Chinese Manichaean Hymn Scroll
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Chinese Manichaean Hymn Scroll
The Chinese Manichaean hymn scroll is a scroll found by British archaeologist Aurel Stein in the Mogao Grottoes. It contains a series of hymns used in religious ceremonies. It is currently in the collection of the British Library, number S.2659。 Introduction The first volume of the manuscript is slightly incomplete, and the content is written in the form of poetry. Among them, there are 1254 sentences of seven-character poems, and a few four-character and five-character poems. According to Lin Wushu's research, these hymns were translated from a Middle Iranian language, rather than original by the Manicheans. Many of the contents are dedicated to the Jesus of Manichaeism-Yishu, and the hymn to the highest deity of Manichaeism. In the 'Praise Jesus' text After Manichaeism was introduced into China, because the image of Jesus was quite unfamiliar to Chinese culture, missionaries combined it with Buddhist imagery, called Jesus Buddha, and made him a model of great mercy and ...
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Middle Chinese
Middle Chinese (formerly known as Ancient Chinese) or the Qieyun system (QYS) is the historical variety of Chinese recorded in the '' Qieyun'', a rime dictionary first published in 601 and followed by several revised and expanded editions. The Swedish linguist Bernard Karlgren believed that the dictionary recorded a speech standard of the capital Chang'an of the Sui and Tang dynasties. However, based on the more recently recovered preface of the ''Qieyun'', most scholars now believe that it records a compromise between northern and southern reading and poetic traditions from the late Northern and Southern dynasties period. This composite system contains important information for the reconstruction of the preceding system of Old Chinese phonology (early 1st millennium BC). The ''fanqie'' method used to indicate pronunciation in these dictionaries, though an improvement on earlier methods, proved awkward in practice. The mid-12th-century ''Yunjing'' and other rime tables incorp ...
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Mogao Caves
The Mogao Caves, also known as the Thousand Buddha Grottoes or Caves of the Thousand Buddhas, form a system of 500 temples southeast of the center of Dunhuang, an oasis located at a religious and cultural crossroads on the Silk Road, in Gansu province, China. The caves may also be known as the Dunhuang Caves; however, this term is also used as a collective term to include other Buddhist cave sites in and around the Dunhuang area, such as the Western Thousand Buddha Caves, Eastern Thousand Buddha Caves, Yulin Caves, and Five Temple Caves. The caves contain some of the finest examples of Buddhist art spanning a period of 1,000 years. The first caves were dug out in AD 366 as places of Buddhist meditation and worship, later the caves became a place of pilgrimage and worship, and caves continued to be built at the site until the 14th century. The Mogao Caves are the best known of the Chinese Buddhist grottoes and, along with Longmen Grottoes and Yungang Grottoes, are one of the thre ...
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London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major settlement for two millennia. The City of London, its ancient core and financial centre, was founded by the Romans as '' Londinium'' and retains its medieval boundaries.See also: Independent city § National capitals The City of Westminster, to the west of the City of London, has for centuries hosted the national government and parliament. Since the 19th century, the name "London" has also referred to the metropolis around this core, historically split between the counties of Middlesex, Essex, Surrey, Kent, and Hertfordshire, which largely comprises Greater London, governed by the Greater London Authority.The Greater London Authority consists of the Mayor of London and the London Assembly. The London Mayor is distinguished fr ...
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British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British Library receives copies of all books produced in the United Kingdom and Ireland, including a significant proportion of overseas titles distributed in the UK. The Library is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. The British Library is a major research library, with items in many languages and in many formats, both print and digital: books, manuscripts, journals, newspapers, magazines, sound and music recordings, videos, play-scripts, patents, databases, maps, stamps, prints, drawings. The Library's collections include around 14 million books, along with substantial holdings of manuscripts and items dating as far back as 2000 BC. The library maintains a programme for content acquis ...
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Manichaean Scholars Examining Two Chinese Scrolls
Manichaeism (; in New Persian ; ) is a former major religionR. van den Broek, Wouter J. Hanegraaff ''Gnosis and Hermeticism from Antiquity to Modern Times''SUNY Press, 1998 p. 37 founded in the 3rd century AD by the Parthian prophet Mani (AD 216–274), in the Sasanian Empire. Manichaeism teaches an elaborate dualistic cosmology describing the struggle between a good, spiritual world of light, and an evil, material world of darkness. Through an ongoing process that takes place in human history, light is gradually removed from the world of matter and returned to the world of light, whence it came. Its beliefs are based on local Mesopotamian religious movements and Gnosticism. It reveres Mani as the final prophet after Zoroaster, Gautama Buddha, and Jesus. Manichaeism was quickly successful and spread far through the Aramaic-speaking regions. It thrived between the third and seventh centuries, and at its height was one of the most widespread religions in the world. Manichaea ...
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Aurel Stein
Sir Marc Aurel Stein, ( hu, Stein Márk Aurél; 26 November 1862 – 26 October 1943) was a Hungarian-born British archaeologist, primarily known for his explorations and archaeological discoveries in Central Asia. He was also a professor at Indian universities. Stein was also an ethnographer, geographer, linguist and surveyor. His collection of books and manuscripts bought from Dunhuang caves is important for the study of the history of Central Asia and the art and literature of Buddhism. He wrote several volumes on his expeditions and discoveries which include ''Ancient Khotan'', ''Serindia'' and ''Innermost Asia''. Early life Stein was born to Náthán Stein and Anna Hirschler, a Jewish couple residing in Budapest in the Kingdom of Hungary. His parents and his sister retained their Jewish faith but Stein and his brother, Ernst Eduard, were baptised as Lutherans. At home the family spoke German and Hungarian, Stein attended Catholic and Lutheran gymnasiums in Budapest, w ...
