The Ming Cult () is a fictional cult and martial arts sect featured in the wuxia novel The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber by Jin Yong, first published in serial form from 1961 to 1963. It is also briefly mentioned in The Legend of the Condor Heroes, another novel also by Jin Yong. It is loosely based on Manichaeism, an actual Gnostic religion which originated in Persia in the third century and later spread to other parts of the world, including China. The cult is based at Bright Peak () in the Kunlun Mountains and has several branches spread throughout China. Its most powerful skills are the "Heaven and Earth Great Shift" () and the "Martial Arts of the Holy Flame Tablets" ().
Fictional history
In The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber, the Ming Cult is also known as the "Cult of Mani" () or "Demonic Cult" () in the wulin (martial artists' community). The cult originated in Persia and spread to China in the seventh century.
The cult is highly secretive and conducts its activities out of sight of the rest of the wulin. Its founding principles also deviate largely from other martial arts sects. While other sects typically seek to become a leading sect in the wulin, the Ming Cult strongly adheres to its mission of "delivering humankind from suffering and eliminating evil". This is aptly summed up in a mantra repeated by its members:
Despite its poor reputation in the wulin, the cult is not "evil" or "demonic". also translated into English as "Universal Grand Shift", is one of the Ming Cult's most powerful skills. It is also the signature skill of Zhang Wuji, the protagonist of The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber. Zhang Wuji learns it after accidentally venturing into an area on Bright Peak forbidden to all cult members except the Cult Master, and finding the manual for the skill.
The "Heaven and Earth Great Shift" came from the Persian Ming Cult, and is the most powerful among all the martial arts originating from the Western Regions. It is a martial art passed down from generation to generation in the Ming Cult and only the Cult Master is qualified to learn it, even though Yang Xiao, the Bright Left Emissary partially mastered it.
The main purpose of the "Heaven and Earth Great Shift" is to reverse the two kinds of qi flowing in the practitioner's body, namely rigidity and softness, yin and yang, and the red colour of the cultivator's face indicates the sinking of blood and the transformation of true qi in the body.
Heavenly Eagle Cult
The Heavenly Eagle Cult () was founded by one of the Ming Cult's Guardian Kings, "White Brows Eagle King" Yin Tianzheng. Yin had left the Ming Cult during its internal conflict and established his own sect. The Heavenly Eagle Cult does not follow the Ming Cult's original practices and customs, but its members are still morally upright in their ways. The Heavenly Eagle Cult is often regarded as a branch of the Ming Cult and deemed to be as equally "evil" and "unorthodox" in the wulin because of Yin's affiliation with the Ming Cult. The Heavenly Eagle Cult merges with the Ming Cult after Yin's maternal grandson, Zhang Wuji, becomes the new leader of the Ming Cult.