维吾尔族民间话语的隐喻分析（续）

如要对维吾尔族口头语言中的这些比喻性隐喻做一个简短的结论，也许福柯的一段论述最为恰当：“在变成了稠密厚实的历史实在之后，语言便形成了一个汇集传统、思想的无声习惯以及民族的幽晦精神的场所；它积累着一种不可避免的记忆，而这记忆甚至没有意识到自己是记忆。” 第二， 民间反语（骂中带夸）。维吾尔族口头语言中还存在大量的反语，这些同样是维吾尔文化在民间口头话语层面上的积淀。这些反语是一些诙谐的，看似骂而实则夸的反语。它表达了一个对话者双方十分密切的感情。但这需要一个特殊的语境，即对话双方同是此文化圈中之人，否则会造成误解。如当看到一个十分可爱的孩子时，大人常常会说：“多难看的孩子啊!”孩子的父母听后不但不会生气，反而会开心地笑起来，因为他知道这是在夸他的孩子。而十分有趣的是，笔者亲眼所见，在新疆，一次一位汉族女同志带着他的小孩走进办公室，她的维吾尔族同事以为长期在一起工作彼此已很了解，所以她用了维吾尔族的反语方式亲切地逗这个小男孩说：“这孩子真难看呀！”可这位汉族女同志虽在新疆生活工作了很长时间，但对维吾尔族文化中的这种表达方式一点也不了解，她顿时生气，而且有很长时间都不理这个维族同事，不论她怎么解释。直到过了很久另外一位维族朋友告诉她这是维吾尔族特殊的表达方式，是一种对孩子的亲昵的话语。可见，了解一个民族的文化并不是一件容易的事，而文化的表现是渗透于生活的方方面面，尤其是语言中。如果对此有一些了解，人们就会发现维吾尔族的口头语言文化的丰富、风趣，对孩子一套专门的昵语充满了多么深厚的爱意。又如维吾尔族小女孩大多长着一对浓黑修长的弯眉，大人们常常会说她:“看这个偷了奥斯曼的小偷。”小女孩听了会高兴地蹦跳而去。因为她也知道这是大人对她由衷的赞美，这更增添了她对自己美丽可爱的自信。奥斯曼草是维吾尔族女子最喜爱的染眉草，自打摇篮之时起，女孩子就在染眉草的陪伴下成长，所以，这句反语就是她们生活的真实。还有一些是大人之间对话时的骂中带夸的反语（有时甚至是难听话）。这些反语被巴赫金给以高度评价：“它处于辱骂的边缘；赞美中充满了辱骂，期间无法划出一道明确的界限，也无法指明，赞美在哪里结束，辱骂又从何处开始。广场辱骂也具有这样的特征。虽然赞美和辱骂在语言中泾渭分明，但在广场语言里两者似乎属于某一统一的一体双身，这个一体双身夸中带骂，骂中带夸。因此在不拘形迹的广场言语中骂人话（尤其是下流话）如此频繁地用于温柔和赞美的含义。” 由于民间文化研究中民间话语的隐喻意义并未从文化的角度加以研究，所以维吾尔民间口头话语中赞美和辱骂相结合的现象长期未受重视。第三，另外还有一种民间话语中的隐喻，就是维吾尔口语中富有民族色彩的吆喝。其中，喀什的吆喝是最具代表性的，所以笔者称其为“喀什的吆喝”。去过喀什的人也许不会忘记喀什街头的各种商贩，有头顶一盘炸油果的；也有左手挎着水果篮子，右手拿着一杆秤的；甚至还有小孩子叫卖民间自制的饮料的。他们都对自己商品的发出声声响亮的吹嘘，声调抑扬顿挫，语词具有诗的形式。尤其是在喀什的巴扎天，各种小商小贩争相吆喝，向人们推荐和赞美自己的商品或饭店的食品，而且这甚至成了一项专门技能，所以每个饭馆前几乎都有专门的吆喝人。这些人口齿伶俐，幽默风趣，面部表情非常丰富，是一些天才的表演者。他们那有滋有味的吆喝，形成了喀什民族街道特有的民俗文化风景。这种吆喝起源与何时已无从考证，它不像现在北京这样的繁华都市的大商场内为促销商品而进行的大声喊叫。喀什的吆喝中隐含着诙谐与反讽，带着特有的夸张和自我嘲弄，听罢不禁使人哑然失笑，给前来就餐或路过者带来无比的快乐。所以，这些吆喝声是喀什艾提尕尔广场和喀什著名的中亚大巴扎不可或缺的街头生活的一部分。每一种喀什特色的食品、自制的饮料、各种手工艺品等都有各自专门的吆喝用语及专门的声调，在喀什民俗文化中占有十分重要的位置。这是多少年来维吾尔族街头文化的交响曲，因此它对维吾尔族的精神文化生活必定会产生深刻影响，对民族文学艺术风格的形成起着重要作用。在这些街头吆喝逐渐被现代文明的商品经营方式取代的今天，如当代维吾尔文学中《金牙狗》、《动物的盛宴》等有影响的作品，就是这些街头吆喝声的不绝如缕的回响(关于这个问题笔者已另拟文作专门论述)。第四，维吾尔族的民间谚语。谚语是一个民族在其历史的发展过程中的智慧的积淀。每一个民族都有其代表本民族特性的谚语，成为考察一个民族文化的重要窗口。维吾尔族的民间谚语最鲜明的特点就是简练、形象、传神，这其实也就是隐喻的特征。如：“春天的太阳下晒儿媳，秋天的太阳下晒女儿。”在维吾尔族的观念中，春天的阳光紫外线强，十分灼烤人；而秋天的阳光不仅紫外线较弱，而且很养人。这样，这句谚语就十分微妙地表达了两层含义，一是维吾尔族先民对自然现象的十分敏锐的观察，二是从更深层意义上表述了维吾尔族传统的社会关系中的婆媳关系。女儿是自己亲生的，所以母亲会处处替她考虑，但婆媳关系总是隔着这一层。这种同一阳光下的不同晒法，把十分复杂而又微妙的家庭关系简约而生动地表现出来。还有一则谚语：“进入瞎子的城市就闭上你的一只眼睛。”与其相对应的汉语成语是“入乡随俗”。从表达方式上，维吾尔语的表达是描述性的。还有一则：“请你去的地方你一定要去，没请你去的地方你一定不要去。”这则谚语表达了维吾尔族人的处世原则，尊重他人、尊重自己。时至今日，父母给正在成长中孩子的劝戒就是这则谚语，要求后代学会如何进入社会，与人和谐相处。另外有些谚语是作文字游戏，巧妙利用谐音，达到一语双关的效果。如，“参加婚礼要吃饱了再去。”“婚礼”和“饱”在维吾尔语中是同音词，但意思和性质完全不同。用谐音将两件不相干的事联系在一起，而在谐音游戏的背后，表达的依然是维吾尔族人的为人处世之道，饭饱之后参加公众活动，会显得从容不迫、温文尔雅，反之，则会被众人耻笑。另外有一些总结社会不良现象的，却用了十分形象化的方式，带有嘲讽之意。如，“肥牛离草近。”用对动物生活习惯的总结用语，幽默地批评了一些好吃懒做之人。这样生动有趣的谚语在今天的维吾尔族人日常生活中比比皆是，听起来有趣而又深含哲理。 三维柯指出：“一切表达物体和抽象心灵的运用之间的类似的隐喻一定是从哲学正在形成的时期开始的，证据就是在每种语言里精妙艺术和深奥科学所需用的词，都起源于村俗语言。” 这说明，隐喻首先存在于民间，是早期先民生活所必须的表达方式，原来都有完全本土的特性。它最直接地表达着人们认识世界和感受世界的方式。但是随着人类心智的不断发展，抽象思维能力的提高，生活中原有的中心话语，逐渐被抽象词所取代。民间话语中的隐喻虽无处不在，却退居边缘，而这边缘化的地位不是语言本身，而是研究者人为造成的。用抽象思维方式考察先民的诗性思维，用现代化的方法理解前人的行为，用静止的语言学研究分析活态发展的民间口头话语，其结果，使隐喻失去了与民间的渊源关系，被误认为是诗人、作家的独创，所以，书面文学中的隐喻似乎也与口头话语中的隐喻毫无干系，民间话语中的隐喻被作为非文学因素、非高雅语言搁置在一旁，随着时间的流逝渐渐弱化和退化，独自低语。载《中央民族大学维吾尔学语言文学系首届维吾尔学论文集》

维吾尔族民间话语的隐喻分析

姑丽娜尔

（中国社会科学院少数民族文学研究所）

隐喻是一种普遍的文化现象，人们每时每刻都在使用大量隐喻。它是国外众多学科关注的热门话题，但目前还缺乏一种统一的隐喻理论。在国内，关于隐喻的研究还停留在修辞层次，从哲学、心理学和其他跨学科角度对隐喻的研究还是一个空白。事实证明隐喻作为一种文化现象，它不仅仅是一种文化或艺术的点缀，而是文化本身。正如福柯所言：“也许世界的语言就是隐喻”。一“隐喻”一词来自希腊语的metaphora,其字源meta意思是“超越”，而pherein的意思则是“传送”。它是一套特殊的语言过程，通过这一过程，一物的若干方面被“带到”或转移到另一物上，以至第二物仿佛就是第一物。 在隐喻的研究史上，西方经历了三个主要时期：一是从亚里士多德开始至20世纪30年代，这是隐喻的修辞学研究时期；二是从20世纪30年代至70年代，是隐喻的语义学研究时期，这时不仅是从语言学角度，同时还包括从哲学和逻辑角度对隐喻的语义研究；三是从20世纪70年代至今，是隐喻的多学科研究。这时期包括从心理学、哲学、符号学、现象学、阐释学等角度所进行的多角度、多层次研究。如前所述，隐喻指的就是一种转换，而转换的各种不同形式，可以被称为“修辞”或者“比喻”，即把语言的字面意义转换掉，从而转向它的比喻意义。一般来说，隐喻代表着上述转换的基本形式。因此也就可以把它看作基本的“比喻手段”。其他的比喻实际上是隐喻原型的变体。从传统来看，隐喻分为以下三种：第一，明喻（Simile）。是一种直接的转换。常用“好像”、“如”之类的句式结构，明喻中的两极关系更具直观性。比如：“这块钢板盖在汽车的发动机上，就像一顶遮阳帽戴在女人的头上。”第二，提喻（Synecdoche）。这是个希腊字，源于synekdechesthai，意思是“整体地得到”。提喻所采取的转换方式，是转换某事物的一部分而代替该事物的整体，反之亦然。比如：“二十个夏天”代替二十年，“十双手”代替十个人；或像维吾尔语那样，用“贪婪的眼睛”代替“堕落之人”。第三，换喻（Metonymy）。这个词来自希腊语（metonymia），意思是：meta（改变）和 onoma（名称）。在换喻中，一个事物的名称被加以转换，以代替与之相关的其他事物。比如：“白宫”代替美国总统，“王冠”代替君主等。这种转换过程也包括拟人。在作过如上简单的历史回顾之后，笔者在本文要论述的是，在维吾尔民间话语中保留着大量隐喻，这些隐喻作为一个民族口头民俗的积淀，象征性地表达了该民族特有的审美心理和审美评价，是该民族文化的一种特殊表现方式。这正好也说明了语言作为民族精神积累的场所，它在漫长的岁月中通过曲折、隐含的方式表达了这个民族对世界的认知方式，民族的独特文化背景和文化心理。因此，笔者试图对目前尚鲜活地存在于维吾尔民间话语中的隐喻做一些分析。