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Mogao Grottoes
The Mogao Caves, also known as the Thousand Buddha Grottoes or Caves of the Thousand Buddhas, form a system of 500 temples southeast of the center of Dunhuang, an oasis located at a religious and cultural crossroads on the Silk Road, in Gansu province, China. The caves may also be known as the Dunhuang Caves; however, this term is also used as a collective term to include other Buddhist cave sites in and around the Dunhuang area, such as the Western Thousand Buddha Caves, Eastern Thousand Buddha Caves, Yulin Caves, and Five Temple Caves. The caves contain some of the finest examples of Buddhist art spanning a period of 1,000 years. The first caves were dug out in AD 366 as places of Buddhist meditation and worship, later the caves became a place of pilgrimage and worship, and caves continued to be built at the site until the 14th century. The Mogao Caves are the best known of the Chinese Buddhist grottoes and, along with Longmen Grottoes and Yungang Grottoes, are one of the t ...
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Manichaeism
Manichaeism (; in New Persian ; ) is a former major religionR. van den Broek, Wouter J. Hanegraaff ''Gnosis and Hermeticism from Antiquity to Modern Times''SUNY Press, 1998 p. 37 founded in the 3rd century AD by the Parthian Empire, Parthian prophet Mani (prophet), Mani (AD 216–274), in the Sasanian Empire. Manichaeism teaches an elaborate dualistic cosmology describing the conflict between good and evil, struggle between a goodness and value theory, good, spirituality, spiritual world of light, and an evil, material world of darkness. Through an ongoing process that takes place in human history, light is gradually removed from the world of matter and returned to the world of light, whence it came. Its beliefs are based on local Mesopotamian religious movements and Gnosticism. It reveres Mani as the final prophet after Zoroaster, Gautama Buddha, and Jesus. Manichaeism was quickly successful and spread far through the Aramaic language, Aramaic-speaking regions. It thrived be ...
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Jesus In Manichaeism
In Manichaeism, Jesus (Romanization of Parthian and Pahlavi: ) is considered one of the four prophets of the faith, along with Zoroaster, Gautama Buddha and Mani. He is also a "guiding deity" who greets the light bodies of the righteous after their deliverance. Before the introduction of Manichaeism to Central Asia, the number of prophets recognized by it was undetermined. After being introduced to Central Asia, it was determined to be five, that is, the above-mentioned four prophets plus the Hindu god Narayana, because Hinduism had significant influence in ancient Central Asia. Mani, the founder of the church, grew up in a Christian family in the 3rd century AD. His father Pātik was a believer in the church. They lived in southern Mesopotamia under the rule of the Sasanian Dynasty. Although Mani mentions Zoroastrianism and Sakyamuni in his own writings, Jesus is the key point. For example: "Jesus is Mani's savior"; "Mani, the apostle of Jesus Christ" ( Mani's crystal seal and ...
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Chinese Manichaeism
Chinese Manichaeism or ‘Religion of Light’ known as Monijiao ( zh, t=摩尼教, w=Mo2-ni2 Chiao4, p=Móníjiào, l=religion of Moni) or Mingjiao ( zh, t=明教, w=Ming2-Chiao4, p=Míngjiào, links=no, l=religion of light or 'bright religion'), is the form of Manichaeism transmitted and practiced in China. It rose to prominence during the Tang dynasty and, despite frequent persecutions, has continued long after the other forms of Manichaeism were eradicated in the West.Dr. Char Yar.Monijiao (Manichaeism) in China. academia.edu. Lecture presented at the ''Worldwide Conference for Historical Research'', 2012. The most complete set of surviving Manichaean writings were written in Chinese sometime before the 9th century and were found in the Mogao Caves among the Dunhuang manuscripts. Chinese Manichaeism represents a set of teachings with the purpose of inducing awakening (佛 ''fó''), and it is a dualistic religion that believes in the eternal fight between the principles of go ...
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Manichaean Compendium
The Manichean Compendium is a Manichaean manuscript found in the Mogao Cave. It is a manuscript expounding the doctrine of Manicheaism. It was written in the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang by the Persian missionary Fuduo in 731. It briefly summarizes the basic teachings and rituals of the religion, and is an introductory document for understanding Manichaeism. Introduction The manuscript is divided into two volumes. The first volume was discovered by Hungarian British archaeologist Aurel Stein in 1907. It is now in London British Library. It is glued on three pieces of paper. The length is about 150 cm. The writing department The height is about 21.4 cm. The second volume was acquired by French orientalist Paul Pelliot in 1908, now in the collection of Paris French National Library, the entire volume is on one paper, length 52 cm, height 26.2 cm, The writing part is about 21.4 cm high. After investigating the content and historical background of "Yilue", Lin Wushu beli ...
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Fragmented Pages Of Manichaen Manuscripts
Manichaeism has a rich tradition of visual art, starting with Mani himself writing the Book of Pictures. One of Mani's primary beliefs was that the arts (namely painting, calligraphy, and music) were of the same esteem as the divine spirit (Middle Persian: ''Mihryazd''), believing that the creation of art was comparable to god's creation of living forms, and therefore the experience of art was more of a divine act than any other in the material world. Throughout the history of Manichaeism, didactic books of paintings were used to illustrate the religion's teachings and beliefs. From the beginning, the prophet Mani envisioned his religion (which included the teachings of Zarathustra, Buddha, and Christ) as a universal and therefore “ transcultural” entity, leading to its vast spread from Europe to Asia. The Manichaean mission employed multifaceted means of communication (including oral, textual, and pictorial) so the beliefs may adapt to the variety of cultures it entered. ...
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