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{{Short description|Disappeared holy book of the Manichaean religion}}
{{For|the Daeva|Arzhang Div}}
{{italic title}}
{{Infobox religious text
| image = File:Manicheans.jpg
| caption = Leaf from a [[Uyghurs|Uyghur]]-[[Manichaeism|Manichaean]] version of a book of pictures; an iteration of [[Mani (prophet)|Mani's]] pictorial teaching with the ''Arzhang''
| author = [[Mani (prophet)|Mani]]
| religion = [[Manichaeism]]
| language = [[Syriac language|Syriac]]
| verses = 
| period = [[Early Christianity]]
}}
{{Gnosticism}}
{{Template:Manichaeism sidebar}}
The '''''Arzhang''''' ( {{langx|fa|ارژنگ|translit=Aržang}}/{{transliteration|fa|Arzhang}}; {{langx|cop|Eikōn|italic=yes}}; {{langx|xpr|dw bwngʾhyg [dō bunɣāhīg]|italic=yes}}, meaning "Worthy"), also known as the '''''Book of Pictures''''', was one of the holy books of [[Manichaeism]]. It was written and illustrated by its prophet, [[Mani (prophet)|Mani]], in [[Syriac language|Syriac]], with later reproductions written in [[Sogdian language|Sogdian]]. It was unique as a sacred text in that it contained numerous pictures designed to portray [[Manichaeism#Cosmogony|Manichaean cosmogony]], which were regarded as integral to the text.

The original ''Arzhang'' illustrated by Mani has been lost and its exact content is unknown. However, it is known that its illustrations were of appreciable quality, and copies were preserved in the [[Middle East]] as late as 1092 AD, when it is recorded that the library of [[Ghazni]] held a copy. Since the discovery of Manichaean artwork during the [[German Turfan expeditions]], scholars began piecing together the style of the ''Arzhang'' and reassessed the influence of Manichaean art in general.<ref name="Arnold 1924 23–24">{{cite book |last= Arnold |first= Thomas |date= 1924 |title= Survivals of Sasanian and Manichaean Art in Persian painting |location= Oxford |publisher= Clarendon Press |pages= 23–24 }}</ref>

==Content and purpose==
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 | image1 = Fragment of a leaf from a Uyghur-Manichaean Book (MIK III 4959) (cropped).png
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 | footer = Leaf from a [[Uyghur people|Uyghur]]-[[Manichaeism|Manichaean]] version of a book of pictures, [[Turfan]], {{Circa|8th}}-9th century
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One of Mani's primary beliefs was that the [[arts]] (namely [[painting]], [[calligraphy]], and [[music]]) were of the same esteem as the [[Holy Spirit|divine spirit]] ([[Middle Persian]]: ''Mihryazd''), believing that the creation of art was comparable to [[Manichaeism#Cosmogony|god's creation of living forms]], and therefore the experience of art was more of a divine act than any other in the [[Universe|material world]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Klimkeit |first=Hans-Joachim |date=1982 |title=Manichaean Art And Calligraphy |location=New York |publisher=Brill |page= 60 |isbn=9004064788 }}</ref> Throughout the [[Manichaeism#History|1400-year history of Manichaeism]], didactic books of paintings were used to illustrate the religion's teachings and beliefs. From the beginning, the prophet Mani envisioned his religion (which included the teachings of [[Zarathustra]], [[Buddha]], and [[Christ]]) as a universal and therefore "[[Transculturalism|transcultural]]" entity, leading to its [[Manichaeism#Spread|vast spread from Europe to Asia]]. The Manichaean mission employed multifaceted means of communication (including oral, textual, and pictorial) so the beliefs may adapt to the variety of cultures it entered. These picture books covered the [[Manichaeism#Teachings and beliefs|primary themes of Manichaeism]], such as its [[Dualistic cosmology|dualism of light and darkness]], maps of a religious universe, the [[Sermon on Mani's Teaching of Salvation|process of human salvation]], as well as various [[Manichaeism#Cosmogony|Manichaean prophets and deities]], and were considered principal pieces of the Manichaean canon.<ref name="Gulácsi">{{cite journal |title=Searching for Mani's Picture Book in Textual and Pictorial Sources |last=Gulácsi |first=Zsuzsanna |date=June 29, 2011 |journal=Transcultural Studies |number=1 |volume=2 |doi=10.11588/ts.2011.1.6173 |access-date=December 9, 2019 |url=http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:16-ts-61732}}</ref>

