Manichaeism (/ˌmænɪˈkiːɪzəm/; in Persian: آئین مانی, romanized: Āʾīn-i Mānī; Chinese: 摩尼教; pinyin: Móníjiào) was a major world religion founded in the third century CE by the Parthian Iranian prophet Mani (216–274) in the Sasanian Empire. Variably described as a Christian heresy and a Gnostic movement, Manichaeism was an organized and doctrinal religious tradition in its own right. It 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 in human history, light is gradually removed from the world of matter and returned to the world of the divine.
Mani's teachings were intended to integrate, succeed, and surpass the "partial truths" of various prior faiths and belief systems, including Platonism, Christianity, Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, Marcionism, Hellenistic and Rabbinic Judaism, Gnosticism, Ancient Greek religion, Babylonian religion, other ancient Mesopotamian religions, and the Greco-Roman mysteries. Some forms of Manichaeism viewed Mani as the final prophet after Zoroaster, the Buddha, and Jesus. The canon of Manichaean scripture included seven works attributed to Mani, written originally in the Syriac language. Manichaean sacramental rites included prayers, almsgiving, and fasting. Communal life centered on confession and the singing of hymns.
