  manichaeism (; in modern persian  Äyin e mÄni; ) was a major gnostic religion that was founded by the iranian prophet mani (in persian: ÙØ§ÙÛ, syriac: , latin: manichaeus or manes) ( 216â276 ad) in the sasanian empire. manichaeism taught an elaborate dualistic cosmology describing the struggle between a good, spiritual world of light, and an evil, material world of darkness. through an ongoing process which takes place in human history, light is gradually removed from the world of matter and returned to the world of light whence it came. its beliefs were based on local mesopotamian gnostic and religious movements.widengren, geo mesopotamian elements in manichaeism (king and saviour ii): studies in manichaean, mandaean, and syrian-gnostic religion, lundequistska bokhandeln, 1946. manichaeism was quickly successful and spread far through the aramaic-syriac speaking regions. it thrived between the third and seventh centuries, and at its height was one of the most widespread religions in the world. manichaean churches and scriptures existed as far east as china and as far west as the roman empire.andrew welburn, mani, the angel and the column of glory: an anthology of manichaean texts (edinburgh: floris books, 1998), p. 68 it was briefly the main rival to christianity in the competition to replace classical paganism. manichaeism survived longer in the east than in the west, and it appears to have finally faded away after the 14th century in southern china,jason david beduhn the manichaean body: in discipline and ritual baltimore: johns hopkins university press. 2000 republished 2002 p.ix contemporary to the decline in china of the church of the east â see ming dynasty. while most of mani's origina
Esotericism Gnosticism Iranian_religions Late_Antiquity Manichaeism Religion_in_China Religion_in_Iran