二维吾尔民间话语中的隐喻主要以民间对话中的比喻、反语（骂中带夸）、 吆喝（以喀什的吆喝为特例）、谚语等最具代表性。这里所谓的民间对话，指的就是该民族每一个个体所使用的，在工作之余的休闲、娱乐中常用的话语（有时甚至还包括工作中的轻松交谈）。第一，比喻性隐喻。维吾尔民间话语中，带有民族个性化色彩的比喻非常普遍。本文在此以较有规律性特征的隐喻来举例说明。首先是用表示身体部位的词作为隐喻词。而被用在隐喻中的，都是身体的重要部位，这是民间的价值判断的体现。如在喀什，饭作好后为表示对某人的尊敬（家里的长者或客人），女主人会把饭的第一勺舀给他（她），把饭端到他（她）面前时，女主人会顺带说一句：“给您舀了饭的鼻子。”鼻子是人体中特别是面部最突出的部位，也是重要器官。饭的鼻子以极富想像力的比喻将家庭主妇对长者和客人的尊重、对自己所做的饭的评价以及对自己行为的评价都十分巧妙且委婉地表达出来。而且最为重要的是，这在听者心中会激起一个温暖的波澜，不仅为她的苦心，也因为巧妙的话语本身的魅力。诸如此类还有，如喀什有一种特别的南瓜叫“安集延南瓜”，喀什人会形象地称这南瓜的根部为“南瓜的鼻子”，还有西瓜或哈密瓜朝阳的部位相对来说更好吃，被称为“瓜的鼻子”，人们切瓜时会从西瓜或哈密瓜的这个部位开始。眼睛是心灵的窗口，这在各民族中是相通的。在维吾尔族民间话语中用眼睛比喻最好的事物或最优秀的人。如，一个家庭中最优秀的孩子被父母称为“孩子们的眼睛”，这其中就隐含着父母的评价。去过喀什的人都知道，喀什有一座非常著名的艾提尕尔清真寺，这是喀什的中心，这个中心被喀什人十分形象地称为“喀什的肚脐”。而出生在这里的人会很自豪地说：“我出生在喀什的肚脐。”听者马上就会意识到他说的是哪里。而这种意识也可能仅限于本民族甚至喀什文化圈内。喀什人的特征，就生动地表现在这些毫不引人注意的最表层的话语中。我们可以看出民间话语反映一个地域文化甚至一个民族文化的特定作用。和许多民族一样，维吾尔族认为打断别人的谈话是不礼貌的行为。当谈话被打断时，说话者会说：“你不要踢我的话的腰”。头是身体的最重要部位，所以一个维吾尔族人在言谈中为强调自己所说的某一句话的重要性时，会说：“我的话的头部是……”另外还有如“山的头部”等说法。除了将身体的重要部位作为比喻词外，维吾尔族还有将生活中必不可少的食物或动物作为比喻词的习惯。被他们选中的这些比喻词，绝非出于好用或任意而为之，而是具有很深的文化内涵。如，维吾尔族对鱼有一种与生俱来的亲密感，这与他们信仰伊斯兰教有关，在《古兰经》中鱼是圣洁之物。所以，当他们比喻心目中最美好的事物时，首先浮上他们心头的，就是这个被真主许诺过的圣物。除了像其他民族一样将美丽的女子比作美好的花之外，维吾尔族对女子的赞美还有较为特殊的表述，他们把体态苗条，面容姣好的女子赞为：“像鱼一样的……”，鱼的润滑、细腻以及在水中舒展的姿态让人很自然地想到美丽的女子那细嫩的皮肤、苗条而又舒展挺拔的姿态，富有动态的和诗意的美。同样,冰糖与维吾尔族民间文化有十分密切的关系，维吾尔族非常喜欢冰糖，尤其是作为自喀喇汗王朝以来中亚及维吾尔文化中心的喀什，冰糖是喀什人交友待客必不可少的食品。因此，冰糖也就成为他们口头语言中具有赞美意义的词之一。如，一个人话说得很有道理，正中听者下怀，这时听者会带着由衷的表情说：“你的话真像冰糖一样让人舒服……”或者“我真想现在就往你嘴里放块冰糖……”糖是富足甜蜜的象征，如果冰糖没有在维吾尔族生活中占有十分重要的地位，它就不会成为口头语言的积淀而在人们需要时首先浮上心头。与冰糖一样，在维吾尔族的饮食中，抓饭是维吾尔族最重要的食物，家中来了客人，除了水果点心以及其他食物的招待之外，抓饭是最后一道必备的饭。而且，抓饭以其丰富的营养已被人们肯定。因此在维吾尔族中就很自然地流传着关于这道饭的一些著名谚语：“抓饭是男人的养料”。而且当问及一个年轻人什么时候结婚时，维吾尔人决不直接问他：“你什么时候结婚？”而问他（她）：“什么时候吃你的抓饭？”。尤其是对女孩子更不直接问。因为维吾尔人认为女人是天生害羞的小动物，娇弱可爱，这也是她们与生俱来的媚人之处（由此笔者又想到了一个有趣的比喻，这是男性专用的比喻。当一个男人看到一个美女迎面走来，或者是在相互之间谈论一个可爱的女性时，他们最常用的口头语就是“这个小动物”）。所以在维吾尔人的观念中善待、爱护女性是每一个男子应有的美德之一。在维吾尔族著名的民间麦西莱甫的惩罚游戏中就有规定，不能随便对妇女开玩笑，否则受罚。还有一个在维吾尔民间十分流行的隐喻，就是当一些人说话不算数或某些干部对群众许诺而不兑现时，人们会说：“给我们的嘴里放了一个空奶嘴”。至今，维吾尔族妇女在给孩子喂完奶之后，为了哄孩子，就给孩子嘴里放一个特制的小奶嘴；有时母亲不在，婴儿哭闹得厉害，人们会在小奶嘴上粘上白糖放在孩子嘴里，小孩会立即停止哭叫。而人们就将这个生活中习以为常的事物巧妙地作为比喻词，对生活中的一些不良行为，特别是一些为官者进行幽默的批评。

维吾尔语言文字

维吾尔语与维吾尔文是中国新疆维吾尔自治区自治民族维吾尔族使用的语言和文字，使用人口860余万。公务活动、社会交际、广播影视、新闻出版、文学艺术、民族教育、科技等各个领域都普遍使用该种语文。　　古代维吾尔语8世纪后形成共同的书面语言。古代维吾尔语属阿尔泰语系、古突厥语族维吾尔—遏逻禄语支，其文献书籍以《突厥语大词典》、《福乐智慧》和众多的吐鲁番及敦煌文献为代表。　　现代维吾尔语是现代维吾尔人使用的语言。现代维吾尔语分为中心方言、和田方言和罗布方言，三个方言的主要差别表现在语音上。现代维吾尔语书面标准语是在乌鲁木齐土语音位系统为代表的中心方言的基础上形成和发展起来的，经过多次规范，现代维吾尔文学语言(即书面语)成为现代维吾尔人使用的统一语言。　　现代维吾尔语有8个元音，24个辅音。有元音和谐律。舌位合谐比较严整，唇状和谐比较松驰。有元音弱化现象。构词和构形附加成分很丰富。名词有数、从属人称、格等语法范畴；动词有态、肯定否定、语气、时、人称、数、形动词、动名词、副动词等语法范畴。表示各种情态的动词很发达。词组和句子有严格的词序：主语在谓语之前，限定语在中心词之前。词汇中除有突厥语族诸语言的共同词外，还有相当数量的汉语、阿拉伯语、波斯语和俄语的借词。现在使用以阿拉伯字母为基础的维吾尔文。　　古代维吾尔语起先用突厥文拼写，后来用粟特文改进的回鹘文来拼写，之后用阿拉伯文为基础的古代维吾尔文来拼写(哈卡尼亚文)，再后来用察合台文来拼写，公元九—十世纪后，改用阿拉伯文字母为基础的维吾尔文来拼写。现代维吾尔文是在晚期察合台文基础上形成的以阿拉伯文字母为基础的拼音文字，20世纪30年代以后经过几次改进，最近的一次是在1983年。现行维吾尔文有8个元音字母，24个辅音字母，自右向左横写。用来书写现代维吾尔文学语言，即业经规范的书面语。每个字母按出现在词首、词中、词末的位置有不同的形式。有些字母只有单式和末式。有些字母所带的符号除作独立形式和词首形式的标志外，还起隔音的作用。词根上的语音变化、附加成分与词干在元音和辅音上的和谐都在文字上有所反映，同一个词根往往有不同的书写形式，同一个附加成分往往有几种变体。　　中国新疆维吾尔自治区民族语言文字工作委员会下设维吾尔语研究、名词术语规范、辞书编纂等业务处室，从事着维吾尔语言文字方面的研究、规范和辞书编纂工作，有很多成果问世。

维吾尔语的关系从句

维吾尔语的关系从句

力提甫•托乎提

［提要］本文根据J．H.格林伯格，B．科姆里等普遍语法学派对世界各语言中的关系从句的论述和归类，分析了维吾尔语关系从句的特点。据维吾尔语缺乏印欧语中那样的关系从句的特点，肯定维吾尔语关系从句属空格型。文章还讨论了维吾尔语关系从句的词序和功能以及局限性。

0．导论 几十年来语言学家通过对比研究，在世界诸多语言中发现了许多共同的现象。象J．H．格林伯格（1963），B．科姆里（1981）这样的先驱者建立了许多令人信服的语言普遍规律，并提出了有关的预测和猜想。在语言普遍规律研究中的一个热门论题就是世界上绝大部分语言中关系从句的存在。关系从句就是修饰名词的分句（安德如斯，1975）。下面是一例英语带关系从句的句子，方括号内是关系从句。（1）Sheep [that have long fleece] survive better in winter． 羊 那 有 长 毛 生存 更好 在 冬天“有长毛的羊容易过冬。”这个关系从句的作用在于修饰它前面的名词sheep“羊”。可见“一个关系从句必然由一个中心名词和一个限定成分组成。”（科姆里，1981） 虽然许多语言都有关系从句，但关系从句如何构成、句中哪些名词可由关系从句修饰以及关系从句与其它成分的词序如何，各语言都有自已的特点。本文试图描述维吾尔语中关系从句的存在、构成、功能、词序以及局限性，从而揭示所谓的语言普遍规律在多大程度上适用于维吾尔语，而维吾尔语又有哪些自己的特有规律。1．维吾尔语关系从句的表现形式 科姆里分析了另一种突厥语，即土耳其语中的关系从句。 （2）[Hasan -in Sinan-a ver -diğ -i] patates-i ye-dim. 艾山 的 斯南向 给（动名）的 马铃薯（宾）吃了我 “我吃了艾山给斯南的马铃薯。”按印欧语言的传统语法来讲，只有定式动词作谓语的结构才能叫做句子。而上述例子中作谓语的是动词ver-“给”加动名词成分-diğ而形成的不定式形式。象其它名词化了的动词一样，它要求句子的主语Hasan要有领属格-in，而本身需要有一个相应的从属成分（这里是-i）。因此，按一个句子必须有一个定式动词的标准，以上土耳其语结构可能算不上是一个关系从句。然而科姆里认为上述土耳其语结构所起的作用完全和英语的关系从句的作用一样：它后面紧跟着被修饰名词patates“马铃薯”,而关系从句限定了这个名词所表示的事物的范围，说明所谈到的是艾山给斯南的那个马铃薯。