Abstract The Uyghurs, a Turkic-speaking nomadic tribe, migrated to the Turfan region in the second half of the ninth century. In their new homeland, they underwent a gradual and unique religious transition. Originally adherents of Manichaeism, they converted to Buddhism. This change was influenced by their interactions with Buddhists under Uyghur rule and in the surrounding areas. As a result of this transition, the Uyghurs are likely to have experienced significant conceptual shifts, including changes in their understanding of the afterlife. However, the differences and similarities between Manichaean and Buddhist concepts of the afterlife, and their implications for the Uyghurs, have not been thoroughly explored in previous research. Drawing on a very limited number of written and visual sources, this article explores the questions of whether the Chinese Buddhist conception of the afterlife, in particular the themes of judgement and hell, was widespread among the Uyghurs shortly after their religious transition from Manichaeism to Buddhism and whether they practised the rituals associated with it.
Abstract Reduplication is a linguistic phenomenon whereby a segment, or a part thereof, is repeated to convey grammatical functions and as a means of lexical derivation. In Semitic, reduplication is widely attested and productive both in the nominal and the verbal systems. Modern South Arabian Languages (MSAL) are no exception, in that various reduplicated patterns are attested, among which the most common are C 1 C 2 C 1 C 2 , i.e. Soqotri ḥálḥal “gris” (Lonnet 2008: 130), Jibbali/Shehret xɔlxɔ́l “Brown-spotted grouper” (Castagna 2024: 9) from Proto-MSAL *√ xl(xl) “brown/grey”, and C 1 C 2 C 3 C 3 , i.e. Mehri həźīrūr “to go pale, green, yellow” (Johnstone 1987: 163), Jibbali/Shehret šəṣ́rɔ́r “yellow” (Johnstone 1981: 265) from Proto-MSAL *√ šṣ́r “(to be) yellow, green”. Another type, namely C 1 C 2 C 3 C 2 C 3 , has received little attention to date, despite its attestation in Modern South Arabian where it is more frequently, but not exclusively, found in the eastern branch (Jibbali/Shehret and Soqotri). This study primarily aims to provide an account of the morpho-phonological and semantic characteristics of this pattern.
Abstract This article examines the distinction between dizi 弟子 and menren 門人 in early Chinese texts, with particular attention paid to the Lunyu 論語 ( Analects of Confucius ) and the broader Ru 儒 (“Confucian” or “Classicist”) tradition. Whether these terms designate identical or distinct groups of disciples has long been a matter of debate, beginning with early medieval commentaries and culminating in the interpretation that they refer to “first-” and “second-generation” followers. Advancing this discussion, the article offers a systematic analysis of menren across early Chinese sources and presents substantial, previously overlooked evidence supporting a meaningful distinction between the two designations. In doing so, it sheds new light on early conceptions of Confucius’s following and on the social organization of the Ru tradition more broadly. This article argues that menren are best understood not as “second-generation” disciples, but as “second-rank” students who, while occupying a formally subordinate position within an extended circle of adherents, nevertheless remained closely affiliated with their teacher.
Abstract Tocharian A ṣtākkrukke * occurs in the Maitreyasamiti-Nāṭaka , an extensive drama on the future Buddha Maitreya written in Tocharian A. Based on the Old Uyghur translation of the text, a preliminary translation of “slanderer” has been proposed, but nothing else is known about the history of the word. In this article, I argue that it was borrowed from an earlier form of Old Khotanese ṣṭakulcā- , a derivative of Old Khotanese ṣṭakulā- “abuse”. In its turn, Old Khotanese ṣṭakulā- “abuse” may have been borrowed from an unattested Gāndhārī source. By examining Old Uyghur, Old Khotanese, Late Khotanese and Buddhist Sanskrit sources, I uncover the complex web of relationships that surrounds Tocharian A ṣtākkrukke * and its spread across the Tarim Basin.
