200° - 240° C.: 2KMnO4 = K2MnO4 + MnO2 + O2;
and when warmed with hydrochloric acid it yields chlorine:
2KMnO4 + 16HCl = 2KCl + 2MnCl2 + 8H2O + 5Cl2.
_Sodium Permanganate_, NaMnO4.3H2O (?), may be prepared in a similar
manner, or by precipitating the silver salt with sodium chloride. It
crystallizes with great difficulty. A solution of the crude salt is
used as a disinfectant under the name of "Condy's fluid."
_Ammonium Permanganate_, NH4·MnO4, explodes violently on rubbing, and
its aqueous solution decomposes on boiling (W. Muthmann, _Ber._, 1893,
26, p. 1018); NH4·MnO4 = MnO2 + N2 + 2H2O.
_Barium Permanganate_, BaMn2O3, crystallizes in almost black needles,
and is formed by passing carbon dioxide through water containing
suspended barium manganate.
_Detection._--Manganese salts can be detected by the amethyst colour
they impart to a borax-bead when heated in the Bunsen flame, and by
the green mass formed when they are fused with a mixture of sodium
carbonate and potassium nitrate. Manganese may be estimated
quantitatively by precipitation as carbonate, this salt being then
converted into the oxide, Mn3O4 by ignition; or by precipitation as
hydrated dioxide by means of ammonia and bromine water, followed by
ignition to Mn3O4. The valuation of pyrolusite is generally carried
out by means of a distillation with hydrochloric acid, the liberated
chlorine passing through a solution of potassium iodide, and the
amount of iodine liberated being ascertained by means of a standard
solution of sodium thiosulphate.
The atomic weight of manganese has been frequently determined. J.
Berzelius, by analysis of the chloride, obtained the value 54.86; K.
v. Hauer (_Sitzb. Akad. Wien._, 1857, 25, p. 132), by conversion of
the sulphate into sulphide, obtained the value 54.78; J. Dewar and A.
Scott (_Chem. News_, 1883, 47, p. 98), by analysis of silver
permanganate, obtained the value 55.038; J. M. Weeren (_Stahl. u._
_Eisen_, 1893, 13, p. 559), by conversion of manganous oxide into the
sulphate obtained the value 54.883, and of the sulphate into sulphide
the value 54.876 (H = 1), and finally G. P. Baxter and Hines (_Jour.
Amer. Chem. Soc._, 1906, 28, p. 1360), by analyses of the chloride and
bromide, obtained 54.96 (O = 16).
MANGANITE, a mineral consisting of hydrated manganese sesquioxide,
Mn2O3·H2O, crystallizing in the orthorhombic system and isomorphous with
diaspore and göthite. Crystals are prismatic and deeply striated
parallel to their length; they are often grouped together in bundles.
The colour is dark steel-grey to iron-black, and the lustre brilliant
and submetallic: the streak is dark reddish-brown. The hardness is 4,
and the specific gravity 4.3. There is a perfect cleavage parallel to
the brachypinacoid, and less perfect cleavage parallel to the prism
faces _m_. Twinned crystals are not infrequent. The mineral contains
89.7% of manganese sesquioxide; it dissolves in hydrochloric acid with
evolution of chlorine. The best crystallized specimens are those from
Ilfeld in the Harz, where the mineral occurs with calcite and barytes in
veins traversing porphyry. Crystals have also been found at Ilmenau in
Thuringia, Neukirch near Schlettstadt in Alsace ("newkirkite"), Granam
near Towie in Aberdeenshire, Upton Pyne near Exeter and Negaunee in
Michigan. As an ore of manganese it is much less abundant than
pyrolusite or psilomelane. The name manganite was given by W. Haidinger
in 1827: French authors adopt F. S. Beudant's name "acerdèse," (Gr.
[Greek: âkerdês], unprofitable) because the mineral is of little value
for bleaching purposes as compared with pyrolusite. (L. J. S.)
[Illustration]
MANGBETTU (_Monbuttu_), a negroid people of Central Africa living to the
south of the Niam-Niam in the Welle district of Belgian Congo. They
number about a million. Their country is a table-land at an altitude of
2500 to 2800 ft. Despite its abundant animal life, luxuriant vegetation
and rich crops of plantain and oil-palm, the Mangbettu have been some of
the most inveterate cannibals in Africa; but since the Congo State
established posts in the country (c. 1895) considerable efforts have
been made to stamp out cannibalism. Physically the Mangbettu differ
greatly from their negro neighbours. They are not so black and their
faces are less negroid, many having quite aquiline noses. The beard,
too, is fuller than in most negroes. They appear to have imposed their
language and customs on the surrounding tribes, the Mundu, Abisanga, &c.
Once a considerable power, they have practically disappeared as far as
the original stock is concerned; their language and culture, however,
remain, maintained by their subjects, with whom they have to a large
extent intermixed. The men wear bark cloth, the art of weaving being
unknown, the women a simple loin cloth, often not that. Both sexes paint
the body in elaborate designs. As potters, sculptors, boatbuilders and
masons the Mangbettu have had few rivals in Africa. Their huts, with
pointed roofs, were not only larger and better built, but were cleaner
than those of their neighbours, and some of their more important
buildings were of great size and exhibited some skill in architecture.
See G. A. Schweinfurth, _Heart of Africa_ (1874); W. Junker, _Travels
in Africa_ (1890); G. Casati, _Ten Years in Equatoria_ (1891).
MANGEL-WURZEL, or field-beet, a variety of the common beet, known
botanically as _Beta vulgaris_, var. _macrorhiza_. The name is German
and means literally "root of scarcity." R. C. A. Prior (_Popular Names
of British Plants_) says it was originally mangold, a word of doubtful
meaning. The so-called root consists of the much thickened primary root
together with the "hypocotyl," i.e. the original stem between the root
and the seed-leaves. A transverse section of the root shows a similar
structure to the beet, namely a series of concentric rings of firmer
"woody" tissue alternating with rings of soft thin-walled parenchymatous
"bast-tissue" which often has a crimson or yellowish tint. The root is a
store of carbohydrate food-stuff in the form of sugar, which is formed
in the first year of growth when the stem remains short and bears a
rosette of large leaves. If the plant be allowed to remain in the
ground till the following year strong leafy angular aerial stems are
developed, 3 ft. or more in height, which branch and bear the
inflorescences. The flowers are arranged in dense sessile clusters
subtended by a small bract, and resemble those of the true beet. The
so-called seeds are clusters of spurious fruits. After fertilization the
fleshy receptacle and the base of the perianth of each flower enlarge
and the flowers in a cluster become united; the fleshy parts with the
ovaries, each of which contains one seed, become hard and woody. Hence
several seeds are present in one "seed" of commerce, which necessitates
the careful thinning of a young crop, as several seedlings may spring
from one "seed."
This plant is very susceptible of injury from frost, and hence in the
short summer of Scotland it can neither be sown so early nor left in the
ground so late as would be requisite for its mature growth. But it is
peculiarly adapted for those southern parts of England where the climate
is too hot and dry for the successful cultivation of the turnip. In
feeding quality it rivals the swede; it is much relished by
livestock--pigs especially doing remarkably well upon it; and it keeps
in good condition till midsummer if required. The valuable constituent
of mangel is dry matter which averages about 12% as against 11% in
swedes. Of this two-thirds may be sugar, which only develops fully
during storage. Indeed, it is only after it has been some months in the
store heap that mangel becomes a palatable and safe food for cattle. It
is, moreover, exempt from the attacks of the turnip beetle. On all these
accounts, therefore, it is peculiarly valuable in those parts of Great
Britain where the summer is usually hot and dry.