因此我们还应该从功能或语义上给关系从句下一个定义，而不去考虑其词法和句法上的特殊性。这样，定式和非定式动词作谓语的关系从句之间的区别可被看作只是好多参数（可能性）中的一个。根据这个理论我们可以肯定，上述土耳其语例子中的成分Hasanin Sinana verdiği在功能上还是一个关系从句。J．科尼菲勒（1985）在她的《土耳其语里的不定式关系从句和补语》一文里指出，在土耳其语里不但-DIK动名词分句可起关系从句作用，而且-AcAk动名词分句也可起关系从句作用，因为前者表示非将来时，而后者表示将来时。由于它们本身带有时态意义，才有可能修饰句子以外的一个名词。从她的观点可以看出，土耳其语中以-DIK和-AcAk结尾的动词也并不完全是不定式的，因为它们所表达的时态意义正是一个定式动词的重要标志。 维吾尔语的情况在这一点上可能与土耳其语的一样，也许更为直接了当。从功能上讲，维吾尔语里也有修饰或限定句外名词的关系从句。按词法和句法结构我们可以把它们称为-GAn（=-γan/-qan/-gän/-kän）关系从句，-GUdäk（=-γudäk/-qudäk/-güdäk/-küdäk）关系从句和零形关系从句三种： （3）[män oqu -γan] kitab qiziq ikän.(-GAn关系从句) 我 读（形动）书 有趣 是（转述）“我读的书原来很有趣。” （4）[üč kün-gä yät- -kü -däk] un qal- -di．（-GUdäk关系从句） 三 天 向 够（动名）（相似）面粉 剩（过去） “还剩够用三天的面粉。” （5）γulja [mänziri-si güzäl] šähär．（零形式关系从句） 伊宁 风景 的 美丽 城市 “伊宁是个风景美丽的城市。”这里应该说明，以上方括号内的成分在维吾尔语语法里一直被认为是短语或词组。但我们根据其功能有理由说它们是关系从句。就其本质来讲，关系从句是包含在一个独立句里的分句，只不过是在功能上起修饰名词的作用。因此以上几个关系从句在结构上比独立句小，但比短语大。所表达的意义等于一个完整的句子的意义。这正是关系从句的特点。 我们先看一下-GAn关系从句。-GAn在维吾尔语里是个形动词附加成分。与-r（/-ar/-är）形动词成分相比，它有完成或过去时的意义。如果前加-ydi-/-idi-，它表示现在或将来完成的意义：oqu-ydiγan“现在/将来读的”；如果前加-wat-，就表示正在完成的意义：oqu-watqan“正在读的”。这种时态意义正是一个定式动词应有的一大特点。由于这种特点，我们说-GAn形动词可以作为一个主句的谓语使用： （6）Män bu kitab-ni oqu-γan．“我读过这本书。” 这 （宾）读它也象例（3）里的情况一样，可以作关系从句的谓语。但也应看到，这种关系从句结构的不完整性：一方面，-GAn形动词作一个独立句的谓语时，根据需要后面可加系动词-dur，idi以及相应的人称附加成分。那是维吾尔语定式动词的另一个特点。而在关系从句谓语的位置上它后面不可能加这些成分，更不能加土耳其语那种从属附加成分（例如前加*号为结构不合语法的句子）：（7）*[män oquγandurmän] kitab qiziq ikän．（8）*[meniŋ oquγinim] kitab qiziq ikän．另一方面，因维吾尔语没有关系代词，被修饰名词在关系从句中留下一个空白： （9）[män --- oquγan]kitab qiziq ikän．这一点我将在下一节中加以进一步说明。所有这一切都说明维吾尔语关系从句本身的特有规律。 再看看-GUdäk关系从句。-GUdäk关系从句在结构上较复杂。它是动名词成分-GU（=-γu/-qu/-gü/-kü）与相似格-däk（/-daq/-taq/-täk）的结合。因此在-däk的位置上也可出现另一个相似格成分-čilik。就时态意义来讲，-GU本身带有古老的必然将来时意义。在一些庄重场合我们也可以看到它作谓语的情况：Wätinimiz teximu gülläp yašniγusi“我们的祖国必将更加繁荣昌盛”。在功能上一个带有-GUdäk的动词可起形动词的作用。因此它在关系从句里可作谓语并在动作发生的可能性、潜在性等方面修饰中心名词。但我们也应该看到这种结构的局限性。一、带有-GUdäk的动词在关系从句里作谓语时表示或强调动作发生的可能性和潜在性。其它情况下它完全可以被带-ydi/-idi-的-GAn形动词代替。二、在独立句谓语动词后面出现的-GUdäk表示的是转述语气，这与它在关系从句中的意义并不完全相同。如： （10）U ätä käl-güdäk．“听说他明天要来。” 他 明天 来（转述）因此，-GUdäk关系从句的构造特殊、功能简单、使用范围狭窄。 至于零形关系从句，它在结构上更简单，功能上也只限于修饰原来句中的领属格名词或者对比句中被对比的名词。如例(11)来自例 (12): （11）[mänziri -si güzäl] šähär “风景美丽的城市” （l2）šähär-niŋ mänziri- si güzäl．“城市的风景美丽。”（-niŋ为领属格）这种结构和汉语句子里作谓语的主谓结构一样。这种关系从句是一种较普遍的语言现象，只不过在各语言里对它的定义不一定相同。维吾尔语的这种关系从句的不完整性在于它缺乏一个作谓语的动词，因而也不存在动词是不是定式的问题。从理论上讲，我们可以认为在独立句（12）的末尾有联系动词-dur，而它表示现在时。它在独立句中的出现是随意的，但在关系从句（11）中它的省略是强制的。否则，句子就不合语法：*［mänziri -si güzäl-dur］ šähär。即使在这种关系从句中的-dur必须省略，但在结构上它仍然有主语和谓语，仍然表达一个完整的意义；在功能上它又修饰名词。由于这些原因，我们称它为零形关系从句。它也可以修饰对比句中被对比的名词。如下面的例（13）来自例（14）： （13）[poyiz -din tez] at “比火车快的马” 火车 从 快 马 （14）Bu at poyizdin tez（-dur）．“这匹马比火车快。” 这 是以上我们讨论了维吾尔语中存在的三种关系从句的功能和特点。据我所知，维吾尔语关系从句主要有这三种，但也不排除其它类型的关系从句存在的可能性。2．关系从句的构成 我们知道，在印欧语言里关系从句的使用相当普遍。关系从句与被修饰名词之间都有一个关系代词或其它成分起连接作用。其实印欧语言里并没有专门的关系代词。所谓的关系代词也就是起连接作用的相应的疑问代词、指示代词、定冠词等。如英语的which、who、when、where、that等疑问代词和指示代词同时也起关系代词的作用。在俄语里κто “谁”、что“什么”等疑问代词也起同样的作用：（15）y вac ecть глaвное，[чтo нужно людям нашей npoФeccии] 对 你 是 主要的 什么 必要 人们 我们的 职业 “你具备我们这行的人所必须的主要素质。”（张会森等，1980）在德语里定冠词der、die、das等也起关系代词的作用。如： （16）das Haus，[das an der Ecke steht] （定冠）房子 在（定冠）拐角 站 “在拐角处的那个房子”（杨业治等，1987）现代维吾尔语里没有这种关系代词，但在古代维吾尔语里曾经有过这种关系代词的萌芽。如古代维吾尔语有过ol，它有时用作第三人称代词“他（她、它）”，有时用作指示代词“那”，有时在句末起系动词“是”的作用。在麻赫穆德•喀什噶里的《突厥语大词典》里，我们可以看到ol在-GAn关系从句中起类似关系代词的作用。如： （17）bu bitik ol kiši- ni oqi- -t- -γan．（《突厥语大词典》，I卷，211页） 这 书 人（宾）读（使动） “这是一本难读的书。”这里ol不但和印欧语言的代词一样起连接作用，而且整个句子的词序也和印欧语言同类结构的一样。又如，我们看到古代维吾尔语的疑问代词kim“谁”在《乌古斯可汗传说》中起连接作用： （18）ošul kim meniŋ aγïz - um -γa baq -ar turur bol -sa tartïγ tart -ïp 这 我的 口 我的 向 看（形动）是 成为（条件）礼品 拉（副动）dost tut- -ar -män（耿世民、吐尔逊•阿尤甫，1980）朋友 抓（形动）我 “谁要是顺从我的口令，我将送礼品于谁，并成为朋友。” 《乌古斯可汗传说》的刊布者们把这里出现的kim 正确地解释为连词。也就是关系代词。按照英语关系从句的分类，我们可以把ošul kim…翻译成英语的限定性（restrictive）形式those who…“那些…的人…”，也可把它译成自由（free） 形式whoever“谁…谁就…”（参见Radford，1988）。 显然，《乌古斯可汗传说》的现代维吾尔语版的处理符合后一种译法。 现代维吾尔语中代词的类似用法已经消失，关系从句的结构和词序也因此有了变化。现代维吾尔语中有一个起连接作用的小品词 -ki。大多数学者认为这个 -ki是波斯语借词。但我们不能排除它来自古维吾尔语kim 的可能性。再者，在吐鲁番和哈密方言里nemä“什么”不但跟文学语言里的一样起疑问代词作用，而且也和印欧语言里的疑问代词一样起突出句中某一成分的作用：bu güllärni män yasiγan nemä“这些花儿是我做的。”（佐合拉，1994）nemä的这种类似关系代词的用法还不见于文学语言。 由于现代维吾尔语没有关系代词，被修饰名词在关系从句的相应位置上出现空格。这种关系从句在其他语言里也常见。因此科姆里（1981）把这类关系从句称为空格形（Gap-type）关系从句。很明显，为了找出这种空格，我们必须回到为关系从句的形式作基础的独立句。