The Pragmateia
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The Pragmateia
The ''Pragmateia'' ( el, Πραγματεία, lit=Treatise; zh, t=證明過去教經, s=证明过去教经, first=t, p=Zhèngmíng guòqù jiào jīng, l=Proof of the Past Teachings), is one of the seven major books of the prophet Mani, written and regarded as part of the major canon of Manichaeism. The text is now lost and its exact contents are currently unknown. According to historical records and fragments found in Turfan, the text was likely focused on human history. The text is also mentioned in accounts of the Monijiao branch of Manichaeism (including its religious and political movement known as the White Lotus Society The White Lotus () is a syncretic religious and political movement which forecasts the imminent advent of the "King of Light" (), i.e., the future Buddha Maitreya. As White Lotus sects developed, they appealed to many Han Chinese who found sola ...) from the Song dynasty. References Manichaean texts Texts in Syriac 3rd-century books Lost ...
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Mani (prophet)
Mani (in Middle Persian: 𐭌𐭀𐭍𐭉/𐭬𐭠𐭭𐭩/𐮋𐮀𐮌𐮈/𐬨𐬁𐬥𐬌/𐫖𐫀𐫗𐫏 ''Māni'', New Persian: ''Māni'', Chinese language, Chinese: ''Móní'', Syriac language, Syriac ''Mānī'', Koine Greek, Greek , Latin '; also , Latin ', from Syriac ''Mānī ḥayyā'' "Living Mani", –2 March AD 274 or 26 February AD 277) was an Iranian peoples, Iranian prophet and the founder of Manichaeism, a religion most prevalent in late antiquity strongly influenced by Gnosticism, Christianity, Zoroastrianism, and Buddhism, which was once widespread but is now confined to small areas of China, such as Fujian. Mani was born in or near Seleucia-Ctesiphon (south of modern Baghdad) in Mesopotamia, at the time part of the Parthian Empire. Seven Scriptures of Mani, Seven of his major works were written in Syriac language, Syriac, and the eighth, dedicated to the Sasanian Empire, Sasanian emperor Shapur I, was written in Middle Persian.Henning, W.B., ''The ...
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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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Turfan
Turpan (also known as Turfan or Tulufan, , ug, تۇرپان) is a prefecture-level city located in the east of the autonomous region of Xinjiang, China. It has an area of and a population of 632,000 (2015). Geonyms The original name of the city is unknown. The form Turfan (while it is older than Turpan), was not used until the middle of the 2nd millennium CE and its use became widespread only in the post-Mongol period. Historically, many settlements in the Tarim Basin have been given a number of different names. Some of these names have also referred to more than one place: Turpan/Turfan/Tulufan is one such example. Others include Jushi/Gushi, Gaochang/Qocho/Karakhoja and Jiaohe/Yarkhoto. The center of the region has shifted a number of times, from Yar-Khoto (Jiaohe, to the west of modern Turpan) to Qocho (Gaochang, to the southeast of Turpan) and to Turpan itself. History Turpan has long been the centre of a fertile oasis (with water provided by the ''karez'' canal sys ...
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Human History
Human history, also called world history, is the narrative of humanity's past. It is understood and studied through anthropology, archaeology, genetics, and linguistics. Since the invention of writing, human history has been studied through primary and secondary source documents. Humanity's written history was preceded by its prehistory, beginning with the Paleolithic ("Old Stone Age") era. This was followed by the Neolithic ("New Stone Age") era, which saw the Agricultural Revolution begin in the Middle East around 10,000 BCE. During this period, humans began the systematic husbandry of plants and animals. As agriculture advanced, most humans transitioned from a nomadic to a settled lifestyle as farmers in permanent settlements. The relative security and increased productivity provided by farming allowed communities to expand into increasingly larger units, fostered by advances in transportation. The earliest complex societies appeared in fertile river valleys ...
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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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White Lotus
The White Lotus () is a syncretic religious and political movement which forecasts the imminent advent of the "King of Light" (), i.e., the future Buddha Maitreya. As White Lotus sects developed, they appealed to many Han Chinese who found solace in the worship of Wusheng Laomu (). History Background The religious background of the White Lotus Sect goes back to the founding of the first White Lotus Society (白蓮社) in the Donglin Temple at Mount Lu by the Huiyuan (334–416 CE). During the Northern Song period (960–1126), White Lotus Societies were founded throughout southern China, spreading Pure Land teachings and meditation methods with them. Between 9th and 14th centuries, Chinese Manichaeans increasingly involved themselves with the Pure Land school. Through this close interaction Manichaeism had profound influence on Chinese Maitreyan Buddhist sects within the Pure Land tradition, practicing together so closely alongside the Buddhists that the two traditions ...
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Song Dynasty
The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest of the Ten Kingdoms, ending the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. The Song often came into conflict with the contemporaneous Liao, Western Xia and Jin dynasties in northern China. After retreating to southern China, the Song was eventually conquered by the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The dynasty is divided into two periods: Northern Song and Southern Song. During the Northern Song (; 960–1127), the capital was in the northern city of Bianjing (now Kaifeng) and the dynasty controlled most of what is now Eastern China. The Southern Song (; 1127–1279) refers to the period after the Song lost control of its northern half to the Jurchen-led Jin dynasty in the Jin–Song Wars. At that time, the Song court retreated south of the ...
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Manichaean Texts
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. Manichaean ...
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Texts In Syriac
Text may refer to: Written word * Text (literary theory), any object that can be read, including: **Religious text, a writing that a religious tradition considers to be sacred **Text, a verse or passage from scripture used in expository preaching **Textbook, a book of instruction in any branch of study Computing and telecommunications *Plain text, unformatted text *Text file, a type of computer file opened by most text software *Text string, a sequence of characters manipulated by software *Text message, a short electronic message designed for communication between mobile phone users *Text (Chrome app), a text editor for the Google Chrome web browser Arts and media *TEXT, a Swedish band *''Text & Talk'' (formerly ''Text''), an academic journal *"Text", a 2010 song produced by J.R. Rotem, featuring Mann and Jason Derulo Jason Joel Desrouleaux (born September 21, 1989), known professionally as Jason Derulo (; formerly stylized as Derülo), is an American singer and songwrit ...
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3rd-century Books
The 3rd century was the period from 201 ( CCI) to 300 (CCC) Anno Domini (AD) or Common Era (CE) in the Julian calendar.. In this century, the Roman Empire saw a crisis, starting with the assassination of the Roman Emperor Severus Alexander in 235, plunging the empire into a period of economic troubles, barbarian incursions, political upheavals, civil wars, and the split of the Roman Empire through the Gallic Empire in the west and the Palmyrene Empire in the east, which all together threatened to destroy the Roman Empire in its entirety, but the reconquests of the seceded territories by Emperor Aurelian and the stabilization period under Emperor Diocletian due to the administrative strengthening of the empire caused an end to the crisis by 284. This crisis would also mark the beginning of Late Antiquity. In Persia, the Parthian Empire was succeeded by the Sassanid Empire in 224 after Ardashir I defeated and killed Artabanus V during the Battle of Hormozdgan. The Sassanids the ...
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