Up to the act of depositing the seed, the processes of preparation for
mangel are similar to those described for the turnip; winter dunging
being even more appropriate for the former than for the latter. The
common drilling machines are easily fitted for sowing its large rough
seeds, which should be sown from the beginning of April to the middle of
May and may be deposited either on ridges or on the flat. The after
culture is like that of the turnip. The plants are thinned out at
distances of not less than 15 in. apart. Transplanting can be used for
filling up of gaps with more certainty of success than in the case of
swedes, but it is much more economical to avoid such gaps by sowing a
little swede seed along with the mangel. Several varieties of the plant
are cultivated--those in best repute being the long red, the yellow
globe and the tankard, intermediate in shape. This crop requires a
heavier dressing of manure than the turnip to grow it in perfection, and
is much benefited by having salt mixed with the manure at the rate of 2
or 3 cwt. per acre. Nitrogenous manures are of more marked value than
phosphatic manures. The crop requires to be secured in store heaps as
early in autumn as possible, as it is easily injured by frost.
MANGLE. (1) A machine for pressing and smoothing clothes after washing
(see LAUNDRY). The word was adopted from the Dutch; _mangel-stok_ means
a rolling pin, and _linnen mangelen_, to press linen by rolling;
similarly in O. Ital. _mangano_ meant, according to Florio, "a presse to
press buckrom," &c. The origin of the word is to be found in the
medieval Latin name, _manganum_, _mangonus_ or _mangana_, for an engine
of war, the "mangonel," for hurling stones and other missiles (see
CATAPULT). The Latin word was adapted from the Greek [Greek: magganon],
a trick or device, cognate with [Greek: mêchanê], a machine. (2) To cut
in pieces, to damage or disfigure; to mutilate. This word is of obscure
origin. According to the _New English Dictionary_ it presents an
Anglo-French _mahangler_, a form of _mahaigner_ from which the English
"maim" is derived, cf. the old form "mayhem," surviving in legal
phraseology. Skeat connects the word with the Latin _mancus_, maimed,
with which "maim" is not cognate.
MANG LÖN, a state in the northern Shan states of Burma. It is the chief
state of the Wa or Vü tribes, some of whom are head-hunters, and Mang
Lön is the only one which as yet has direct relations with the British
government. Estimated area, 3000 sq. m.; estimated population, 40,000.
The state extends from about 21° 30´ to 23° N., or for 100 m. along the
river Salween. Its width varies greatly, from a mile or even less on
either side of the river to perhaps 40 m. at its broadest part near
Taküt, the capital. It is divided into East and West Mang Lön, the
boundary being the Salween. There are no Wa in West Mang Lön. Shans form
the chief population, but there are Palaungs, Chinese and Yanglam,
besides Lahu. The bulk of the population in East Mang Lön is Wa, but
there are many Shans and Lahu. Both portions are very hilly; the only
flat land is along the banks of streams in the valleys, and here the
Shans are settled. There are prosperous settlements and bazaars at Nawng
Hkam and Möng Kao in West Mang Lön. The Wa of Mang Lön have given up
head-hunting, and many profess Buddhism. The capital, Taküt, is perched
on a hill-top 6000 ft. above sea-level. The sawbwa is a Wa, and has
control over two sub-states, Mot Hai to the north and Maw Hpa to the
south.
MANGNALL, RICHMAL (1769-1820), English schoolmistress, was born,
probably at Manchester, on the 7th of March 1769. She was a pupil and
finally mistress of a school at Crofton Hall, near Wakefield, Yorkshire,
which she conducted most successfully until her death there on the 1st
of May 1820. She was the author of _Historical and Miscellaneous
Questions for the Use of Young People_ (1800), generally known as
"Mangnall's Questions," which was prominent in the education of English
girls in the first half of the 19th century.
MANGO. The mango-tree (_Mangifera indica_, natural order Anacardiaceae)
is a native of tropical Asia, but is now extensively cultivated in the
tropical and subtropical regions of the New as well as the Old World. It
is indigenous in India at the base of the Himalayas, and in Further
India and the Andaman Islands (see A. de Candolle, _Origin of Cultivated
Plants_). The cultivation of the fruit must have spread at an early age
over the Indian Peninsula, and it now grows everywhere in the plains. It
grows rapidly to a height of 30 to 40 ft., and its dense, spreading and
glossy foliage would secure its cultivation for the sake of its shade
and beauty alone. Its fruit, a drupe, though in the wild variety (not to
be confused with that of _Spondias mangifera_, belonging to the same
order, also called wild mango in India) stringy and sour, from its
containing much gallic acid, and with a disagreeable flavour of
turpentine, has become sweet and luscious through culture and selection,
to which we owe many varieties, differing not only in flavour but also
in size, from that of a plum to that of an apple. When unripe, they are
used to make pickles, tarts and preserves; ripe, they form a wholesome
and very agreeable dessert. In times of scarcity the kernels also are
eaten. The timber, although soft and liable to decay, serves for common
purposes, and, mixed with sandal-wood, is employed in cremation by the
Hindus. It is usually propagated by grafts, or by layering or inarching,
rather than by seed.
See G. Watt, _Dictionary of the Economic Products of India_ (1891).
MANGOSTEEN (_Garcinia Mangostana_), a tree belonging to the order
Guttiferae. It is a native of the Malay Peninsula, and is extensively
cultivated in southern Tenasserim, and in some places in the Madras
presidency. Poor results have followed the attempt to introduce it to
other countries; and A. de Candolle refers to it as one of the most
local among cultivated plants both in its origin, habitation and
cultivation. It belongs to a family in which the mean area of the
species is very restricted. It is an evergreen about 20 ft. high, and is
somewhat fir-like in general form, but the leaves are large, oval,
entire, leathery and glistening. Its fruit, the much-valued mangosteen,
is about the size and shape of an orange, and is somewhat similarly
partitioned, but is of a reddish-brown to chestnut colour. Its thick
rind yields a very astringent juice, rich in tannin, and containing a
gamboge-like resin. The soft and juicy pulp is snow-white or
rose-coloured, and of delicious flavour and perfume. It is wholesome,
and may be administered in fever.
The genus _Garcinia_ is a genus of trees containing about fifty species
in the tropics of the Old World, and usually yielding a yellow gum-resin
(gamboge). _G. Morella_, a native of India, yields the true gamboge.
MANGROVE. The remarkable "mangrove forests" which fringe tidal
estuaries, overrun salt marshes, and line muddy coasts in the tropics of
both Old and New Worlds, are composed of trees and shrubs belonging
mainly to the Rhizophoraceae, but including, especially in the eastern
mangrove formations of Further India and the Malay Archipelago, members
of other orders of Dicotyledons, such as Lythraceae (_Sonneratia_),
Verbenaceae (_Avicennia_), and the acaulescent Nipa-palm. Their trunks
and branches constantly emit adventitious roots, which, descending in
arched fashion, strike at some distance from the parent stem, and send
up new trunks, the forest thus spreading like a banyan grove. An
advantage in dispersal, very characteristic of the order, is afforded by
the seeds, which have a striking peculiarity of germination. While the
fruit is still attached to the parent branch the long radicle emerges
from the seed and descends rapidly towards the mud, where it may even
establish itself before falling off. Owing to its clubbed shape, this is
always in the right position; the plumule then makes its appearance. An
interesting feature of the mangrove is the air-roots, erect or kneed
branches of the roots, which project above the mud, and are provided
with minute openings (stomata or lenticels), into which the air passes
and is then carried by means of passages in the soft spongy tissue to
the roots which spread beneath the mud. The wood of some species is hard
and durable, and the astringent bark is used in tanning. The fruit of
the common mangrove, _Rhizophora Mangle_, is sweet and wholesome, and
yields a light wine.
