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Traditional history believes that Manichaeism was introduced to China in the first year of Wu Zetian's reign, that is, 694 AD. However, according to the latest archaeological records, this religion has been spread among the people during the Sixteen Kingdoms period.

As for the reason why it came into official view during the Wu Zetian era, it was also very simple. Because Empress Wu Zetian believed that she was the incarnation of Maitreya Buddha, Manichaeism pretended to be a branch of Buddhism and successfully entered the Central Plains.

In order to achieve this goal, they chose the Persian Fuduodan to disguise himself as a monk and present the "Er Zong Sutra" to Wu Zetian.

The so-called Erzong is actually the god of light and darkness in Manichaeism. However, in order to be accepted by Wu Zetian, who believes in Buddhism, especially the Maitreya sect, this scripture uses Buddhist language, and even Mani has become the incarnation of Maitreya. Mani Guang Buddha.

Obviously, this incident itself is by no means as simple as it seems. There is only one possibility for the "Er Zong Jing" to be Chineseized and disguised as a Buddhist scripture, and that is that this religion has actually been circulated among the people for many years, so there is such a thing. One move.

More importantly, Fu Duodan was able to meet the emperor only if he was recommended by a high-ranking person in the imperial court and the Buddhist community. It is likely that the entire Manichaean church was mobilized to achieve this.

However, this method of concealing the truth could not last long. After Wu Zetian's death, the Tang Dynasty was restored and Taoism was the main belief, and since Manichaeism began to be suppressed.

In July of the 20th year of Kaiyuan, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty issued an edict after reading the teachings of Manichaeism. He believed that this religion falsely claimed to be Buddhism and deceived the people. It was forbidden to spread in the Central Plains, but it was allowed to continue to spread among people in the Western Regions.

But the Uighur Khanate accepted Manichaeism at this time, because the trade on the Silk Road was the foundation of the country's wealth, and the Sogdian merchants traveling on this road mainly believed in Manichaeism.

After the Anshi Rebellion, the Uighurs, as the Tang Dynasty's largest ally, received preferential treatment from the Tang Dynasty, and even lifted the ban on Manichaeism during the Kaiyuan period.

So just half a century later, this religion quickly developed from Chang'an to the entire Central Plains, becoming the third largest religion after Buddhism and Taoism.

However, the rulers of the Tang Dynasty hated this religion from the bottom of their hearts, and the reason why they allowed it to exist and expand was just to form alliances. Therefore, after the demise of the Uyghurs, this religion immediately received a severe blow.

In the Uighurs themselves, Manichaeism was still prevalent in the Kingdom of Gaochang and spread to other countries in the Western Regions from this base. It was not until the invasion of another religion from the west in the 14th century that the inheritance of local Manichaeism was completely ended.

However, this end is only an apparent end. As a secret sect, this religion was passed down among a few people until the 19th century. The Manichaean editorial paintings and religious site relics discovered before in China were basically unearthed here. area.

In the Central Plains region, in 842 AD, the Tang Dynasty closed the Manichaean temples in Jingzhou, Yangzhou, Hongzhou, Yuezhou and other places. In 843 AD, it confiscated the Manichaean temple properties in Chang'an, Luoyang, Taiyuan and other places and burned them. Sutras, portraits, and 72 monks were executed in the capital.

Of course, this action was not only directed at Manichaeism, but mainly because Emperor Wuzong of the Tang Dynasty, who was in power at that time, began a campaign to exterminate Buddhism, and also attacked all other foreign religions, such as Nestorianism, Zoroastrianism, etc.

However, since this attack, Manichaeism has never been openly spread in China. At the same time, because those foreign Manichaes followed the Uyghur Manichae order to the Western Regions, the Manichaes who stayed in the Central Plains lost their connection with their connection.

When Wuzong's campaign to exterminate Buddhism hit Manichaeism, some believers fled to the southeastern coastal areas where the feudal lords were at that time and went underground. They took the opportunity to completely localize and reappear as Mingjiao.