让我们用t（来自英语的trace“痕迹”）来表示所出现的空格；然后在t和所移出的中心词右上方用同标的小英文字母来填补这个空格。这样我们可以看出关系从句的结构（表示“变成”）： （19）Män bir kitab - ni oqu - dum．“我读了一本书。” 我 一 （I过去） [män ti oquγan] bir kitabi “我读的一本书”（20）bu un üč küngä yet-iš - i mümkin．“这面粉可能够三天用。” 够（动名） 可能 [ti üč küngä yätküdäk] uni “够用三天的面粉 （21）bu šähär-niŋ mänziri - si güzäl．“这个城市风景美丽。” [ti mänzirisi güzäl] šähäri“风景美丽的城市”从以上的例子中可总结出每一种关系从句的构成。如从(19)中可以看出-GAn关系从句的构成： 第一步：把原句中的谓语动词变成相应的-GAn形动词；第二步：把句中所要修饰的名词移到-GAn形动词的后面。例 (20)显示-GUdäk关系从句的构成： 第一步：在原句谓语动词词干上缀加附加成分-GUdäk； 第二步：把句中所要修饰的名词移到-GUdäk形动词后面。例(21)告诉我们零形关系从句的构成： 第一步：从原句作谓语的名词或形容词后面去掉系动词（如果有的话）； 第二步：把句中被修饰名词（一般为领属名词或被对比名词）移到句末。总的规律就是，中心词由从原句中被移到被修饰位置上的名词充当，该名词会失去原有的格附加成分或后置词，并在新的位置上根据需要开始新的变格。3．关系从句的词序和功能 如上所述，关系从句的功能在于修饰本身以外的名词，或称作中心词。那么关系从句和中心词之间的词序关系在各语言中有所不同。如在印欧语言里关系从句出现在中心词的后面，而在维吾尔语和其它阿尔泰诸语言中关系从句出现在中心词的前面。格林伯格等普遍语法学派认为，关系从句与中心词的词序很大程度上与语言类型有关，即在一般词序为SVO的语言里关系从句出现在中心词的后面，而在SOV的语言里关系从句位置在中心词的前面（马林森，1981）。 维吾尔语是SOV语言，因此关系从句在中心词的前面。但这种规律也不是绝对的。如汉语是SVO语言，但带“的”的类似关系从句也出现在中心词之前。还有象我们在例（17）和例 （18）中看到的那样，古代维吾尔语里有关系代词，关系从句也曾在中心词的后面出现过。不过我们也不能因此就把古代维吾尔语说成是一种SVO语言。因为古代维吾尔语里宾语一般都在动词之前。同时我们应该承认，现代维吾尔语中关系从句确实出现在中心词的前面，起修饰或限定作用、这是一个总的规律。如果有相反的情况，那也是因修辞需要而引起的：（22）Šundaq naxša bu [tügi- -mä- -ydiγan]． 那样的 歌 这 完 （否定）（未完形动）“这就是那样唱不完的歌。” （铁依甫江诗） （23）Qandaq bala sän [gäp aŋli-ma-ydiγan]． 怎样 孩子 你 话 听 “你是什么孩子，这么不听话！” （口语）这种倒装同序的原因显而易见。如诗人铁依甫江在例(22)中为了韵律的需要改变了词序。一般词序应为 Bu [ti šundaq tügimäydiγan] naxšai ；例句（23）中也可看出，说话者为了突出自己的不满改变了词序。一般该句应为sän［ti gäp aŋlimaydiγan］qandaq balai。关系从句的功能和形容词一样，在中心词前面起修饰或限定作用。但关系从句的意义比形容词的复杂。另外，形容词在句中可作谓语，也可作修饰语。但关系从句只能作修饰语，不管它出现在中心词的前面或后面。再者，形容词只要语义适当，可以修饰句中的任何一个名词，但关系从句修饰名词，要以原主句为基础，并受到一定的限制。4．关系从句的局限性 虽然维吾尔语里有三种关系从句，但并不是句中所有的名词都可被关系从句所修饰。如下列句中有 3个名词：oquγučii“学生”，mäktäp“学校”和 bazaar“市场”。句子的谓语是动词bar-“去”。让我们看看是否每个名词都可以由-GAn关系从句来修饰：（24）(a) oquγučii mäktäpj -tin bazark- γa bar - di． 学生 学校 从 市场 向 去（过去）“学生从学校去了市场。” （b） [ti mäktäptin bazarγa barγan] oquγučii “从学校去了市场的学生” （c）* [oquγuči tj bazarγa barγan] mäktäpj “*学生去市场的那个学校” （d）[oquγuči mäktäptin tk barγan] bazark“学生从学校去的那个市场” 从以上的例子中可以看出，只有(a)中叫oquγuči “学生”和(c)中的 bazar“市场”被关系从句修饰的结构才算合乎语法，而mäktäp“学校”在这一结构中不能被关从句修饰，因此例( b)就不合语法。这是什么原因呢？这是因为维吾尔语中关系从句构成手段特殊，被修饰名词只依赖于动词的句法特征。我们在下面将仔细讨论这个问题。 科姆里(1981)在谈到句中哪些名词可以被关系从句修饰时，假设了一个等级体系：(25) 主语＞直接宾语＞非直接宾语＞领属名词这个等级体系说明最容易被一个关系从句修饰的是句中的主语，再下来就是直接宾语，然后是非直接宾语和领属名词。作为一种普遍语言现象，这个体系也能揭示维吾尔语的特点。如主语是任何句子中不可缺少的成分，宾语也是及物动词所要求的成分。因此它们在维吾尔语里容易被关系从句修饰。但是维吾尔语关系从句有它本身的特点。如例（ 24）（c） 在英语中可以组成关系从句：The school [from which the student went to the market］。但我们看到在维吾尔语中无法把关系从句和中心词mäktäp连接起来。这是因为英语中有关系代词which，而维吾尔语没有起这种连接作用的代词的缘故。我们在第二节中看到，现代维吾尔语中被关系从句所修饰的中心词是从原独立句中的某个位置上移出来的名词。而这个名词移出后它的位置上出现一个空格。那么，在没有关系代词的情况下，关系从句和中心词之间起连接作用的只是关系从句谓语动词的句法特征。维吾尔语的每个动词都有它的句法特征，即它要求句中某个名词要带一定的格或后置词。动词所要求的这种名词也叫做论元(argument)。按这种句法特征，我们可以把例(24)中的动词bar-“去”描写如下：(26) bar-：动词，［名词-ø 名词-GA ——］(-ø表示主格；-GA表示向格；[ ]表示上下文， —— 表示该动词出现的位置；名词、动词等包括该词类的短语。) 由于主语是句中每个动词都要求的论元,我们在描写中可以省略它，从而把上面的公式改写成： (27)bar-：动词，[名词-GA ——]这里描写的句法特征说明，维吾尔语动词bar-在句中必须有两个论元：一个是每个动词都必需的主格名词，另一个是表示去向的向格名词。因此这两个论元被由bar-作谓语的关系从句所修饰时显得非常自然。假如它们在关系从句中的位置被相应的词填满，动词bar-就算满足了自己的要求，从而关系从句后面出现的名词成为多余的成分，无法连结。这就是为什么例（24）的 (b)和(d)合语法，而(c）不合语法的原因。因此，要揭示维吾尔语关系从句的局限性，就需要描写每个动词的句法特征。当然。动词句法特征的描写不仅是对关系从句的分析有用，而且对母语不是维吾尔语的学生教授维吾尔语时也必不可少。 有的动词可能要求一个以上的名词作宾语和状语，如bär-“给”，tonuštur-“介绍”，sat-“卖”等。它们的句法特征应为：(28) bär- tonuštur- ： 动词，[名词- ni 名词-GA ——] sat- 由这类动词作谓语的句子中的主语、宾语、状语等都可以分别被关系从句修饰。这里不再赘述。就动词的句法特征而言，带后置词的名词一般是比较弱的论元。因此这类名词被关系从句修饰时，意义较含糊：(29)Biz bir mäsilä toγruluq paraŋlaš- -tuq. 我们 一 问题 关于 谈话（I，过去，复）“我们就一个问题谈了话。”（30）[biz ti paraŋlašqan] bir mäsiläi “我们谈话的一个问题” 再如后置词täripidin“方面”在维吾尔语被动句里出现在逻辑主语之后。而这种主语也难以用关系从句修饰：（31）Yiγin oquγuči-lar uyušmi-si täripidin uyuš- -tur- -ul- -di. 会议 学生 们 联盟 的 方面 集会（使动）（被动）（过去） “会议由学生会组织。”（32）*[yiγin ti uyušturulγan] oquγučilar uyušmisii“*会议被组织的学生会” 在这种情况下；我相信大多数语言在主动意义上构成关系从句。在谈到后置词时，我们也不排除带bilän“用”，üčün“为，为了”的名词可以成为关系从句修饰的中心词的可能性。这要看具体上下文如何。 以上我们主要讨论了-GAn关系从句的使用条件和局限性。就其使用率来讲，-GAn关系从句是最常用的一种。下面讲一下-GUdäk关系从句和零形关系从句。 -GUdäk关系从句的构成和使用，一方面在句法上同样受到谓语动词句法特征的限制，另一方面在语义上选择一定的上下文。因而它的出现率很低。如上所述，它在语义上表示某种动作发生的可能性和潜在性。因此它所派生出来的原独立句必须有相应的意义。我们常听到人们喜欢在下列句子中用-GUdäk关系从句。如：(33)[Put-um --ni ti qoy -γudäk] yäri yoq. “无立锥之地。” 脚 我的（宾） 放 地 没有（34）(Män) [hal -im -ni ti eyt -qudäk] birär adämi tap--al -mi- -dim. 