Szilágyi András (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 23. (Budapest, 2004)

Gábor KÓSA: Extatic Flight and the Realm of Light. Changes in the Estimation of Chinese Manichaeism as mirrored in its relationship with Shamanism

*ttiffiR*r#-r: " (Hymn-scroll 51); "The Pure Land of Nirvana - niepan (jing) guotu. :

j§M<c&)W±-" {Hymn-scroll 119, 389). We may also mention the Land of Light (middlePersian and Parthian zamlg rösn [zmyg rwsn], Sogdian roxsnâ-zây), being magic (Sogdian qrjy'wr) and eternal (Sogdian nose), as an analogy. Also see the description of the M178 I Sogdian fragment (Henning 1947-1948, pp. 307-308; Asmussen 1975, pp. 116-117; Gharib 2000, p. 261). 33 According to the Manichaean concept, the Father of Light possesses four fundamental attributes ("Divinity, Light, Power and Wisdom"). Almost invariably, in Chinese sources the first attribute is referred to as "Sacred" (that is, divine) or Purity (free of defilements): Sheng, Guangming. Dali, Hui M • WH -ktl-M (Hymn-scroll, 108); Qingjing, Guangming, Dali, Hui in if ' ifcfl - JZtl*M (the inscription [dating back to 1445] on the stone standing west of the entrance of the Manichaean shrine situated on the slope of the Huabiao Mountain, in the vicinity of Quanzhou). In the Chinese version of the above description, the term "eight characters" appear; therefore, I translated these four terms in eight words. 34 Haiqiong Bo zhenren yulu iSftftftÀïSil 1.8b-9a; l.lla-12a. (Also see Lieu 1992, pp. 291-292.) 35 For the ambiguous relationship of Taoism to folk religion and shamanism, see Seidel 1989, 1990, pp. 283-286; Schipper 1985. 36 Sutton 2000, pp. 10-11. 31 For a brief discussion of Chinese law codes, see Farmer 1995, pp. 64-80. Overmyer 1989-1990, p. 213. 39 Sutton 2000, p. 2, pp. 13-38. 40 In the course of the above-mentioned jiao ceremony, requests made to the spirits of the Heaven and the earth were written on bluish paper. 41 The word wuxi MM, referring to male and female shamans is a characteristically ancient term (e.g. Guoyu IJ§§ [Chuyu 18.la-lb] "Then a spirit enters that person; if the person is a man, he is called xi, if a woman, wu."); from the Song era on, other names (e.g. shiwu &fiM, shipo W<Ê-., shenwu Í$SL, tongzi ijrT ) were used in everyday speech (see Gao 1993. pp. 51-54; Groot 1964, p 1244). The reason for their present occurrence is to be found in the Ming attempt that considered itself as the repository and re-creator of ancient (primarily, Han) orthodoxy (cf. Fanner 1995, pp. 81-99). The Neo-confucian legitimation concerning this was largely provided by none other than Zhu Xi (1130-1200) with his comments made on the prohibition of shamans (Xiaoxue jizhu 'h'JUftU: 5.12b, lib). 42 Mediumistic spirit writing (fuji )kèl,fuluan is traceable from the Tang era on; nevertheless, similar practices existed earlier (for instance, in the early "religious" Taoist school). On spirit writing see: e.g. Groot 1964, pp. 1295-1322; Smith 1991, pp. 222-233; Sutton 1990; Zeitlin 1998. 43 On the practice of making talismans, see: e.g. Drexler 1994, pp. 12-13. "Hongwu shilu m&MVk 53.3. 4- In Sichuan, Huainan, Guangxi and Guizhou, the term duangong denotes shamans (wu ?) and so does the term taibao, which is analogous with the person who protects the spirit of the dying (lingbao lÊ.%,shenhao WS). Both names occur as titles that denote relatively high ranks in the official state organisation. The explanation elucidates that a shaman is a person who conjures spirits; duangong and taibao denote a male shaman, while shipo is the name for a female shaman (EL* • |iSM£A • ÍS& - AÍS • XHLZmVi : IW« • tch\LZii). Also see Smith 1991, p. 222. The term shipo has survived until recent times, as evidenced by (for instance) a report on the persecution of shamans in 1944 (Jiefang ribao W&BVá 29 April 1944; Kagan 1980, p. 32). 46 Minglü jijiefuli WmmWim 11.9b-10a.