On the subject of Mani's original paintings, [[Zsuzsanna Gulácsi]] notes that the "paintings were created first in mid-third century Mesopotamia with direct involvement from Mani ... and were later preserved by being copied and adapted to a wide variety of artistic and cultural norms, as the religion spread across the Asian continent."<ref name="Mani's-Pictures">{{cite book |last=Gulácsi |first=Zsuzsanna |date=2015 |title=Mani's Pictures: The Didactic Images of the Manichaeans from Sasanian Mesopotamia to Uygur Central Asia and Tang-Ming China |series="Nag Hammadi and Manichaean Studies" series |volume=90 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rUUpCwAAQBAJ&q=Manichaean+Diagram+of+the+Universe&pg=PA440 |location=Leiden |publisher=Brill Publishers |page=440 |isbn=9789004308947 }}</ref> Gulácsi points to the [[Yuan dynasty|Yuan]]-era silk paintings ''[[Manichaean Diagram of the Universe]]'' and ''[[Sermon on Mani's Teaching of Salvation]]'' as examples of [[sinicized]] variations of Mani's tradition of using a ''Book of Pictures'' as a method of teaching, specifically providing insight into the cosmology of the era's [[Chinese Manichaeism]].<ref name="Mani's-Pictures"/> After the discovery of fragmentary pieces of [[Uyghur people|Uyghur]]-[[Manichaeism|Manichean]] art in the ruins of [[Turfan]], [[Western Regions]], scholars began turning to the newly uncovered remains of Manichaean book art in order to assess through the fragments what could resemble the original style of the ''Arzhang''.<ref>{{cite book |last=Klimkeit |first=Hans-Joachim |date=1982 |title=Manichaean Art And Calligraphy |location=New York |publisher=Brill |page= 231 |isbn=9004064788 }}</ref>

==Influence and legacy==
Following the discovery of Manichaean paintings in [[Turfan]], art historian [[Thomas W. Arnold]] suggested that the Manichaean tradition of illustrative bookmaking was the source of [[Persian miniature painting]] style during the time of the [[Safavid Empire]]. Arnold stated: "The only other religious art that could have produced these pictures was the Manichaean, the Eastern Character of the types of face and figure, and the similarity in technical details to the Manichaean paintings that have survived in Central Asia, suggest that this is the source to which these strange pictures must be traced back."<ref name="Arnold 1924 23–24"/> [[Kamāl ud-Dīn Behzād]], the most famous of the Persian miniature painters, was praised by the contemporaneous [[Afghan people|Afghan]] historian Albdulkarim Khondamir, who wrote; "[Behzād's] Mani-like brushwork overwhelmed all other painters."<ref>{{cite book |last=Soudavar |first=Abolala |date=1992 |title=Art of the Persian Courts |location=New York |publisher=Rizzoli |page= 95 |isbn=0847816605 }}</ref> From her studies of the fragments,  Zsuzsanna Gulácsi concluded that a set of the artwork come from an authentically Manichaean book of pictures, harboring elements (such as the iconography, brush style, and use of colors) that originated in Mani's original ''Arzhang'' and were turned into the traditional painting style of future generations of Manichaeans.<ref>{{cite book |last=Gulacsi |first=Zsuzsanna |date=2005 |title=Mediaeval Manichaean Book Art |location=Boston |publisher=Brill |page= 219 |isbn=900413994X }}</ref> Additionally, the Turfan fragments possess a primarily Persian appearance, specifically similar to the art that has survived from the [[Sassanid Empire|Sassanid era]] (during which Mani lived), with such identifiable elements as the quality of the lines, the simplicity of the faces, and the exuberant amount of detail in the folds of the garments. These similarities link the Turfan fragments to what is known of art in the [[Greater Iran]] area before the arrival of [[Islam]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Gulacsi |first=Zsuzsanna |date=2005 |title=Mediaeval Manichaean Book Art |location=Boston |publisher=Brill |page= 7 |isbn=900413994X }}</ref>

[[File:Yüen dynasty Manichaean diagram of the Universe (cropped).jpg|thumb|Detail of the [[Manichaean Diagram of the Universe]], {{Circa|13th}}-14th century]]

