Master Ulug (Middle Persianxrwhxw’n / xrōhxwān; Uyghur: Qutluɣ) was a Uyghur Manichaean missionary in the Tang Dynasty

Life

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When Wu Zong persecuted Buddhists, Manichaeism all over the country was hit hard. To escape persecution, Master Hulu entered Fujian and carried out missionary activities there, becoming the founder of Fujian Manichaeism-Mingjiao. He preached mainly in Fuqing, Fuzhou, and Quanzhou during his lifetime, and was later buried in Qingyuan Mountain, Quanzhou. Zhu Xi went to his tomb to pay a visit. Today there is still Mingjiao Caoan in Quanzhou, which is the remains of the Fujianese Manichaeism created by Master Ulug.[1]

Identity

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Some scholars believe that the name of Master Ulug in Medieval Persian is synonymous with the "Hu Luhuan" mentioned in "Yilue", and ranks fourth among the five-level Manichaeism, meaning "missionary."[2] Then it was judged that Master Hulu came from the Eastern Pure Church in Central Asia [3] There are also scholars who believe that the status of "missionaries" is not consistent with that of Master Hulu, whose names are Qutluɣ (auspicious) or Uluɣ (big) in Uyghur language[4],and should be regarded as a Manichaean monk directly from Uighurs[5]

References

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  1. ^ He Qiaoyuan's "Book of Fujian" Volume VII·Fang Yuzhi: Huabiao Mountain, connected to the source of spirit, with two peaks standing like a Huabiao. At the foot of the back of the mountain there is a Cao Temple, which is also a thing of the Yuan Dynasty. Worship Mani Buddha. The name of Mani Buddha is Mo Mani Guang Buddha, a native of neighboring countries in Su. Another Buddha, named Gu Zhi Da Ming Envoy... In Huichang, weed out monks and Ming Jiao was in weeding out. There are Master Hulu who came to Futang and gave the three mountains, traveled to Fangquan County, and Beishanxia, the burial county of the death.
  2. ^ Samuel N. C. Lieu, Precept and Practice in Manichaean Monasticism, Journal of Theological Studies, New Series 32, 1982, p.163; ibid, Manichaeism in the Later Roman Empire and Medieval China: a historical survey, Manchester, 1985, pp. 89, 264; ibid, Manichaeism in Central Asia and China, Leiden-Boston-Köln, 1998, p. 86.
  3. ^ 林悟殊:《摩尼教及其东渐》,第124页。
  4. ^ Moriyasu Takao, On the Uigur čxšapt ay and the Spreading of Manichaeism into South China, R. E. Emmerick (ed.), Studia Manichaica. IV. Internationaler Kongress zum Manichäismus, Berlin, 14.-18. Juli 1997, Berlin, 2000, p. 436.
  5. ^ 杨富学.《乐山堂神记》与福建摩尼教 霞浦与敦煌吐鲁番等摩尼教文献的比较研究