Episodes from Mani's Missionary Work is a Manichean silk color painting drawn in the coastal area of southern China during the yuan to ming period. It is now in a private Japanese collection. [1] The whole picture can be roughly divided into five scenes, depicting the missionary process of a Manichean elector. According to Hungary Asian religious art historian Zsuzsanna Gulácsi, this priest is probably the founder of Manichaeism Mani himself. [2] This painting was originally part of a large-scale Manichean silk painting. The drawing technique and artistic style are similar to "Mani's Community Established" and "Mani's Parents", "The Birth of Mani" and "Manichean Universe Map".
Legend of the Saint 1
Artist
Unknown
Year
14-15th century (late Yuan and early Ming)
Type
Silk, ink and gold
Dimensions
119.9 cm × 57.6 cm (47.2 in × 22.7 in)
Location
private collection, Japan
In Japanese it is called Legend of the Saint 1 (圣者伝図1) with Mani's Community Established being called Legend of the Saint 2 (圣者伝図2)
Like the other two Manichaean works "Sermon on Mani's Teaching of Salvation" and "Mani's Community Established" this picture also depicts several scenes, but it is different from the former and the latter in terms of levels With the collage technique, the distinction and boundary between the various scenes in this painting is not obvious, and the picture is damaged, and some details are difficult to determine, but it can be roughly divided into five scenes. The first scene in the top position depicts five ships sailing on the sea, carrying Mani and his followers (believers). Mani is standing on the bow of the ship on the left, wearing a white robe with red rims unique to Manichaeism, with a green halo behind his head. A sea monster is drawn in the sea near the lower left of Mani. There are five demons standing on a dark cloud in the upper left mid-air, holding weapons and military flags. On the whole, this scene should depict that the missionary group led by Mani defeated the demon's obstruction, and the swift ship pushed the five demons to one side and continued to drive forward. [2]
In the second scene, two of the five boats can be seen mooring on the shore; on the shore, a senior priest with a red head and sitting on a lotus platform is preaching to the seven ordinary priests around him, explaining The mission has arrived at its destination. In the third scene, there are still two boats dropping anchor and a welcoming ceremony is being held on the shore. On the left, you can see Mani leading seven priests and four soldiers with bald heads, and on the right is a group of gods who greet them, riding two colorful clouds and fog from the sky. [2]
The fourth scene is divided into four smaller scenes, describing the interaction between the priests and the laity, that is, the missionary work. The fifth scene can be divided into two parts, left and right, separated by a city wall. The left side describes a sermon meeting, which should be held in a natural environment on the outskirts; the right side is a Manichaean temple in the city, where lay believers gather in front of the temple to make offerings. The last scene can be seen as a summary of the entire painting, showing the success of the mission and the final establishment of the Mani Church. Therefore, what is depicted in "Mani's Community Established" is naturally a follow-up event of this painting. [2]
Excursusedit
Eight Silk Painting Atlas
Eight silk hanging scrolls with Manichaean didactic images from southern China from between the 12th and the 15th centuries, which can be divided into four categories:
^"Research on Chinese Jiangnan Mani Teaching Paintings". Linchuan Bookstore (in Japanese). 2015. Retrieved 2018-12-18. Sheng Zhe Nian図(1) Personal Zang from the end of Yuan Dynasty to the beginning of Ming Dynasty
^ abcdGulácsi, Zsuzsanna (2015). Mani's Pictures: The Didactic Images of the Manichaeans from Sasanian Mesopotamia to Uygur Central Asia and Tang- Ming China. "Nag Hammadi and Manichaean Studies" series. Vol. 90. Leiden: Brill Publishers. pp. 393–396. ISBN9789004308947.