Abstract As a traditional theme of Chinese oral performance, the “mutual accusations of the cat and the mouse” ( maoshu xianggao 貓鼠相告) underwent obvious local variations in the Hokkien ballads of Fujian and Taiwan in the early twentieth century. The story describes three conflicts between the cat and the mouse, who are finally reconciled with each other under the judgement of King Yama. The Hokkien ballad depicts a scene of council negotiations and introduces a number of new terms such as “Chairperson”, “representative”, “self-government” and “conference”. According to the lithographic edition of the Huiwentang Bookstore 會文堂書局 in Xiamen and the advertisements on the back cover of other publications, the Hokkien ballad was written by a Xiamen artist around 1914. This ballad reflects the local self-government movement promulgated by the Qing court in the early twentieth century and demonstrates the narrative tradition of Hokkien ballads, focused on current affairs and deploying animals as a metaphor for social reality.
Bactrian, the principal written language of pre-Islamic Afghanistan, was little known until the early 1990s, when more than 150 contracts, economic documents and letters, together with a few Buddhist texts, were acquired by collectors. Most of these were published by Nicholas Sims-Williams between 2001 and 2012 in three volumes entitled Bactrian Documents from Northern Afghanistan. The present article presents two additional documents which have come to light more recently, a receipt for a sum of ten dirhams and a letter from an otherwise unknown ruler of R & omacr;b, modern Rui in the Hindukush mountains. The text and translation of the documents are accompanied by a discussion of their linguistic and historical significance.
This study shows how authority can affect the reception of texts and ideas in Islamic history by tracing responses Sal & amacr;h al-D & imacr;n al-Safad & imacr; (d. 764/1363) received to a letter he had sent his contemporaries about a philological problem in the Quran. The response of the most well-regarded scholar, Taq & imacr; al-D & imacr;n al-Subk & imacr; (d. 756/1355), gained renown, despite later scholars often disagreeing with its content. Al-Subk & imacr;'s answer went through a process of canonization: it was promoted by various scholars and in diverse genres of literature, alongside the concomitant sidelining of the contributions of other, lesser-known, correspondents, despite the recognized merit of their responses. The attention paid to al-Subk & imacr;'s answer is also contrasted with the lack of attention paid to exchanges al-Safad & imacr; had with other scholars on similar philological problems. This study shows how al-Subk & imacr; came to be associated with a "well-known problem" to demonstrate how scholarly authority can shape the transmission of the past.
Two Tocharian B manuscripts, PK AS 3B and IOL Toch 306, contain an ingredient l & auml;ksa & ntilde;& ntilde;a klautso, lit. "fish ear", that, in earlier editions and translations, has been interpreted as "(fish) gill". However, no concrete evidence has been brought forward to interpret "fish ears" in this context as "gills", nor is there convincing evidence for the use of "gills" in (traditional) medicine for the dermatological and gastrointestinal conditions described in these manuscripts. By examining the term for "shell" in Nakh-Dagestanian languages (e.g. Avar & chcy;& chcy;& ucy;& gcy;l & icy;& gcy;l & icy;& ncy; /& ccaron;:uiin/, lit. "fish ear") and highlighting metaphorical associations of related words, e.g. German Ohrmuschel "auricle", we argue that l & auml;ksa & ntilde;& ntilde;a klautso refers to shells and conches rather than gills. Additionally, we provide instances of the use of conches and shells in & Amacr;yurvedic and traditional Chinese medicine to support our claim. Accordingly, we suggest that "ground shell (powder)" is the ingredient listed in these two remedies.
This article is predicated on the belief that the story of theIsmaili community of north-west Iran during the ah third-fourth/ninth-tenth CE period can be understood through their economic, social and political history as a network for theIsmaili (primarily Qarmat & imacr;s) movement. The areas of north-west Iran referred to in this article are Rayy (modern-day Tehran) and Azerbaijan. I argue that the Ismailis in these regions were shaped by Qarmat & imacr; ideology, as reflected in both intellectual traditions and material evidence. In particular, the transmission of the Qarmat & imacr;s' apocalyptic doctrine, notably the concept of "Adam's Paradise", highlights the enduring ideological ties between Bahrayn and north-west Iran. This article re-evaluates the available textual and material evidence to reassess the early development of theIsmaili presence in this region. The purpose will be to assess the scale of the Qarmat & imacr;s' relationships and the identity of the scholars who were involved in intellectual transmission in north-west Iran, as well as to illustrate anIsmaili (principally Qarmat & imacr;) affiliation with the prominent rulers in north-west Iran.