MANICHAEISM. Towards the close of the 3rd century two great religions
stood opposed to one another in western Europe, one wholly Iranian,
namely Mithraism, the other of Jewish origin, but not without Iranian
elements, part and parcel probably of the Judaism which gave it birth,
namely Christianity. Professor Franz Cumont has traced the progress of
Mithraism all over the Balkan Peninsula, Italy, the Rhine-lands,
Britain, Spain and Latin Africa. It was peculiarly the religion of the
Roman garrisons, and was carried by the legionaries wherever they went.
It was an austere religion, inculcating self-restraint, courage and
honesty; it secured peace of conscience through forgiveness of sins, and
abated for those who were initiated in its mysteries the superstitious
terrors of death and the world to come. In these respects it resembled
Christianity. Soldiers may have espoused it rather than the rival faith,
because in the primitive age Christian discipline denied them the
sacraments, on the ground that they were professional shedders of blood.
The cumbrous mythology and cosmogony of Mithraism at last weakened its
hold upon men's minds, and it disappeared during the 4th century before
a victorious Catholicism, yet not until another faith, equally Iranian
in its mythology and cosmological beliefs, had taken its place. This new
faith was that of Mani, which spread with a rapidity only to be
explained by supposing that Mithraism had prepared men's minds for its
reception.
Mani professed to blend the teachings of Christ with the old Persian
Magism. Kessler, the latest historian of Manichaeism, opines that Mani's
own declaration on this point is not to be relied upon, and has tried to
prove that it was rather of Semitic or Chaldaic origin. He certainly
shows that the old Assyrian mythology influenced Mani, but not that this
element did not reach him through Persian channels. In genuine
Manichaean documents we only find the name Mani, but Manes, [Greek:
Manês], Manichaeus, meet us in 4th-century Greek and Latin documents. In
the _Acta Archelai_ his first name is said to have been Cubricus, which
Kessler explains as a corruption of Shuravik, a name common among the
Arabs of the Syrian desert.
_Life of Mani._--According to the Mahommedan tradition, which is more
trustworthy than the account contained in these _Acta_, Mani was a
high-born Persian of Ecbatana. The year of his birth is uncertain, but
Kessler accepts as reliable the statement made by Biruni, that Mani was
born in the year 527 of the astronomers of Babylon (A.D. 215-216). He
received a careful education at Ctesiphon from his father Fatak, Babak
or Patak ([Greek: Patekios]). As the father connected himself at a later
period with the confession of the _Moghtasilah_, or "Baptists," in
southern Babylonia, the son also was brought up in the religious
doctrines and exercises of this sect. These Baptists (see the _Fihrist_)
were apparently connected with the Elkesaites and the Hemerobaptists,
and certainly with the Mandaeans. It is probable that this Babylonian
sect had absorbed Christian elements. Thus the boy early became
acquainted with very different forms of religion. If even a small part
of the stories about his father is founded on fact, it was he who first
introduced Mani to that medley of religions out of which his system
arose. Manichaean tradition relates that Mani received revelations while
yet a boy, and assumed a critical attitude towards the religious
instruction that was being imparted to him. This is the more incredible
since the same tradition informs us that the boy was as yet prohibited
from making public use of his new religious views. It was only when Mani
had reached the age of twenty-five or thirty years that he began to
proclaim his new religion. This he did at the court of the Persian king,
Shapur I., and, according to the story, on the coronation day of that
monarch (241/2). A Persian tradition says that he had previously been a
Christian presbyter, but this is certainly incorrect. Mani did not
remain long in Persia, but undertook long journeys for the purpose of
spreading his religion, and also sent forth disciples. According to the
_Acta Archelai_, his missionary activity extended westwards into the
territory of the Christian church; but from Oriental sources it is
certain that Mani rather went into Transoxiana, western China, and
southwards as far as India. His labours there as well as in Persia were
not without result. Like Mahomet after him and the founder of the
Elkesaites before him, he gave himself out for the last and highest
prophet, who was to surpass all previous divine revelation, which only
possessed a relative value, and to set up the perfect religion. In the
closing years of the reign of Shapur I. (c. 270) Mani returned to the
Persian capital, and gained adherents even at court. But the dominant
priestly caste of the Magians, on whose support the king was dependent,
were naturally hostile to him, and after some successes Mani was made a
prisoner, and had then to flee. The successor of Shapur, Hormizd
(272-273), appears to have been favourably disposed towards him, but
Bahram I. abandoned him to the fanaticism of the Magians, and caused him
to be crucified in the capital in the year 276/7. The corpse was flayed,
and Mani's adherents were cruelly persecuted by the king.
_Mani's Writings._--Mani himself composed a large number of works and
epistles, which were in great part still known to the Mahommedan
historians, but are now mostly lost. The later heads of the Manichaean
churches also wrote religious treatises, so that the ancient
Manichaean literature must have been very extensive. According to the
_Fihrist_, Mani made use of the Persian and Syriac languages; but,
like the Oriental Marcionites before him, he invented an alphabet of
his own, which the _Fihrist_ has handed down to us. In this alphabet
the sacred books of the Manichaeans were written, even at a later
period. The _Fihrist_ reckons seven principal works of Mani, six being
in the Syriac and one in the Persian language; regarding some of these
we also have information in Epiphanius, Augustine, Titus of Bostra,
and Photius, as well as in the formula of abjuration (Cotelerius, _PP.
Apost. Opp._ i. 543) and in the _Acta Archelai_. They are (1) _The
Book of Secrets_ (see _Acta Archel._), containing discussions bearing
on the Christian sects spread throughout the East, especially the
Marcionites and Bardesanites, and dealing also with their conception
of the Old and New Testaments; (2) _The Book of the Giants_ (Demons?);
(3) _The Book of Precepts for Hearers_ (probably identical with the
_Epistola Fundamenti_ of Augustine and with the _Book of Chapters_ of
Epiphanius and the _Acta Archelai_; this was the most widely spread
and most popular Manichaean work, having been translated into Greek
and Latin; it contained a short summary of all the doctrines of
fundamental authority); (4) _The Book Shahpurakan_ (Flügel was unable
to explain this name; according to Kessler it signifies "epistle to
King Shapur"; the treatise was of an eschatological character); (5)
_The Book of Quickening_ (Kessler identifies this work with the
"Thesaurus [vitae]" of the _Acta Archelai_, Epiphanius, Photius and
Augustine, and if this be correct it also must have been in use among
the Latin Manichaeans); (6) _The Book [Greek: pragmateia]_ (of unknown
contents); (7) a book in the Persian language, the title of which is
not given in our present text of the _Fihrist_, but which is in all
probability identical with the "holy gospel" of the Manichaeans
(mentioned in the _Acta Archel._ and many other authorities). It was
this work which the Manichaeans set up in opposition to the Gospels.
Besides these principal works, Mani also wrote a large number of
smaller treatises and epistles. The practice of writing epistles was
continued by his successors. These Manichaean dissertations also
became known in the Graeco-Roman Empire, and existed in
collections.[1] There also existed a Manichaean book of memorabilia,
and of prayers, in Greek, as well as many others,[2] all of which were
destroyed by the Christian bishops acting in conjunction with the
authorities. A Manichaean epistle, addressed to one Marcellus, has,
however, been preserved for us in the _Acta Archelai_.[3]
_Manichaean System._--Though the leading features of Manichaean doctrine
can be exhibited clearly even at the present day, and though it is
undoubted that Mani himself drew up a complete system, many details are
nevertheless uncertain, since they are differently described in
different sources, and it often remains doubtful which of the accounts
that have been transmitted to us represents the original teaching of the
founder.