May 08, 2024
episodes, from, mani, missionary, work, manichean, silk, color, painting, drawn, coastal, area, southern, china, during, yuan, ming, period, private, japanese, collection, whole, picture, roughly, divided, into, five, scenes, depicting, missionary, process, ma. Episodes from Mani s Missionary Work is a Manichean silk color painting drawn in the coastal area of southern China during the yuan to ming period It is now in a private Japanese collection 1 The whole picture can be roughly divided into five scenes depicting the missionary process of a Manichean elector According to Hungary Asian religious art historian Zsuzsanna Gulacsi this priest is probably the founder of Manichaeism Mani himself 2 This painting was originally part of a large scale Manichean silk painting The drawing technique and artistic style are similar to Mani s Community Established and Mani s Parents The Birth of Mani and Manichean Universe Map Legend of the Saint 1ArtistUnknownYear14 15th century late Yuan and early Ming TypeSilk ink and goldDimensions119 9 cm 57 6 cm 47 2 in 22 7 in Locationprivate collection Japan In Japanese it is called Legend of the Saint 1 圣者伝図1 with Mani s Community Established being called Legend of the Saint 2 圣者伝図2 Description edit nbsp Analysis by Zsuzsanna Gulacsi Like the other two Manichaean works Sermon on Mani s Teaching of Salvation and Mani s Community Established this picture also depicts several scenes but it is different from the former and the latter in terms of levels With the collage technique the distinction and boundary between the various scenes in this painting is not obvious and the picture is damaged and some details are difficult to determine but it can be roughly divided into five scenes The first scene in the top position depicts five ships sailing on the sea carrying Mani and his followers believers Mani is standing on the bow of the ship on the left wearing a white robe with red rims unique to Manichaeism with a green halo behind his head A sea monster is drawn in the sea near the lower left of Mani There are five demons standing on a dark cloud in the upper left mid air holding weapons and military flags On the whole this scene should depict that the missionary group led by Mani defeated the demon s obstruction and the swift ship pushed the five demons to one side and continued to drive forward 2 In the second scene two of the five boats can be seen mooring on the shore on the shore a senior priest with a red head and sitting on a lotus platform is preaching to the seven ordinary priests around him explaining The mission has arrived at its destination In the third scene there are still two boats dropping anchor and a welcoming ceremony is being held on the shore On the left you can see Mani leading seven priests and four soldiers with bald heads and on the right is a group of gods who greet them riding two colorful clouds and fog from the sky 2 The fourth scene is divided into four smaller scenes describing the interaction between the priests and the laity that is the missionary work The fifth scene can be divided into two parts left and right separated by a city wall The left side describes a sermon meeting which should be held in a natural environment on the outskirts the right side is a Manichaean temple in the city where lay believers gather in front of the temple to make offerings The last scene can be seen as a summary of the entire painting showing the success of the mission and the final establishment of the Mani Church Therefore what is depicted in Mani s Community Established is naturally a follow up event of this painting 2 Excursus edit nbsp Eight Silk Painting Atlas Eight silk hanging scrolls with Manichaean didactic images from southern China from between the 12th and the 15th centuries which can be divided into four categories Two single portraits depicting Mani and Jesus Icon of Mani Manichaean Painting of the Buddha Jesus One scroll depicting Salvation Theory Soteriology Sermon on Mani s Teaching of Salvation Four scrolls depicting Prophetology Prophetology Mani s Parents Birth of Mani Episodes from Mani s Missionary Work Mani s Community Established One scroll depicting Cosmology Cosmology Manichaean Diagram of the UniverseReferences edit Research on Chinese Jiangnan Mani Teaching Paintings Linchuan Bookstore in Japanese 2015 Retrieved 2018 12 18 Sheng Zhe Nian図 1 Personal Zang from the end of Yuan Dynasty to the beginning of Ming Dynasty a b c d Gulacsi Zsuzsanna 2015 Mani s Pictures The Didactic Images of the Manichaeans from Sasanian Mesopotamia to Uygur Central Asia and Tang Ming China Nag Hammadi and Manichaean Studies series Vol 90 Leiden Brill Publishers pp 393 396 ISBN 9789004308947 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Episodes from Mani 27s Missionary Work amp oldid 1182997459, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
