| Fragmented pages of Manichae manuscript MIK III 8259 | |
|---|---|
 Left: front; right: back | |
| Size | Length 8.2 cm, width 11.0 cm |
| Created | 9-11th century |
| Discovered | German Turpan expedition team at the beginning of the 20th century in Xinjiang Gaochang α ruins |
| Present location | Berlin Asian Art Museum, Germany |
| Identification | MIK III 8259 |
Leaf from a Manichaean book MIK III 8259 is a fragment of Manichaean manuscripts collected in Germany Berlin Asian Art Museum, drawn during the 8th-9th centuries. It was discovered in Xinjiang by German Turpan expedition team in the early 20th century.[1] It is the largest currently known manuscript fragment, and is also the largest codex fragment with a figural scene, having a large portion of text on the same fragment. There is also text on the reverse of the image.[2]
According to Zsuzsanna Gulácsi's interpretation of the fragment, following Albert von Le Coq, in the bottom segment three laymen and three laywomen of the Uyghur royal family are listening to a sermon, while in the upper section elects are giving a sermon.[1]
Drawing attention to the depiction of a flower in the central part of the fragment, Samuel N. C. Lieu instead interprets the fragment as a visionary scene of penitence in the context of the Manichaean doctrine of the imprisonment of Light in living things: "The fear is so apparent on their [the elects'] faces that von Le Coq's original explanation for the miniature as a didactic scene is grossly inadequate. What we have before us are two Electi terrified at the sight of blood spurting from a damaged plant." At the bottom, "a group of Hearers (who might have been responsible for the crime) in penitential stance completes a doctrinally significant artistic representation."[3]
References
- ^ a b Gulácsi, Zsuzsanna (2003). "The Dates and Styles of Uygur Manichaean Art. A New Radiocarbon Date and its Implication for the Study of East Central Asian Art". Arts Asiatiques. 58 (1): 5–33. doi:10.3406/arasi.2003.1497.
- ^ Gulácsi, Zsuzsanna (2005-09-01). Mediaeval Manichaean Book Art: A Codicological Study of Iranian and Turkic Illuminated Book Fragments from 8th-11th Century East Central Asia. BRILL. p. 142. ISBN 978-90-474-0596-2.
- ^ Lieu, Samuel N. C. (1998). Manichaeism in Central Asia and China. Leiden: Koninklijke Brill. p. 17. ISBN 90-04-10405-4.
This page was last edited on 29 March 2023, at 21:38