This article examines the distinction between dizi (sic)(sic) and menren (sic)(sic) in early Chinese texts, with particular attention paid to the Lunyu (sic)(sic) (Analects of Confucius) and the broader Ru (sic) ("Confucian" or "Classicist") tradition. Whether these terms designate identical or distinct groups of disciples has long been a matter of debate, beginning with early medieval commentaries and culminating in the interpretation that they refer to "first-" and "second-generation" followers. Advancing this discussion, the article offers a systematic analysis of menren across early Chinese sources and presents substantial, previously overlooked evidence supporting a meaningful distinction between the two designations. In doing so, it sheds new light on early conceptions of Confucius's following and on the social organization of the Ru tradition more broadly. This article argues that menren are best understood not as "second-generation" disciples, but as "second-rank" students who, while occupying a formally subordinate position within an extended circle of adherents, nevertheless remained closely affiliated with their teacher.
This article reconstructs and contextualizes two inscriptions commemorating the Aqquyunlu occupation of Mardin in 835/1432 at the newly built main gate linking the town to the citadel. Inscription 835 Mardin was formerly displayed on three courses of stones in a framed area surmounting the gate facing the town. The gate collapsed at some point in the twentieth century. Due to the inclusion of its former location in the active military base inside Mardin's citadel, it is unclear whether some of the stones displaying inscription 835 Mardin still exist among the rubble below its former location. Even before the collapse of the gate, the stones of inscription 835 Mardin had been reset out of their original sequence as documented in a unique photograph taken in 1911, which enables the reconstruction presented in this article. The gate surmounted by inscription 835 Mardin was closed with an inscribed monumental lock that was commissioned immediately after the Aqquyunlu occupation of Mardin. This lock was formerly held as #378 in the collection of the & Ccedil;inili K & ouml;& scedil;k of the Topkap & imath; Saray & imath; M & uuml;zesi in Istanbul. Notwithstanding repeated inquiries via email and on site with the administration of the museum, it cannot currently be located and appears to have been lost. Accordingly, the edition suggested in the present article builds on an earlier edition by Halil Etem [Eldem] as checked against additional photographs published in other scholarly publications until 1952 and the reconstructed historical and epigraphic context presented in the present article. Together, both inscriptions constitute a unique and coherent epigraphic programme declaring the commitment of the newly established Aqquyunlu administration to rule in accordance with Islamic normativities and the supra-regional standard of the Timurid ruler Sh & amacr;hrukh, who is named as qara 'Uthm & amacr;n's overlord in both inscriptions.
Reduplication is a linguistic phenomenon whereby a segment, or a part thereof, is repeated to convey grammatical functions and as a means of lexical derivation. In Semitic, reduplication is widely attested and productive both in the nominal and the verbal systems. Modern South Arabian Languages (MSAL) are no exception, in that various reduplicated patterns are attested, among which the most common are C1C2C1C2, i.e. Soqotri h & aacute;lhal "gris" (Lonnet 2008: 130), Jibbali/Shehret xlxl "Brown-spotted grouper" (Castagna 2024: 9) from Proto-MSAL *root xl(xl) "brown/grey", and C1C2C3C3, i.e. Mehri h & zacute;& imacr;r & umacr;r "to go pale, green, yellow" (Johnstone 1987: 163), Jibbali/Shehret & scaron;srr "yellow" (Johnstone 1981: 265) from Proto-MSAL *root & scaron;sr "(to be) yellow, green". Another type, namely C1C2C3C2C3, has received little attention to date, despite its attestation in Modern South Arabian where it is more frequently, but not exclusively, found in the eastern branch (Jibbali/Shehret and Soqotri). This study primarily aims to provide an account of the morpho-phonological and semantic characteristics of this pattern.