The Buddhist practice known as ''[[e-toki]]'' ({{lang|ja|絵解}}[{{lang|ja|き}}], meaning "picture deciphering, picture explaining") was used by the Japanese [[Pure Land Buddhists]] as a method of teaching, beginning in [[China]] as early as 931 AD. Etoki performances typically filled halls with vertical scrolls that illustrated the story of the [[Buddha]] and various Buddhist principles. Like Buddhism itself, this practice [[Buddhism in Japan#Arrival of Buddhism in China along the Silk Road|spread into Japan from China]]. The scrolls also often illustrated the life of [[Prince Shōtoku]], who is credited as the founder of [[Japanese Buddhism]].<ref name="Gulácsi"/> During the [[Yuan dynasty]] and the [[Ming dynasty]] (during which the [[Hongwu Emperor]] banned Manichaeism in 1370), the [[Chinese Manichaeism|Monijiao]] Manichaeans in [[southern China]] became close to the [[Pure Land]] [[Mahayana Buddhism|Mahayana Buddhists]], synthesizing the tradition of didcatic illustration that began with the ''Arzhang'' with the formal attributes of the hanging scrolls used in ''e-toki'', while also [[Syncretism|syncretizing]] Buddhist and Manichaean beliefs.<ref>Char Yar. "[https://www.academia.edu/1963810/Monijiao_Manichaeism_in_China Monijiao (Manichaeism) in China]". academia.edu. Lecture presented at the ''Worldwide Conference for Historical Research'', 2012.</ref>

[[File:Mani Bukhram-Gur.jpg|thumb|left|Mani presenting an illustration to [[Bahram I|King Bahram I]] in a painting by [[Ali-Shir Nava'i]], {{Circa|16th century}}]]

An [[Islamic]] account of Mani's life described the prophet as a painter who founded a sectarian movement against the [[Zoroastrian]] state religion of [[Sassanid Empire|Sassanid Persia]] under [[Shapur I]]. Prompted by threats, Mani fled to [[Turkestan]], where he gained followers and painted a few temples (incidentally, a few paintings in [[Bamyan]] are attributed to Mani). Mani then spent a year in the solitude of a cave after telling his followers that he was going to heaven. After the year, Mani returned with the ''Arzhang'', which he said he had brought down from heaven. After the death of Shapur, he and a large procession of followers returned to Persia. According to this account, the new king [[Bahram I]] received and favored Mani, but he was later flayed alive for his heresies.<ref>John M. Robertson, ''[[Pagan Christs]]'' (2nd ed. 1911), [http://www.sacred-texts.com/bib/cv/pch/pch59.htm § 14. The Problem of Manichæus, online at http://www.sacred-texts.com]</ref> In a 16th-century painting by [[Ali-Shir Nava'i]] from modern-day [[Uzbekistan]], Mani is shown at the throne Bahram as the king inspects one of the prophet's illustrations.

In Islamic tradition (excluding [[Ibn al-Nadim]]'s account of Mani's life) Mani is referred to as "Mani the Painter", almost always replacing the topos of "Founder of a Religion".<ref>W. Sundermann, "[http://www.iranica.com/articles/fehrest#iii Al-Fehrest, iii. Representation of Manicheism."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120517023413/http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/fehrest#iii |date=2012-05-17 }}, ''[[Encyclopaedia Iranica]]'', 1999.</ref> In addition, ''[[Arzhang Div|Arzhang]]'' is the name of the [[daeva]] (demon) in [[Ferdowsi]]'s ''[[Shahnameh]]'' who takes [[Kay Kāvus]] to [[Mazanderan]], and whom [[Rostam]] defeats in his sixth trial. The word ''"arzhang"'' meaning "worthy" in [[Middle Persian]] is likely the reason for the shared names, although it is coincidental (if [[Thomas W. Arnold|Thomas W. Arnold's]] theory on the Manichaean origin of [[Persian miniature painting]] is correct) that the character of Arzhang first would've been illustrated in the style of the ''Arzhang''.

==See also==
* [[Manichaean art]]

==References==
{{reflist}}
* {{iranica|arzang-mid}}
* [http://www.iranchamber.com/literature/articles/development_book_persia.php The Development of the Arts of the Book in Early Islamic Art of Persia]

==External links==
*[http://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/giants/giants.htm The Book of Giants at sacred-texts.com]

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[[Category:3rd-century books]]
[[Category:Lost religious texts]]
[[Category:Manichaean texts]]
[[Category:Illustrated books]]
[[Category:Manichaean art]]