情况我的（宾） 说 某一 人 找到 能（否定）（I，过去） “我没能找到倾听自己心事的人。” 从以上的结构中看，被修饰名词在原句中有可能是带有向格的状语。但要恢复原句的形式，可能会出现好几种可能性。因此要看具体上下文而定。 零形关系从句一般在谓语是形容词或名词（有时后加一个系动词）的句子基础上形成，被修饰的名词可能是原句的领属格定语或者是被对比的主语。因此使用范围也较狭窄。我在例（11）中已举例说明了领属格名词成为中心词的情况。属于这一类型的结构还包括[ti boyi igiz] balai “个子高的孩子”，[ti apisi doxrur ] qizčaqi “母亲是医生的小姑娘”等。我在例（13）和（14）中也谈到了对比句中被对比名词成为关系从句中心词的情况。这里应该说明，有关系代词的语言里对比句中标准名词也可成为关系从句的中心词，维吾尔语里却不行。如在kiatp däptärdin qimmät“书比本子贵”这句里，kitab“书”是被对比名词，däptär“本子”是标准名词，qimmät“贵”是结论。那么，我们知道被对比名词kitap “书”完全可以被关系从句修饰：（35）[ti däqtärdin qimmät ] kitabi “比本子贵的书”但试图让标准名词däptär“本子”成为中心词就行不通了：（36）*[ kitab ty qimmät ] däptäry “*书贵的本子”这又是维吾尔语零形关系从句的局限性。 以上我们对维吾尔语关系从句的构成及其使用方面的局限性做了分析。这里应该顺便提到的是，好几个关系从句并列出现并修饰同一个名词是常见的现象。例如：（37）[ ti demokratiyä -mu bol-γan ], [ ti ärkinlik -mu bol-γan ], 民主 也 成为 自由 [ ti intizam -mu bol-γan ], [ ti köŋül azadilig - i- mu bol-γan ] muhiti纪律 心情 舒畅 环境 “有民主，又有自由，有纪律，又有个人心情舒畅的环境”但是，几个关系从句的连锁式重叠可能会给句子的理解度带来困难。如，让我们把“猫捉了老鼠，狗去追赶这只猫，然后一个人又去打这只狗”这样的结构中的所有信息保留下来，试图用关系从句的形式修饰最后的那个“人”：（38） [ ti čašqanh -ni tut-qan][ tj müšüki -ni qoγli-γan][tk itj -ni ur-γan] adämk 老鼠 捉 猫 追 狗 打 人“把抓老鼠的猫追赶的狗打的人”这种结构在理论上不但可以成立，而且可以无限地往两头扩展。只不过是听起来难以理解。因此，遇到这种情况时，人们往往把连锁式关系从句分解成几个独立句。5．结 论作为普遍语言现象，关系从句也存在于现代维吾尔语里。维吾尔语的关系从句有三种：-GAn关系从句、-GUdäk关系从句和零形关系从句。其中-GAn关系句最为常用。从结构上讲，维吾尔语关系从句都没有关系代词，因此都属空格类型。维吾尔语关系从句一般都出现在中心词的前面，起修饰或限定作用。每个关系从句的形成都以相应的独立句为基础，而句中的一个名词是否能被关系从句修饰，取决于该名词与谓语动词的关系如何。一般来讲，一个主语名词是句中任何一个动词都要求的论元，因此最容易成为关系从句所限定的成分。要使其它名词成为中心词，就要看谓语动词的句法特点。有些动词有一个以上的论元，因此可能形成的关系从句也不只一种。这些论元名词作中心词时，它们在关系从句中的相应位置必须空着。当这些位置被相应的名问填满时，关系从句就不能成立，因为这时它后面出现的名词无法与关系从句连结。这就是关系从句形成的条件和局限性。另外，每一种关系从句都有它自己的使用场合。这些都属于维吾尔语的特有规律。参考书目Andrews，A: Studies in the Syntax of Relative Clauses and Comparative Clauses. MIT，Dissertation. 1975．Comrie，B: Language Universals and Linguistic Typology．Chicago：Chicago University Press．1981．耿世民、吐尔逊•阿尤甫刊布《乌古斯汗传说》，维文，北京，民族出版社，1980。Greenberg；Y．H: Universals of Language．Cambridge，Mass．：MIT Press．1963．哈米提•铁木尔:《现代维吾尔语语法(形态学)》(维文)，北京，民族出版社，1987。Jespersen，O:A Modern English Grammar，Syntax，V.Ⅱ，Part III．Heidelberg：Carl Winters Universtatsbuchhandlung,1927．Kornfilt，J: Infinitival Relative Clauses and Complementation in Turkish，to be published．1985．麻赫穆德•喀什噶里《突厥语大词典》，维文．乌鲁木齐，新疆人民出版社，1980年。Mallinson, G. ＆ B1ake，B．J.: Language Typology，New York: North-Holland publishing Company,1981．Radford，A：Transformational Grammar．Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,1988．Shopen T．（ed．）: Language Typology and Syntactic Description，V.1.，Clause Structure，Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.1985．杨业治等《德汉词典》.上海，上海译文出版社，1987。张会森主编，《现代俄语语法新编》，北京，商务印书馆，1980年。佐合拉•沙吾提《nemä一词在哈密方言中的特殊使用》（维文），《语言与翻译》，1994，第5期。 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　——喀什噶里维吾尔学

A SURVEY OF UYGHUR DOCUMENTS FROM TURPAN

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10. This receipt-seal is mine.11. AsaÈ n TughmõÈ sh-Tu, myself, wrote this.Processional performances remain a very popular part of Uyghur folk literaturetoday and, as in the past, are performed as a kind of ritual drama. Theseoccur during religious festivals, at great ceremonies of renewal, or sometimes inabbreviated from on other occasions. Drama is an important part of theprocession, for which the participants dress up, carry artistic images, and act outa story to entertain their audience. These performances can be classi® ed as ritualbecause the form and content are stereotyped, repetitive, condensed and conventionalized.The performances are offered both for divine as well as humanenjoyment, and vary little as the troupes parade from temple to temple or frommosque to mosque. Most people who watch these say that it is all just fun, alocal tradition without special meaning. Ethnographers have acknowledged thereligious signi® cance of the procession without suggesting systematic interpretationof its various components, but the standardization of the processionalelements suggests a de® nite set of conventions; moreover, taboos and obligatoryritual greetings at the gods’ temples visited indicate that what goes on is morethan entertainment. Even taking into account the fact that some of theseperformances have lost their meaning and others have always been pureentertainment, ritual procession drama may nonetheless be seen as a fundamentalform of cultural expression in which both the participants and the observers saysomething about themselves.