Aesop's Fables in Ancient China

At the beginning of the twentieth century, many expeditions were carried out in the Tarim Basin located in the northwestern part of China (East Turkestan). The remnants of the manuscripts of Aesop's fables were found by Albert von Le Coq in the second German expedition in Gaochang (or Chotscho) in the Turfan area during 1904 to 1905. According to archaeologists' research, they can be dated back to the period between the eighth and twelfth centuries and can be subdivided into Iranian and Old Turkish sources. One of the Iranian fables, "The Father and His Sons" told by Mani, the founder of Manichaeism, is especially noteworthy. A similar story was recorded in the mid-sixth century Wei shu ("Book of Wei") and was subsequently adopted by the Mongolians in the Menggu mi shi ("The Secret History of the Mongols"). By exploring the historical background of the transmission of this fable and looking into the Chinese historical records of Manichaeism, this paper aims to prove that not only this Aesopian fable entered China around the mid-sixth century in the form of history, but that other fables might have spread during the eighth century, when Manicheans were active in the Tang empire. This means that Aesop's fables circulated in China some one thousand years earlier than when Matteo Ricci first integrated Aesop into his sermons.