The Manichaean system is one of consistent, uncompromising dualism, in
the form of a fantastic philosophy of nature. The physical and the
ethical are not distinguished, and in this respect the character of the
system is thoroughly materialistic; for when Mani co-ordinates good with
light, and evil with darkness, this is no mere figure of speech, but
light is actually good and darkness evil. From this it follows that
religious knowledge involves the knowledge of nature and her elements,
and that redemption consists in a physical process of freeing the
element of light from the darkness. Under such circumstances ethics
becomes a doctrine of abstinence in regard to all elements which have
their source within the sphere of darkness.
The self-contradictory character of the present world forms the point of
departure for Mani's speculations. This contradiction presents itself to
his mind primarily as elemental, and only in the second instance as
ethical, inasmuch as he considers the sensual nature of man to be the
outflow of the evil elements in nature. From the contradictory character
of the world he concludes the existence of two beings, originally quite
separate from each other--light and darkness. Each is to be thought of
according to the analogy of a kingdom. Light presents itself to us as
the good primal spirit (God, radiant with the ten [twelve] virtues of
love, faith, fidelity, high-mindedness, wisdom, meekness, knowledge,
understanding, mystery and insight), and then further as the heavens of
light and the earth of light, with their guardians the glorious aeons.
Darkness is likewise a spiritual kingdom (more correctly, it also is
conceived of as a spiritual and feminine personification), but it has no
"God" at its head. It embraces an "earth of darkness." As the earth of
light has five tokens (the mild zephyr, cooling wind, bright light,
quickening fire, and clear water), so has the earth of darkness also
five (mist, heat, the sirocco, darkness and vapour). Satan with his
demons was born from the kingdom of darkness. These two kingdoms stood
opposed to each other from all eternity, touching each other on one
side, but remaining unmingled. Then Satan began to rage, and made an
incursion into the kingdom of light, into the earth of light. The God of
light, with his _syzygy_, "the spirit of his right hand," now begot the
primal man, and sent him, equipped with the five pure elements, to fight
against Satan. But the latter proved himself the stronger, and the
primal man was for a moment vanquished. And although the God of light
himself now took to the field, and with the help of new aeons (the
spirit of life, &c.) inflicted total defeat upon Satan, and set the
primal man free; the latter had already been robbed of part of his
light by the darkness, and the five dark elements had already mingled
themselves with the generations of light. It only remained now for the
primal man to descend into the abyss and prevent the further increase of
the generations of darkness by cutting off their roots; but he could not
immediately separate again the elements that had once mingled. These
mixed elements are the elements of the present visible world, which was
formed from them at the command of the God of light. The forming of the
world is in itself the beginning of the deliverance of the imprisoned
elements of light. The world is represented as an orderly structure of
various heavens and various earths, which is borne and supported by the
aeons, the angels of light. It possesses in the sun and moon, which are
in their nature almost quite pure, large reservoirs, in which the
portions of light that have been rescued are stored up. In the sun
dwells the primal man himself, as well as the glorious spirits which
carry on the work of redemption; in the moon the mother of life is
enthroned. The twelve constellations of the zodiac form an ingenious
machine, a great wheel with buckets, which pour into the sun and moon,
those shining ships that sail continually through space, the portions of
light set free from the world. Here they are purified anew, and attain
finally to the kingdom of pure light and to God Himself. The later
Western Manichaeans termed those portions of light which are scattered
throughout the world--in its elements and organisms--awaiting their
deliverance, the _Jesus patibilis_.
It is significant of the materialistic and pessimistic character of the
system that, while the formation of the world is considered as a work of
the good spirits, the creation of man is referred to the princes of
darkness. The first man, Adam, was engendered by Satan in conjunction
with "sin," "cupidity," "desire." But the spirit of darkness drove into
him all the portions of light he had stolen, in order to be able to
dominate them the more securely. Hence Adam is a discordant being,
created in the image of Satan, but carrying within him the stronger
spark of light. Eve is given him by Satan as his companion. She is
seductive sensuousness, though also having in her a small spark of
light. But if the first human beings thus stood entirely under the
dominion of the devil, the glorious spirits took them under their care
from the very outset, sending aeons down to them (including Jesus), who
instructed them regarding their nature, and in particular warned Adam
against sensuality. But this first man fell under the temptation of
sexual desire. Cain and Abel indeed are not sons of Adam, but of Satan
and Eve; Seth, however, who is full of light, is the offspring of Adam
by Eve. Thus did mankind come into existence, its various members
possessing very different shares of light, but the men having uniformly
a larger measure of it than the women. In the course of history the
demons sought to bind men to themselves by means of sensuality, error
and false religions (among which is to be reckoned above all the
religion of Moses and the prophets), while the spirits of light carried
on their process of distillation with the view of gaining the pure light
which exists in the world. But these good spirits can only save men by
imparting to them the true _gnosis_ concerning nature and her forces,
and by calling them away from the service of darkness and sensuality. To
this end prophets, preachers of true knowledge, have been sent into the
world. Mani, following the example of the gnostic Jewish Christians,
appears to have held Adam, Noah, Abraham (perhaps Zoroaster and Buddha)
to be such prophets. Probably Jesus was also accounted a prophet who had
descended from the world of light--not, however, the historical Jesus,
the devilish Messiah of the Jews, but a contemporaneous phantom Jesus,
who neither suffered nor died (_Jesus impatibilis_). According to the
teaching of some Manichaeans, it was the primal man who disseminated the
true gnosis in the character of Christ. But at all events Mani himself,
on his own claim, is to be reckoned the last and greatest prophet, who
took up the work of Jesus impatibilis and of Paul (for he too finds
recognition), and first brought full knowledge. He is the "leader," the
"ambassador of the light," the "Paraclete." It is only through his
agency and that of his imitators, "the elect," that the separation of
the light from the darkness can be completed. The system contains very
fantastic descriptions of the processes by which the portions of light
when once set free finally ascend even to the God of light. He who
during his lifetime did not become one of the elect, who did not
completely redeem himself, has to go through a severe process of
purification on the other side of the grave, till he too is gathered to
the blessedness of the light. It is erroneous, however, to ascribe, as
has been done, a doctrine of transmigration to the Manichaeans. Of
course men's bodies as well as the souls of the unsaved, who according
to the oldest conception have in them no light whatever, fall under the
sway of the powers of darkness. A later view, adapted to the Christian
one, represents the portions of light in the unsaved as actually
becoming lost. When the elements of light have at last been completely,
or as far as possible, delivered from the world, the end of all things
comes. All glorious spirits assemble, the God of light himself appears,
accompanied by the aeons and the perfected just ones. The angels
supporting the world withdraw themselves from their burden, and
everything falls in ruins. A tremendous conflagration consumes the
world; the perfect separation of the two powers takes place once more;
high above is the kingdom of light, again brought into a condition of
completeness, and deep below is the (? now powerless) darkness.