(C) Manichaean manuscriptsManichaeism was an important component in medieval Uyghur cultural development.This ancient religious belief originated with the Persian, Mani (216±274?CE), under the in¯ uence of Zoroastrianism, Buddhism and Christianity. Dualistin nature, Manichaeism postulates the struggle between Light (Good) and Dark(Evil). It came under the protection of Shapur I (r. 241±272 CE) of the SassanianEmpire, but it was banished by his successor, Bahram I [r. 273±293 CE] asheresy and, as a result, Mani himself was executed. During Mani’ s lifetime andsoon after his death, his religion spread to Egypt, Syria, and North Africa andlater reached Europe.4 According to a single reference in Chinese records,Manichaeism spread to the Uyghurs of the Orkhun River area in 762 CE. But theUyghur Manichaean documents discovered in the Turpan Basin date from aperiod earlier than this, to approximately the middle of the 6th century CE. In the7th century CE Manichaeism extended into China from Uyghuristan, speci® callyin the ® rst year of the reign of Empress Wu Zetian of the Tang dynasty.Manichaean beliefs were spread by a strati® ed clergy, called in Uyghur dintar,a term that originated from the Sogdian, meaning `the elect’ . The dintar wererequired to observe celibacy, to fast, abstain from alcohol and to be strictvegetarians. Laymen, or auditors, were allowed to marry and eat as they wished,295DOLKUN KAMBERIbut they were also supposed to be fairly abstemious and to be generous in givingalms.The basic teachings of the Manichaeans lent themselves to dramatization. Thetwo opposing principals of Light and Dark each had their own nature. Darknesswas assisted by the material world and, especially, the human body. Mani taughtthat time should be viewed in three phases: in the ® rst, good and evil wereseparated; in the second, the two mingled; and in the third, each was againdistinct. The human existed as a physical body and spirit only in the middlephase, and it was therefore each person’ s duty to separate from all physicalmatter. This would bring on a cleansing process, which Mani believed wouldthen usher in the third phase. When that time arrived, those who had succeededin freeing themselves from the material world would live on in the realm oflight, while those who failed were doomed to the realm of darkness.5 This beliefin dualities suggests a foundation for characterizing good and bad as antagonisticforces and lends itself to vivid portrayals of theatrical con¯ ict.In addition to the Uyghur Manichaean manuscript translated in this article,there are other such documents which have been published, including Iki YiltizNom, Huastwanivt,6 and Manichaean Poems (Le Coq 1911, 1919, 1922). Anewly discovered Manichaean document was recently published by ProfessorGeng Shimin as Notes on an Ancient Uyghur Of® cial Decree Issued to aManichaean Monastery. Huang Wenbi acquired this document during his® eldwork in the Uyghur region.7 The ® rst part, unfortunately, is missing, butsome 125 lines remain. The extant part is 270 cm long and 29.5 cm wide. Owingto damage and mistakes in mounting, some of the lines are now hard to decipher.However, the meaning as a whole is clear enough for this study. It is a decreeissued to a Manichaean monastery by the Uyghur government of the Qochoregion. Eleven red seals with Chinese characters are af® xed to the document.They are all of the same size, namely 10 cm 3 9.5 cm. The Chinese charactersare arranged in four lines. Huang Wenbi has not been successful in decipheringthe third line, but the whole of the seal text can be read as follows: Seal of thecabinet minister and of the Il UgaÈ si ministers of the great, fortunate Uyghurgovernment. The document itself is de® nitely written in the early Uyghur script.Judging from the form of the letters and the characteristics of the language, thisManichaean decree belongs to approximately the 9th century (Geng, 1991).A new addition to