Re: Manichaeism (was OT LWII etc)

On Thu, 19 Jun 2003, Roger Mills wrote:

> > The Religion of Light = Manichaeism?
>
> The question was not entirely out of order, though I don't know if M. was
> ever actually called the Religion of Light.  Mani did consider himself the
> "Prophet of Light", and his syncretic religion apparely became very popular
> in Central Asia-- my source goes on to say: "In 719 there was a Manichean
> church in Peking and the Manichees were strong in central and western Asia
> until the 13th C. when it would appear that they were wiped out during the
> Mongol conquests."
 IIRC, there were Manichees in China who survived the Mongol conquests. I
have seen it said (though I do not have the source) that the Ming dynasty
who replaced the Mongols had Manichean affinities in its early days, hence
the name Ming (Bright), though as far as I know they were not Manichaean
when in power--it was more a matter of their having had connections with a
Manichaean-influenced secret society in the days of the anti-Mongol
revolt.