Suppression of Manichaeism (Rome, Persia, China)
276–14th c.
attested. Attested. The extent of late Chinese survivals is partly traditional.
Mani's universal religion was persecuted from both sides. Bahram I executed Mani (c. 276). Diocletian's rescript (302) ordered Manichaean leaders burned. Christian emperors made it a capital crime. Later it flourished as the state religion of the Uyghur khaganate (762–840) before Tang China's 843–845 suppression.
Sides
Manichaeans
Leaders: Mani, Mar Ammo, Adda, Faustus of Milevis, Uyghur khagan Bögü
A dualist universal religion of Light and Darkness that claims Jesus, Zoroaster and Buddha as predecessors.
Opponents
Leaders: Kartir, Bahram I, Diocletian, Augustine (ex-auditor), Theodosian emperors, Tang Wuzong
Manichaeism is a foreign, immoral or seditious sect.
Councils and places
- Kellis (Ismant el-Kharab, Dakhla Oasis) 4th
- Theveste (Tebessa): Latin Manichaean codex 4th–5th
- Carthage (Faustus of Milevis and Augustine) 4th
- Ordu-Baliq (Karabalgasun), Uyghur capital 8th–9th
- Qocho (Gaochang), Turfan oasis 9th–13th
- Cao'an temple, Jinjiang near Quanzhou 12th–16th
- Seleucia-Ctesiphon (cross-reference) 3rd–8th
Outcome
The religion was eradicated in the Roman West by the 6th century and in the Islamic world after Abbasid persecution (zindiqs, 8th–10th c.). It survived in Central Asia and southern China.
What happened to the losers
Small communities lasted in Fujian (the Cao'an shrine) into the Ming period. 'Manichaean' remained a stock label for later dualist heretics. The Medinet Madi, Kellis and Turfan finds and the Cologne Mani Codex now let Manichaeans speak in their own words.