三世熱振呼圖克圖若干史實補綴——以敦煌研究院藏下密院銅釜銘文為中心=A Supplementary Study of Issues Related to the Rwa-sgreng Khutukhtu——Focusing on a Bronze Pot from Gyumey in the Dunhuang Academy
Trees are an important literary and philosophical symbol in the Manichaean documents of Dunhuang such as Fragmental Manuscripts of Manichaeism （宇 56, BD00256）, Compendium of the Doctrines and Styles of the Teaching of Mani,the Buddha of Light(S.3969+P.3884) and Chinese Manichaean Hymn Scroll(S.2659, Or.8210). The “living tree” and “dead tree” are symbols used by Manichaeism to express the dualism of light and darkness, which is the core doctrine that runs through Manichaeism. Clarifying the struggle between the light and the dark reveals an important strain in the thought of the Middle Ages that saw the world as experiencing a deepening and continuation in the war between the two forces of light and darkness. The moral doctrine of Manichaeism also operated according to this dualism by claiming that the good and evil of the soul and the merits and demerits of spiritual practice are realized by “helping the bright and suppressing the dark”. The struggle between light and darkness not only directly effects changes in the corresponding essences of human beings, but also determines whether an individual’s soul can be saved and allowed to return to heaven.