Mingjiao was also divided into two parts. A small number of upper-level monks relied on Buddhism and Taoism to survive. Because the Song Dynasty believed in Taoism, they called Mani a student of Laozi. Therefore, they were allowed and tolerated by the Song Dynasty as a vassal of Taoism.

However, most of the Ming believers integrated into the folk, and gradually combined with the resistance activities of the lower class people to develop their pursuit of light, their moral values ​​of pursuit of light, kindness, simplicity, and friendship, and declared that light will surely defeat darkness.

At the same time, this religion also takes root among the people, cares about people's livelihood and provides relief to those in need. People who believe in Mingjiao eat vegetables but not meat. The believers will help each other if someone has something to do. They will even build bridges and pave roads, and provide help when believers encounter legal disputes.

Mingjiao in this era was no longer as pessimistic, radical, and basically localized as Manichaeism. At the same time, they tried their best to move closer to Buddhism and Taoism in terms of idol worship, sacrifices, and funerals.

It is a pity that because this religion advocates bright education and has a huge reputation among the people, it was not tolerated by the rulers, scholar-bureaucrats, monks, and Taoist priests at that time. They slandered Mingjiao as a demonic sect and severely suppressed it.

As a result, some believers began to radicalize, such as the Fangla Uprising. Another example is the various uprisings during the Southern Song Dynasty. When the time came to the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the Red Turban Army uprising was even filled with Mingjiao believers.

For example, the slogan of the Red Scarf Army is that the white lotus blooms, King Ming is born, and Maitreya is born. At the same time, the leader of the uprising, Han Lin'er, proclaimed himself King Xiao Ming. As for the red scarf used by the Red Scarf Army as a logo, it was actually the one used during the Fang La Rebellion more than 200 years ago.

Even Zhu Yuanzhang, who finally established the Ming Dynasty, was once a Mingjiao. However, in order to win the support of the scholar-bureaucrats in the Jiangnan area, he betrayed his former beliefs and loyalty. For example, in his message to Zhang Shicheng, he clearly abandoned the White Lotus Sect and the Mingjiao. .

In addition, when he sent Liao Yongzhong to escort Han Lin'er, the king of Xiaoming, to Yingtian, he deliberately scuttled the ship at Guazhoudu and Han Lin'er sank into the river and died.

But even so, because most of his men were members of the Red Scarf Army and the Ming Cult, Zhu Yuanzhang chose to name Ming Dynasty as the country's name in order to cater to the people's ardent expectations for the birth of King Ming.

On the one hand, this name means that he has inherited the legal status of King Xiao Ming, and on the other hand, it means that King Ming has been born, preventing later generations from using Ming religion to oppose the Ming Dynasty.

Moreover, after the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, everything about Mingjiao was banned except for the country name of Ming Dynasty. According to the "Da Ming Law", anyone who spreads Mingjiao will be sentenced to hanging, 100 rods for accomplices, and 3,000 miles of exile.

So since then, this religion has been completely banned, and almost no records related to Mingjiao can be found in later official documents.

But this does not mean that this very vital folk religion has disappeared, because among the fragments found by Liang En, in addition to the previous teachings related to Mingjiao, there were also stone fragments engraved with the year number: Dragon and Phoenix. One hundred and forty-two years.

Dragon and Phoenix were the reign names of Han Lin'er, the reigning emperor of the Ming Dynasty, but they ended in the twelfth year of Dragon and Phoenix. If calculated based on pure time, the so-called 142 years of dragon and phoenix should be the tenth year of Hongzhi of Emperor Xiaozong of Ming Dynasty, 1497 AD.

"Judging from the clues found so far, this place should be a secret Mingjiao temple." After putting together the words on these crucial stone tablet fragments, Liang Enxiang looked at it curiously. said his colleagues at work.

"It's just that they were eventually discovered and completely destroyed after a battle, leaving only the wreckage we see on the mountain top."