_Ethics, Social Polity and Worship of the Manichaeans._--On the basis
of such a cosmical philosophy, ethics can only have a dualistic
ascetic character. Manichaean ethics is not merely negative, however,
since it is necessary to cherish, strengthen and purify the elements
of light, as well as free oneself from the elements of darkness. The
aim is not self-destruction, but self-preservation; and yet the ethics
of Manichaeism appears in point of fact as thoroughly ascetic. The
Manichaean had, above all, to refrain from sensual enjoyment, shutting
himself up against it by three seals--the _signaculum oris_, _manus_
and _sinus_. The _signaculum oris_ forbids all eating of unclean food
(which included all bodies of animals, wine, &c.--vegetable diet being
allowed because plants contained more light, though the killing of
plants, or even plucking their fruit and breaking their twigs, was not
permitted), as well as all impure speech. The _signaculum manus_
prohibits all traffic with things generally, in so far as they carry
in them elements of darkness. Finally, by the _signaculum sinus_ every
gratification of sexual desire, and hence also marriage, are
forbidden. Besides all this, life was further regulated by an
exceedingly rigorous system of fasts. Certain astronomical
conjunctions determined the selection of the fast-days, which in their
total number amounted to nearly a quarter of the year. Sunday was
regularly solemnized as one, and the practice was also generally
observed on Monday. Hours of prayer were determined with equal
exactness. The Manichaean had to pray four times a day, each prayer
being preceded by ablutions. The worshipper turned towards the sun, or
the moon, or the north, as the seat of light; but it is erroneous to
conclude from this, as has been done, that in Manichaeism the sun and
moon were themselves objects of worship. Forms of prayer used by the
Manichaeans have been preserved to us in the _Fihrist_. The prayers
are addressed to the God of light, to the whole kingdom of light, to
the glorious angels, and to Mani himself, who is apostrophized in them
as "the great tree, which is all salvation." According to Kessler,
these prayers are closely related to the Mandaean and the ancient
Babylonian hymns. An asceticism so strict and painful as that demanded
by Manichaeism could only be practised by few; hence the religion must
have abandoned all attempts at an extensive propaganda had it not
conceded the principle of a twofold morality. A distinction was made
in the community between the _electi_ (_perfecti_), the perfect
Manichaeans, and the _catechumeni_ (_auditores_), the secular
Manichaeans. Only the former submitted themselves to all the demands
made by their religion; for the latter the stringency of the precepts
was relaxed. They had to avoid idolatry, sorcery, avarice, falsehood,
fornication, &c.; above all, they were not allowed to kill any living
being (the ten commandments of Mani). They had also to free themselves
as much as possible from the world; but in truth they lived very much
as their non-Manichaean fellow-citizens. We have here essentially the
same condition of things as in the Catholic Church, where a twofold
morality was also in force, that of the religious orders and that of
secular Christians--only that the position of the electi in
Manichaeism was a more distinguished one than that of the monks in
Catholicism. For, after all, the Christian monks never quite forgot
that salvation is given by God through Christ, whereas the Manichaean
_electi_ were actually themselves redeemers. Hence it was the duty of
the _auditores_ to pay the greatest respect and most assiduous
attention to the _electi_. These "perfect ones," wasting away under
their asceticism, were objects of admiration and of the most elaborate
solicitude.[4] Food was presented to them in abundance, and by their
eating it the _electi_ set free the portions of light from the
vegetables. They prayed for the _auditores_, they blessed them and
interceded for them, thereby shortening the process of purification
the latter had to pass through after death. It was only the _electi_,
too, who possessed full knowledge of religious truths, a point of
distinction from Catholicism.
The distinction between _electi_ and _auditores_, however, does not
exhaust the conception of the Manichaean Church; on the contrary, the
latter possessed a hierarchy of three ranks, so that there were
altogether five gradations in the community. These were regarded as a
copy of the ranks of the kingdom of light. At the head stood the
_teachers_ ("the sons of meekness," Mani himself and his successors);
then follow the _administrators_ ("the sons of knowledge," the
bishops); then the _elders_ ("the sons of understanding," the
presbyters); the _electi_ ("the sons of mystery"); and finally the
_auditores_ ("the sons of insight"). The number of the _electi_ must
always have been small. According to Augustine the teachers were
twelve and the bishops seventy-two in number. One of the teachers
appears to have occupied the position of superior at the head of the
whole Manichaean Church. At least Augustine speaks of such a
personage, and the _Fihrist_ also has knowledge of a chief of all
Manichaeans. The constitution, therefore, had a monarchic head.
The worship of the Manichaeans must have been very simple, and must
have essentially consisted of prayers, hymns and ceremonies of
adoration. This simple service promoted the secret dissemination of
their doctrines. The Manichaeans too, at least in the West, appear to
have adapted themselves to the Church's system of festivals. The
_electi_ celebrated special feasts; but the principal festival with
all classes was the _Bema_ ([Greek: bêma]), the feast of the
"teacher's chair," held in commemoration of the death of Mani in the
month of March. The faithful prostrated themselves before an adorned
but empty chair, which was raised upon a podium of five steps. Long
fasts accompanied the feasts. The Christian and Mahommedan historians
could learn little of the Manichaean mysteries and "sacraments," and
hence the former charged them with obscene rites and abominable
usages. It may be held as undoubted that the later Manichaeans
celebrated mysteries analogous to Christian baptism and the Lord's
Supper, which may have rested upon ancient consecration rites and
other ceremonies instituted by Mani himself and having their origin in
nature worship.
_Recent Discoveries._--F. Cumont (_Revue d'histoire et de littérature
religieuse_, t. xii., 1907, No. 2) showed that one at least of the
fundamental myths of Mani was borrowed from the Avesta, namely, that
which recounts how through the manifestation of the virgin of light and
of the messenger of salvation to the libidinous princes of darkness the
vital substance or light held captive in their limbs was liberated and
recovered for the realm of light. The legend of the _Omophorus_ and
_Splenditeneus_, rival giants who sustain earth and luminous heavens on
their respective shoulders, even if it already figures in the cuneiform
texts of Assyria, is yet to be traced in Mithraic bas-reliefs. It also
may therefore have come to Mani through Magian channels.
When, however, we turn to the numerous fragments of authentic Manichaean
liturgies and hymns lately discovered in Turfan in East Turkestan,
Mani's direct indebtedness to the cycle of Magian legends rather than to
Chaldaic sources (as Kessler argued) is clearly exhibited.
In fr. 472, taken from the Shapurakan, as part of a description of the
sun-god in his ship or reservoir the sun, we have a mention of Az and
Ahriman and the devas (demons), the Pairikas. Az in the Avestan
mythology was the demon serpent who murders Gayomert in the old
Persian legend, and an ally of Ahriman, as also are the _Pairikas_ or
Peris. In the same fragment we read of the ruin of _Azidahaka
Mazainya_, which name Darmesteter interprets in the Persian sources as
the demon serpent, the sorcerer (_Ormazd et Ahriman_, Paris, 1877, p.
157). In fr. 470, descriptive of the conflagration of the world, we
read of how, after Az and the demons have been struck down, the pious
man is purified and led up to sun and moon and to the being of Ahura
Mazda, the Divine.
In another fragment (388) of a hymn Mani describes himself as "the
first stranger" (cf. Matt. xxv. 43), the son of the god Zarvan, the
Ruler-Child. In the orthodox literature of fire-worship Zarvan was
Time or Destiny. Later on Zarvan was elevated to the position of
supreme principle, creator of Ormazd and Ahriman, and, long before
Mani, Zarvan accompanied Mithras in all his westward migrations.
In fr. 20, in an enumeration of angels, we hear of Narsus, who may be
the Neryosang (Armenian Nerses or Narsai) of the Avesta. The other
angels are Jacob, the mighty angel and leader of angels, the Lord Bar
Simus, Qaftinus the mighty, Raphael, Gabriel, Michael, Sarael and
Nastikus--a truly Catholic list.
In fr. 4 a rubric enjoins the recital of the hymn of the _Frasegerd_.
