court networks and the diffusion of manichaeism from iran to china

In this article, i build on my earlier work, which places manichaean missionary activity within a larger network of court activity from the roman empire to tang china, in which ambassadors, as well as wandering sages and ritual specialists, spread knowledge about cultural difference. these interactions usually took part between neighboring principalities, but they were also enmeshed in the gradual spread eastward of iranian manichaeism across central asia. various manichaean accounts highlight the importance of teaching “wisdom” in the bid for support from local rulers. according to the cologne mani codex, mani meets an unnamed king, instructing him in wisdom, the manichaean commandments, as well as the “two natures”. what fragmentary evidence we possess for the spread of manichaeism to china suggests that it, too, proceeded largely through the activity of traveling sages across court networks. 

court networks and the diffusion of manichaeism from iran to china

in this article, i build on my earlier work, which places manichaean missionary activity within a larger network of court activity from the roman empire to tang china, in which ambassadors, as well as wandering sages and ritual specialists, spread knowledge about cultural difference. these interactions usually took part between neighboring principalities, but they were also enmeshed in the gradual spread eastward of iranian manichaeism across central asia. various manichaean accounts highlight the importance of teaching “wisdom” in the bid for support from local rulers. according to the cologne mani codex, mani meets an unnamed king, instructing him in wisdom, the manichaean commandments, as well as the “two natures”. what fragmentary evidence we possess for the spread of manichaeism to china suggests that it, too, proceeded largely through the activity of traveling sages across court networks.