Manichaeism in Central Asia and China

Manichaeism in Central Asia and China. By Samuel N. C. Lieu. Nag Hammadi and Manichaean Studies 45. Leiden: Brill, 1998. xiv + 258 pp. n.p.

Late-twentieth-century students of Manichaeism owe a profound debt to Lieu for his many contributions to the elucidation of that religion. He is the author of what has become the standard English-language exposition of the history of Manichaeism, his justly acclaimed Manichaeism in the Later Roman Empire and Medieval China (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1985). He serves as the guiding genius behind the Brepols Corpus fontium Manichaeorum project, a monumental publishing effort that intends to collect, edit, and reissue in improved format the most important primary texts and testimonies pertaining to Manichaeism from a variety of linguistic spheres. He moreover has been an indefatigable advocate and participant at the several international conferences devoted to research upon Manichaeism that were organized during the past decade. Prior to and in the midst of this whirl of scholastic activity, he authored a number of articles examining specific aspects of Manichaean history and ideology, concentrating his attention particularly upon the elucidation of the sparse yet tantalizing evidence for its appearance, growth, and decline in medieval China. New archaeological and textual finds (especially those at Kellis in Egypt) have now prompted Lieu...