Here we recognize a technical term of the Avesta--namely, the
"Frasho-kereti," that is the reanimation of the world or resurrection
of the dead (Darmesteter, _op. cit._, p. 239). In this hymn we read
how the gods shall release us from this sinful time, from the
oppression of this world. In fr. 4, under the rubric Bar Simus, we
find the god Mihir (Mihryazd), the liberator, the compassionate,
invoked along with Fredon, the good; and later on we read as follows:
"with his mighty glance may the god of pure name, Predon, the king and
Jacob Nareman, protect religion and us the sons." Mihr or Mithras and
Feridoun or Thraetaona, the slayer of Ajis (or Azi) Dahaka, also
Nariman, spelled Nairimanau, are familiar figures in the old Persian
pantheon. In the same prayer the votary begs that "new blessing may
come, new victory from the god Zarvan over the glories and angels, the
spirits of this world, to the end that he accept our holy religion,
become a watcher within and without, helper and protector," and the
prayer ends thus: "I invoke the angels, the strong ones, the mighty,
Raphael, Michael, Gabriel, Sarael, who shall protect us from all
adversity, and free us from the wicked Ahriman."
In fr. 176 Jesus is invoked: "Jesus, of the gods first new moon, thou
art God.... Jesus, O Lord, of waxing fame full moon, O Jesus. Lord ...
light, our hearts' prayer. Jesus, God and Vahman. Sheen God! We will
praise the God Naresaf. Mar Mani will we bless. O new moon and spring.
Lord, we will bless. The angels, the gods ... New sun, Mihr."
In the above Vahman is Vohu Mano, the good thought or inspiration of
the Zoroastrian religion. Mihr is Mithras. The god Naresaf is also
invoked in other fragments.
In fr. 74 is invoked, together with Jesus and Mani, the "strong mighty
Zrosch, the redeemer of souls." In the Avesta Sraosha is the angel
that guards the world at night from demons, and is styled "the
righteous" or "the strong."
Fr. 38 is as follows: "Mithras (MS. Mitra) great ... messenger of the
gods, mediator (or interpreter) of religion, of the elect one
Jesus--virgin of light. Mar Mani, Jesus--virgin of light, Mar Mani. Do
thou in me make peace, O light-bringer, mayest thou redeem my soul
from this born-dead (existence)."
Fr. 543 runs thus: "... and ladder of the Mazdean faith. Thou, new
teacher of Chorasan (of the East), and promoter of those that have the
good faith. For thou wast born under a glittering star in the family
of the rulers. Elect are these--Jesus and Vahman."
The above examples bear out Mani's own declaration, as reported by the
_Fihrist_, that his faith was a blend of the old Magian cult with
Christianity. Whether the Hebrew names of angels came to him direct from
the Jews or not we cannot tell, but they were, as the Greek magical
papyri prove, widely diffused among the Gentiles long before his age.
The Armenian writer Eznik (c. 425) also attests that Mani's teaching was
merely that of the Magi, _plus_ an ascetic morality, for which they
hated and slew him.
Just as the background of Christianity was formed by the Hebrew
scriptures, and just as the Hebrew legends of the creation became the
basis of its scheme of human redemption from evil, so the Avesta, with
its quaint cosmogony and myths, formed the background of Mani's new
faith. He seems to have quarrelled with the later Magism because it was
not dualistic enough, for in fr. 28 we have such a passage as the
following: "They also that adore the fire, the burning, by this they
themselves recognize that their end shall be in fire. And they say that
Ormuzd and Ahriman are brothers, and in consequence of this saying they
shall come to annihilation." In the same fragment the Christians are
condemned as worshippers of idols, unless indeed the writer has genuine
pagans in view. There is a mention of Marcion in the same context, but
it is unintelligible. There can be no doubt that in the form in which
Mani became acquainted with it Christianity had been disengaged and
liberated from the womb of Judaism which gave it birth. This
presentation of it as an ethical system of universal import was the
joint work of Paul and Marcion.
It remains to add that in these newly found fragments Mani styles
himself "the apostle (_lit._ the sent forth) of Jesus the friend in the
love of the Father, of God." He uses the formula: "Praise and laud to
the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit." In fr. 4 he attests that he
was sprung from the land Babel; in fr. 566 that he was a physician from
the land Babel. Fr. 3 recounts his interview with King Shapur I. The
Gospel of Peter seems to have been in use, for one lengthy citation is
taken from it in fr. 18. The Manichaeans of Chinese Turkestan also used
a version of the _Shepherd_ of Hermas. Several of the hymns (e.g. in fr.
7 and 32) reproduce the ideas and almost the phases of the Syriac "Hymn
of the Soul," so confirming the hypothesis that Mani was influenced by
Bardesanes.
With the exception of a few fragments written in a Pehlevi dialect,
all this recovered Manichaean literature is in the Ouigour or Vigur
dialect of Tatar. The alphabet used is the one adapted by Mani himself
from the Syriac estrangelo. The fragments are 800 in number, both on
paper and vellum, written and adorned with the pious care and good
taste which the Manichaeans are known to have bestowed on their
manuscripts. They were brought back by Professor Grünwedel and Dr Huth
from Turfan in East Turkestan, and were partly translated by Dr F. W.
K. Müller in the _Abhandtungen der k. preuss. Akademie der
Wissenschaften_ (Berlin, 1904). Much of this literature is still left
in Turfan, where the natives use the sheets of Vigur and Chinese
vellum MSS. as window-panes in their huts. The Russian and German
governments have sent out fresh expeditions to rescue what is left
before it is too late. We may thus hope to recover some priceless
monuments of early Christianity, hymns and treatises perhaps of
Marcion and Bardesanes, the Gospel of Peter, and even the Diatessaron.
Müller's translations includes a long extract of Mani's book called
_Schapurakan_, parts of his _Evangelium_, and epistles, with
liturgies, hymns and prayers, for Tatar Khans who espoused the faith
in Khorasan.
_Manichaeism and Christianity._--It is very difficult to determine what
was the extent of Mani's knowledge of Christianity, how much he himself
borrowed from it, and through what channels it reached him. It is
certain that Manichaeism, in those districts where it was brought much
into contact with Christianity, became additionally influenced by the
latter at a very early period. The Western Manichaeans of the 4th and
5th centuries are much more like Christians than their Eastern brethren.
In this respect Manichaeism experienced the same kind of development as
Neo-Platonism. As regards Mani himself, it is safest to assume that he
held both Judaism and Catholic Christianity to be entirely false
religions. It is indeed true that he not only described himself as the
promised Paraclete--for this designation probably originated with
himself--but also conceded a high place in his system to "Jesus"; we can
only conclude from this, however, that he distinguished between
Christianity and Christianity. The religion which had proceeded from the
historical Jesus he repudiated together with its founder, and
Catholicism as well as Judaism he looked upon as a religion of the
devil. But he distinguished between the Jesus of darkness and the Jesus
of light who had lived and acted contemporaneously with the former. This
distinction agrees with that made by the gnostic Basilides no less
strikingly than the Manichaean criticism of the Old Testament does with
that propounded by the Marcionites (see the _Acta Archelai_, in which
Mani is made to utter the antitheses of Marcion). Finally, the
Manichaean doctrines exhibit points of similarity to those of the
Christian Elkesaites. The historical relation of Mani to Christianity is
then as follows. From Catholicism, which he very probably had no
detailed knowledge of, he borrowed nothing, rejecting it as devilish
error. On the other hand, he looked upon what he considered to be
Christianity proper--that is, Christianity as it had been developed
among the sects of Basilidians, Marcionites, and perhaps Bardesanites,
as a comparatively valuable and sound religion. He took from it the
moral teaching of the Sermon on the Mount, and a criticism of the Old
Testament and of Judaism so far as he required it. Indications of the
influence of Marcionitism are found in the high estimation in which Mani
held the apostle Paul, and in the fact that he explicitly rejects the
Book of Acts. Mani appears to have given recognition to a portion of the
historical matter of the Gospels, and to have interpreted it in
accordance with his own doctrine.
