to dig the earth, to build houses, to engage in industry or commerce. The Bodhisattva and the Perfect alike are forbidden to partake of the "five strong herbs," known in Japan as "Go Shin."

It is impossible to deny the influence exercised upon the plastic Mahayana by Manichaeism. From the middle of the third century onwards the two religions were constantly side by side, and whatever person we consider after that date, we must always take into consideration the fact that most probably he knew something of Manichaeism. Zoroastrianism also comes into account, but the Zoroastrians were not a proselytizing community like the Manichaeans, and it is not until the Tang period that we find them side by side with Buddhism.

Manichaeism did not set itself to work to preach Christ, but it had its Christian aspect, and wherever in Central Asia we find, as we often do, a Manichaean temple almost side by side with a Buddhist monastery, we may safely infer that there must have been some indirect knowledge among the Buddhists of the fact of Christ.

Footnotes

^145:1 Mani means a painter. I have often wondered if there can be any connection between the name Manichaeus and the famous Buddhist monastery of Manikyala. I draw my materials for this chapter mainly, though not entirely, from Kessler's article on Mani in the "Schaff-Herzog Encyclopaedia." It is probable that in the course of a few years our knowledge of Manichaeism will be much increased as a result of recent finds in Central Asia.

^145:2 The Mendaeans or Mandaeans still subsist, in a very small community, on the eastern banks of the Tigris. They are sometimes called the Christians of St. John, on account of the great veneration they pay to St. John the Baptist, whom they consider to have been a true prophet, in contradistinction to Abraham, Moses, Solomon, Jesus the Sorcerer, and Mahomet, all of whom they consider to have been false prophets. The true religion, they say, still existed in the days of Moses, and was in the possession of the Egyptians, and was brought back into the world by St. John. It was this, doubtless, that turned Mani's thoughts towards Egypt in his travels in search of religion. The official name, among themselves, for their religion is Manda, which is Gnosis. But Manda is personified, as it is among the Buddhists, and so becomes a sort of counterpart of the personified though indefinite Butsu of which many Japanese Buddhists speak (especially the followers of the old Ritsu or Vinaya sect, now amalgamated with the Shingon). They also talk of themselves as "Subba," i.e. "Baptists," and their Baptismal rites, oft repeated, are again, like those of the Marcosians mentioned in a previous chapter, very similar to those of the Shingon Kwanjo. Like many Japanese Buddhists, they have a special veneration for the Polar Star (Jap. myoken), towards which they turn when praying.