejing University. According to his researches, the main and side chambers of the Toyuk Grotto No. 2 contain pictures of the Manichaean treasure trees accompanied by envoys of light, and of the meditations of the disciples, etc. These pictures are repeated also in the Toyuk Grotto No. 7.

The Bezeklik temple complex too has many grottoes devoted to manichaean subjects, like the veneration of the divine tree, portraits of Mani's followers in Persian dress, as well as a sketch of a Manichaean temple (Grotto No. 38 B. according to the classification of Professor Chao Huashan). From some of these Bezeklik caves three have been discovered also Uighur inscriptions which help in the dating of the caves.

At Sangim, Prof. Chao could visit only two Manichaean temples which he termed as the Northern Temple and the Southern Temple. They also contain many pictures depicting the Manichaean subjects such as the Tree of Life, the Tree of Death, the Orchard of Treasure Trees, etc. We know from Manichaean texts that at the core of the Manichaean creed was a dualist  doctrine that postulated two kingdoms: the kingdom of Light (guangming wangguo)  and the kingdom of Darkness (hei'an wangguo). These two kingdoms are represented by two trees as mentioned above. There is  an explanation of the nature of these two trees in the Book of Giants (Juren shu) that says: Virtue is expressed by Light or by the Tree of Life which occupies the East, the West and the North, while to the South there is the Tree of Death. The Kephalais (Essentials of the Faith), an ancient Manichaean manuscript written in Coptic discovered in Egypt during the 1930s explains that these two trees are the Tree of Virtue and the Tree of Evil. The trunk of the two trees twist around each other in two places. The relative positions of the two trees also illustrate the Manichaean doctrine of three moments i.e. the Initial moment; the Median Moment, and the Ultimate Moment.

According to the Compendium of the Teaching of Mani: the Budha of Light, a Manichaean temple has five sections containing a lectorium, a hall for instruction, a hall for prayer and penitence, a hall for preaching, and a monk's hospice. In these five halls, monks and their followers lived together, engaged in spiritual cultivation and character improvement. According to Prof. Chao, the imposing Northern Mosque in Sangim typifies the Manichaean temple.

From the chronological point of view the halls are divided into two periods. In the former period, the layout has several features: the main chamber is relatively wide, the side chambers are also quite spacious, but the prayer and penitence hall is rather small. The frescoes of the first period, can be placed in the early seventh century specially the painting of the Grotto No. 2 of Toyuk. The boar heads of this period are surrounded by a ring of white circles set in black, resembling a string of pearls imitating Persian motifs of the Sassanian period. Toyuk grottoes show two portraits of donors wearing striped cloaks with their hands raised. Prof. Chao Huashan has described this dress as that of Macedonian arstocracy. At that time Macedonia was an important centre of Manichaean faith. The Manichaean grottoes of the second period (9th century) are distinguished by the presence of the Uighur script and their large scale showing the might of the Uighur empire.

Manichaeism was very popular in China during Tang Dynasty (618-907), the documents of which period yield various names like Moni Momoni, Momonifa (law of Mani), Xiao moni (small Mani) da Moni (great Mani), Moni shi (Mani priest) etc. After Tang, these names disappeared, and Manichaeism was popularly known as mingjiao (the Bright Religion). During the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), the government could not tolerate a non-government organization using the imperial title "Ming", hence, Manichaeism was banned, and its activities went underground. As I have alluded to earlier, during the post-Han periof of political instability, Manichaeism arrived in China and was utilized by rebel leaders to mobilize followers. Such a phenomenon developed after the Song Dynasty (1960-1279), particularly along the coastal regions where secret societies and rebelions sprang up by leaps and bounds. Even during the Song Dynasty there was the interesting occurrence in the two coastal provinces of Zhejiang and Fujian which is known as Chicai Shimo (literally, "eating vegetables and serving the devil"). In Fozu Tongji, which is an important historiography of Buddhism in China compiled by Buddhist scholars during 1258-1269, there is an account which categorically identifies these vegetarian followers of the "devil" as belonging to the Association of Mingjiao, i.e. the new Chinese name for Manichaeism. The account says that the leader wore a headgear of violet colour, while the followers wore white costumes. They worshipped the white Buddha. Many of these followers demonstrated their rebellious spirit and were quelled by the Song government. After that, all subsequent governments were supressive against Manichaean activities, albeit the Manichaean followers' tenacity in their faith and in their organized activities.

The Quanzhou county of Fujian province was place that used to have Manichaean activities from Song Dynasty onwards. This was also the place where there was an Indian community during the Tang and Song (and even afterwards), and where the remains of a Hindutemple have been found. Whether the presence of the Indian community and the Manichaen activities there had any connection with each other we are not able to ascertain. Historical reference alludes to a Manichaean temple built at Quanzhou in 1148. Archaeological excavations at the ruins of this temple at Huapiao Hill in this county have yielded several tens of broken pieces of black porcelain bowls of Song vintage, one of which bears the letters "mingjiaohui" (Association of the Bright Religion).

In the Quanzhou Museum of the History of Maritime Intercourse (Quanzhou haiwai jiatongshi bowuguan) There is a carved Buddha of the Mani Light which was recovered from the ruins of the Mani temple (of Song Dynasty) at Huabiao Hill. The sculpture is round in shape, resembling a sun. While a Buddha-like deity fills the circular sculpture, the deity wears a Chinese Buddhist robe and with a typical Chinese face. The design in the background depicts sun rays emitting from the deity. This very interesting artifact deserves close examination. It looks like that the Mingjiao followers were worshipping an alternate Buddha who, they might have wished, would bless the poor masses for a change - unlike the usual prevalent Buddhas in China who had been quite monopolized by the rich and high-ups. That Manichaeism came all the way from the Western Hemisphere to China to make the noble ideas and ideals serve the down-trodden is a fascinating historical phenomenon. I hope my brief account stimulates more Indian scholars to study it in collaboration with Chinese scholars.

In conclusion, Manichaeism was a religio-cultural movement that had a very significant influence on Chinese development. It is clear that its activities both helped spread the popularity of the Buddha and competed with the Buddhist institution to the extent that the Manichaean followers were maligned as "vegetarian followers of the devil". As the Manichaean culture was internalized by the oral literature of the common people the movement has lost much of its distinct traces as well. This, however, should not inhibit us from making further inquiries about this fascinating movement which also bears a dimension of Sino-Indian interface if only indirectly.

Notes : 

1. Along the ancient Silk Routes: Central Asian art from the West Berlin State Museums, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1982.

2. Ibid.

3. Chao, Huashan, "New evidence of Manichaeism in Asia: A description of some recently discovered Manichaean temples in Turfan" in Monumenta  Swrica, No. 44 (1996), pp. 267-315.

4. Fozu Tongi (Chronology of the reign of the Patriarch Buddha, juan 48.

5. See Zhuang Weiji, "Quanzhou Monijiao Chutan" (tentative studies on Manichaeism at Quanzhou) in Shijie Zongjiao Yanjiu (Journal of Studies on world Religion), Beijing, No. 3, 1983, pp. 72-82.

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