_Manichaeism and Buddhism._--It remains to be asked whether Buddhistic
elements can also be detected in Manichaeism. Most modern scholars since
F. C. Baur have answered this question in the affirmative. According to
Kessler, Mani made use of the teaching of Buddha, at least as far as
ethics was concerned. It cannot be doubted that Mani, who undertook long
journeys as far as India, knew of Buddhism. The name Buddha (Buddas)
which occurs in the legendary account of Mani, and perhaps in the
latter's own writings, indicates further that he had occupied his
attention with Buddhism when engaged in the work of founding his new
religion. But his borrowings from this source must have been quite
insignificant. A detailed comparison shows the difference between
Buddhism and Manichaeism in all their principal doctrines to be very
great, while it becomes evident that the points of resemblance are
almost everywhere accidental. This is also true of the ethics and the
asceticism of the two systems. There is not a single point in
Manichaeism which demands for its explanation an appeal to Buddhism.
Such being the case, the relationship between the two religions remains
a mere possibility, a possibility which the inquiry of Geyler (_Das
System des Manichaeismus und sein Verhältniss zum Buddhismus_, Jena,
1875) has not been able to elevate into a probability.
_The Secret of Manichaeism._--How are we to explain the rapid spread of
Manichaeism, and the fact that it really became one of the great
religions? What gave it strength was that it united an ancient mythology
and a thorough-going materialistic dualism with an exceedingly simple
spiritual worship and a strict morality. On comparing it with the
Semitic religions of nature we perceive that it was free from their
sensuous _cultus_, substituting instead a spiritual worship as well as a
strict morality. Manichaeism was thus able to satisfy the new wants of
an old world. It offered revelation, redemption, moral virtue and
immortality, spiritual benefits on the basis of the religion of nature.
A further source of strength lay in the simple yet firm social
organization which was given by Mani himself to his new institution. The
wise man and the ignorant, the enthusiast and the man of the world,
could all find acceptance here, and there was laid on no one more than
he was able and willing to bear. Each one, however, was attached and led
onward by the prospect of a higher rank to be attained, while the
intellectually gifted had an additional inducement in the assurance that
they did not require to submit themselves to any authority, but would be
led to God by pure reason. Thus adapted from the first to individual
requirements, this religion also showed itself able to appropriate from
time to time foreign elements. Originally furnished from fragments of
various religions, it could increase or diminish this possession without
rupturing its own elastic framework. And, after all, great adaptability
is just as necessary for a universal religion as a divine founder in
whom the highest revelation of God may be seen and reverenced.
Manichaeism indeed, though it applies the title "redeemer" to Mani, has
really no knowledge of a redeemer, but only of a physical and gnostic
process of redemption; on the other hand, it possesses in Mani the
supreme prophet of God. If we consider in conclusion that Manichaeism
gave a simple, apparently profound, and yet convenient solution of the
problem of good and evil, a problem that had become peculiarly
oppressive to the human race in the 2nd and 3rd centuries, we shall have
named the most important factors which account for the rapid spread of
the system.
_Sketch of the History of Manichaeism._--Manichaeism first gained a firm
footing in the East, i.e. in Persia, Mesopotamia and Transoxiana. The
persecutions it had to endure did not hinder its extension. The seat of
the Manichaean pope was for centuries in Babylon, at a later period in
Samarkand. Even after the conquests of Islam the Manichaean Church
continued to maintain itself, indeed it seems to have become still more
widely diffused by the victorious campaigns of the Mahommedans, and it
frequently gained secret adherents among the latter themselves. Its
doctrine and discipline underwent little change in the East; in
particular, it drew no nearer to the Christian religion. More than once,
however, Manichaeism experienced attempts at reformation; for of course
the _auditores_ very easily became worldly in character, and movements of
reformation led temporarily to divisions and the formation of sects.
Towards the close of the 10th century, at the time the _Fihirst_ was
written, the Manichaeans in Mesopotamia and Persia had already been in
large measure ousted from the towns, and had withdrawn to the villages.
But in Turkestan, and as far as the Chinese frontier, there existed
numerous Manichaean communities and even whole tribes that had adopted
the name of Mani. Probably it was the great migrations of the Mongolian
race that first put an end to Manichaeism in Central Asia. But even in
the 15th century there were Manichaeans living beside the
Thomas-Christians on the coast of Malabar in India (see Germann, _Die
Thomas-Christen_, 1875). Manichaeism first penetrated the Greek-Roman
Empire about the year 280, in the time of the emperor Probus (see the
_Chronicon_ of Eusebius). If we may take the edict of Diocletian against
the Manichaeans as genuine, the system must have gained a firm footing in
the West by the beginning of the 4th century, but we know that as late as
about the year 325 Eusebius had not any accurate knowledge of the sect.
It was only subsequent to about 330 that Manichaeism spread rapidly in
the Roman Empire. Its adherents were recruited on the one hand from the
old gnostic sects (especially from the Marcionites--Manichaeism exerted
besides this a strong influence on the development of the Marcionite
churches of the 4th century), on the other hand from the large number of
the "cultured," who were striving after a "rational" and yet in some
manner Christian religion. Its polemics and its criticism of the Catholic
Church now became the strong side of Manichaeism, especially in the West.
It admitted the stumbling-blocks which the Old Testament offers to every
intelligent reader, and gave itself out as a Christianity without the Old
Testament. Instead of the subtle Catholic theories concerning divine
predestination and human freedom, and instead of a difficult theodicaea,
it offered an exceedingly simple conception of sin and goodness. The
doctrine of the incarnation of God, which was especially objectionable to
those who were going over to the new universal religion from the old
cults, was not proclaimed by Manichaeism. In its rejection of this
doctrine Manichaeism agreed with Neo-Platonism; but, while the latter,
notwithstanding all its attempts to conform itself to Christianity, could
find no formula by which to inaugurate within its own limits the special
veneration of Christ, the Western Manichaeans succeeded in giving their
teaching a Christian tinge. The only part of the Manichaean mythology
that became popular was the crude, physical dualism. The barbaric
elements were judiciously screened from view as a "mystery"; they were,
indeed, here and there explicitly disavowed even by the initiated. The
farther Manichaeism advanced into the West the more Christian and
philosophic did it become. In Syria it maintained itself in comparative
purity. In North Africa it found its most numerous adherents, gaining
secret support even among the clergy. Augustine was an _auditor_ for nine
years, while Faustus was at that time the most esteemed Manichaean
teacher in the West. Augustine in his later writings against the
Manichaeans deals chiefly with the following problems: (1) the relation
between knowledge and faith, and between reason and authority; (2) the
nature of good and evil, and the origin of the latter; (3) the existence
of free will, and its relation to the divine omnipotence; (4) the
relation of the evil in the world to the divine government.
The Christian Byzantine and Roman emperors, from Valens onwards, enacted
strict laws against the Manichaeans. But at first these bore little
fruit. The _auditores_ were difficult to trace out, and besides they
really gave little occasion for persecution. In Rome itself between 370
and 440 Manichaeism gained a large amount of support, especially among
the scholars and public teachers. It also made its way into the life of
the people by means of a popular literature in which the apostles were
made to play a prominent part (_Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles_).
Manichaeism in the West had also some experience of attempts at
reformation from the ascetic side, but of these we know little. In Rome
Leo the Great was the first who took energetic measures, along with the
state authorities, against the system. Valentinian III. decreed
banishment against its adherents, Justinian the punishment of death. In
North Africa Manichaeism appears to have been extinguished by the
persecution of the Vandals. But it still continued to exist elsewhere,
both in the Byzantine Empire and in the West, and in the earlier part of
the middle ages it gave an impulse to the formation of new sects, which
remained related to it. And if it has not been quite proved that so
early as the 4th century the Priscillianists of Spain were influenced by
Manichaeism, it is at least undoubted that the Paulicians and Bogomiles,
as well as the Catharists and the Albigenses, are to be traced back to
Manichaeism (and Marcionitism). Thus the system, not indeed of Mani the
Persian, but of Manichaeism as modified by Christian influences,
accompanied the Catholic Church until the 13th century.
_Sources._--(a) Oriental. Among the sources for a history of
Manichaeism the most important are the Oriental. Of these the
Mahommedan, though of comparatively late date, are distinguished by
the excellent manner in which they have been transmitted to us, as
well as by their impartiality. They must be named first, because
ancient Manichaean writings have been used in their construction. At
the head of all stands En-Nedim, _Fihrist_ (c. 980), ed. by Flügel
(1871-1872); cf. the latter's work _Mani, seine Lehre u. seine
Schriften_ (1862). See also Shahrastani, _Kitab al-milal wan-nuhal_
(12th cent.), ed. by Cureton (1846) and translated into German by
Haarbrücker (1851), and individual notes and excerpts by Tabari (10th
cent.), Al-Biruni (11th cent.), and other Arabian and Persian
historians. Next come the Turfan fragments described in the body of
this article. See also W. Brandt, _Schriften aus der Genza oder Sidva
Rabba_ (Göttingen, 1893).
Of the Christian Orientals those that afford most information are
Ephraem Syrus (d. 373), in various writings; the Armenian Esnik
(German translation by J. M. Schmid, Vienna, 1900, see also _Zeitsch.
f. hist. Theol._, 1840, ii.; Langlois, _Collection_, ii. 375 seq.),
who wrote in the 5th century against Marcion and Mani; and the
Alexandrian patriarch Eutychius (d. 916), _Annales_, ed. Pococke
(1628). There are, besides, scattered pieces of information in
Aphraates (4th cent.), Barhebraeus (13th cent.) and others. The newly
found Syriac _Book of Scholia_ of Theodor bar Khouni (see Pognon, _Les
Coupes de Kouabir_, Paris, 1898) gives many details about Mani's
teaching (also ed. without translation by Dr M. Lewin, Berlin, 1905).
(b) Greek and Latin. The earliest mention of the Manichaeans in the
Graeco-Roman Empire is to be found in an edict of Diocletian (see
Hänel, _Cod. Gregor._, tit. xv.), which is held by some to be
spurious, while others assign it to one or other of the years 287,
290, 296, 308 (so Mason, _The Persec. of Diocl._, pp. 275 seq.).
Eusebius gives a short account of the sect (_H. E._, vii. 31). It was
the _Acta Archelai_, however, that became the principal source on the
subject of Manichaeism for Greek and Roman writers. These _Acta_ are
not indeed what they give themselves out for, viz. an account of a
disputation held between Mani and the bishop Archelaus of Cascar, in
Mesopotamia; but they nevertheless contain much that is trustworthy,
especially regarding the doctrine of Mani, and they also include
Manichaean documents. They consist of various distinct pieces, and
originated in the beginning of the 4th century, probably at Edessa.
They were translated as early as the first half of the same century
from the Syriac (as is maintained by Jerome, _De vir. illust._, 72;
though this is doubted by modern scholars) into Greek, and soon
afterwards into Latin. It is only this secondary Latin version that we
possess (ed. by C. H. Beeson; Leipzig, 1906, under title _Hegemonius
acta Archelai_); earlier editions, Zacagni (1698); Routh, _Reliquiae
sac._, vol. v. (1848); translated in Clark's _Ante-Nicene Library_,
vol. xx.; small fragments of the Greek version have been preserved.
Regarding the _Acta Archelai_, see Zittwitz in _Zeitschr. f. d.
histor. Theol._ (1873) and Oblasinski, _Acta disp. Arch. el Manetis_
(1874). In the form in which we now possess them, they are a
compilation after the pattern of the _Clementine Homilies_, and have
been subjected to manifold redactions. These _Acta_ were used by Cyril
of Jerusalem (_Catech._ 6), Epiphanius (_Haer._ 66), and a great
number of other writers. All the Greek and Latin heresiologists have
included the Manichaeans in their catalogues; but they seldom adduce
any independent information regarding them (see Theodoret, _Haer.
fab._ i. 26). Important matter is to be found in the resolutions of
the councils from the 4th century onwards (see Mansi, _Acta concil._,
and Hefele, _Conciliengeschichte_, vols. i.-iii.), and also in the
controversial writings of Titus of Bostra (6th century), [Greek: Pros
Manichaious] (ed. Lagarde, 1859), and of Alexander of Lycopolis
[Greek: Logos pros tas Manichaiou doxas] (ed. Combefis; transl. in
_Ante-Nic. Lib._, vol. xiv.). Of the Byzantines, the most worthy of
mention are John of Damascus (_De haeres._ and _Dialog._) and Photius
(_cod._ 179 _Biblioth._). The struggle with the Paulicians and the
Bogomiles, who were often simply identified with the Manichaeans,
again directed attention to the latter. In the West the works of
Augustine are the great repertory for information on the subject of
Manichaeism (_Contra epistolam Manichaei, quam vocant fundamenti_;
_Contra Faustum Manichaeum_; _Contra Fortunatum_; _Contra Adimantum_;
_Contra Secundinum_; _De actis cum Felice Manichaeo_; _De genesi c.
Manichaeos_; _De natura boni_; _De duabus animabus_; _De utilitate
credendi_; _De moribus eccl. cathol. et de moribus Manichaeorum_; _De
haeres._). The more complete the picture, however, which may here be
obtained of Manichaeism, the more cautious must we be in making
generalizations from it, for it is beyond doubt that Western
Manichaeism adopted Christian elements which are wanting in the
original and in the Oriental Manichaeism. The "Dispute of Paul the
Persian with a Manichaean" in Migne _P.G._, 88, col. 529-578 (first
ed. by A. Mai) is shown by G. Mercati, _Studi e testi_ (Rome, 1901) to
be the _procès verbal_ of an actual discussion held under Justinian at
Constantinople in 527.
LITERATURE.--The most important works on Manichaeism are Beausobre,
_Hist. critique de Manichée et du Manichéisme_ (2 vols., 1734 seq.;
the Christian elements in Manichaeism are here strongly, indeed too
strongly, emphasized); Baur, _Das manich. Religionssystem_ (1831; in
this work Manichaean speculation is exhibited from a speculative
standpoint); Flügel, _Mani_ (1862; a very careful investigation on the
basis of the _Fihrist_); Kessler, _Untersuchung zur Genesis des
manich. Religionssystems_ (1876); and the article "Mani, Manichäer,"
by the same writer in Herzog-Hauck's _R.E._, xii. 193-228; Kessler,
_Mani_ (2 vols., Berlin, 1889, 1903); Ernest Rochat, _Essai sur Mani
et sa doctrine_ (Geneva, 1897); _Recherches sur le manichéisme: I. La
cosmogonie manichéisme d'après Théodore Bar Khôui_, by Franz Cumont
(Brussels, 1908); _II. Fragments syriaques d'ouvrages manichéens_, by
Kugener and F. Cumont. _III. Les Formules grecques d'abjuration
imposées aux manichéens_, by F. Cumont. The accounts of Mosheim,
Lardner, Walch and Schröckh, as well as the monograph by Trechsel,
_Ueber Kanon, Kritik und Exegese der Manichäer_ (1832), may also be
mentioned as still useful. The various researches which have been made
regarding Parsism, the ancient Semitic religions, Gnosticism, &c., are
of the greatest importance for the investigation of Manichaeism.
(A. Ha.; F. C. C.)