translated Manichaean documents appears below. I discoveredthis text at Bezeklik, Turpan, in the early 1980s. The manuscript is writtenon paper sheets 25 cm 3 11 cm and consists of ® ve leaves written on both sides,for a total of 10 pages of text. Each page has 20 lines written in beautifulmedieval Uyghur calligraphy. The ® rst two leaves (four sides) have 80 completelines of writing. The other three leaves are fragmented. At the beginning of eachpage is a title, written in different coloured ink, but unfortunately some parts ofthe titles are indiscernible. Today the manuscript, number 80 T.B. I, 542, is inthe Turpan Museum.I deciphered this document and have translated it into modern Uyghur,Chinese and English. The story tells of how Mani presented his teachings to a296A SURVEY OF UYGHUR DOCUMENTS FROM TURPANprince, Hormizd, and although the plot is simple, it is nonetheless conveyedthrough dialogue which adds dramatic tension. Mani advises the Prince that heshould worship the Lord every day, regardless of where he is or what he isdoing. He should always keep four words in mind: lord, light, strength, andwisdom. When Prince Hormizd asks what kind of bene® ts this might bring,Mani explains, but the Prince nonetheless decides to challenge Mani’ s power,providing the story with its dramatic moment. The following is my translationfrom the original medieval Uyghur manuscript of the dialogue between Maniand Prince Hormizd:`Now you should worship and praise the LordÐ the sun and the Moon every day. Youshould respect the ® ve Lords. No matter where you are walking, travelling, entering, orexiting, you should always keep these four words in your mouth (mind): they are Lord,Light, Strength, and Wisdom.’ Then the hostile Hormizd said to the Lord Mani Burkhan,`What kind of bene® t can one get if one keeps saying these four words?’ And then the LordMani Burkhan said to the Prince, `The way should be like thatÐ do not mix any otherwords into these four words. Valiancy and virtue, a special personal tethered horse, solidknowledge, a brave army, (and) the powerful value of you (yourself) (are yours) only whenyou keep these four words in your mouth (mind). Then (can) you deliver all of them fromthe abyss of misery.’ Since then, the hostile Hormizd Prince kept these four words in hismind. Wherever he travelled back and forth on the routes, or entered, exited, sat, stood, hekept these four words in his mouth. The Bagh, Rosn, Zawr, Zirivt, TaÈ ngri, Yaruq, KuÈ chluÈ k,and BilgaÈ .8 One day, the hostile Horzmid said to the Lord Mani Burkhan, `My Lord, youare so attractive and handsome. You are also lovely, pure and sweet. I know, you arepowerful, too. So, I want to compete for power between us. Let us see who is the strongerof the two of us.’ Then the Lord Mani Burkhan said to the hostile Hormizd, `You originatedfrom the root of the crowned Kings. All people think that their leader is powerful andmerciful. They hold great respect for you. I am a messenger of God. Hostility is notnecessary between us. You ask why? If I throw you down, or despise you, you will losethe respect of numerous people and you will become worthless. People will say it was aperson without drinking wine, without eating meat, who caused the hostile Hormizd Princeto fall on the ground. But if you throw me down, all people will say that the messenger ofGod, Mani Burkhan, is defeated by a man. He has become powerless and worthless. If youagree, we do not have to compete. There is no necessity to be hostile to each other.’ Afterthe hostile Hormizd heard these words, he was not happy in his mind. He still boasted andshowed off. The Lord Mani Burkhan said, `If you are not happy in your mind, we shouldgo to the place of tigers and elephants. We should go to the top of where an arrow canreach. We two shall go there without company. We can compete there.’ After the hostileHormizd heard these words, he was glad from his heart. The messenger of God, ManiBurkhan, took the hand of the hostile Hormizd. The two went to the place which has tigersand elephants.9The Manichaean story translated above is one of the most important medievalUyghur documents dating from the end of the 6th century. Such a manuscript,written in dialogue form and full of dramatic elements, provides ® rst-handmaterial for studying medieval Uyghur literature and history. In addition to thevarious manuscripts discussed here, many other documents unearthed fromBezeklik survive, but unfortunately the majority are only in fragments making it297DOLKUN KAMBERImost dif® cult to understand their complete content. Nonetheless, even thesefragments can be categorized, and today we know that these include suchdocuments as contracts, receipts for loans, of® cial orders, government documentsand the like. Together, they attest to the rich cultural life of the TurpanUyghurs’ medieval society.ConclusionAt the beginning of the 20th century, European explorers on the Silk Road madesome of the ® rst discoveries of artefacts and ancient texts from the Turpan area.German archaeologist Albert von Le Coq discovered numerous Uyghurmanuscripts, and even cut away important Buddhist frescoes, several hundredcases of which were shipped back to Berlin. The British archaeologist, M. AurelStein, visited Bezeklik and, as a result, came to believe that no other ® nds fromsimilar sites in the Turpan Basin could match these, which he considered parallelto the rich ancient paintings of the Dunhuang `Thousand Buddha Caves’ (Stein,1912). Professor Albert GruÈ nwedel (1856±1935) wrote in a letter dated 2 April1906: `For years, I have been endeavouring to ® nd a credible thesis for thedevelopment of Buddhist art and primarily to trace the ancient route by whichthe art of imperial Rome, etc., reached the Far East (Turpan and Kucha). WhatI have seen here goes beyond my wildest dream.’ (Along the Ancient Silk Routes,1982). As a result of these discoveries, the world was surprised by the aestheticsof Uyghur Buddhist civilization. The consensus was that the literary art of theTurpan Basin is the most representative and the best preserved of medievalUyghur Buddhist culture.The discoveries from TurpanÐartefacts, texts, and extensive remains ofancient towns and Buddhist sitesÐhave re-ignited discussion of cultural evolutionismand diffusionist theories (Taylor, 1924; Rogers, 1926). In fact, neithertheory can essentially solve the theoretical problem of national cultural developmentin Central Asia. This is because neither adequately explains the developmentof both traditional culture and cultural traditions of a nation. The researchpresented above suggests another theory, one concerned with the mixture ofdifferent cultures and with the many levels of national cultural development.This theory arises from my many years of study and includes the following basictenets: All national culture consists of traditional culture and also culturaltraditions and is therefore not `pure’ . In any space/region the cultural structureis always plural, mixed; over time, a structure exists on many levels, and thusthe development of traditional culture is steady, slow and sometimes resistant toexternal in¯ uence, depending on internal cultural structural development. Thedevelopment of a cultural tradition, on the other hand, is active, rapid andabsorbing. It depends on the processes of external environmental development.Regardless of the level or the rate of natural (environmental) development anation undergoes, all nations have the potential to develop as a national cultureand may also become a universal in¯ uence affecting many other cultures.Scholars cannot divide humankind into `civilizing’ nationsÐthose who seek to298A SURVEY OF UYGHUR DOCUMENTS FROM TURPANspread their culture across continentsÐand `natural’ nations that simply absorboutside in¯ uences, as suggested in diffusionist theory. Such theories are still inneed of reliable evidence and cannot adequately explain developments in CentralAsian history.To conclude, I staunchly believe that early in the next century Central Asiawill once more become one of the most exciting sites for research in archaeologyand cultural anthropology. However, I also feel a growing urgency to carry outsuch research as the lands of the ancientÐand modernÐUyghurs are rapidlychanging. Oil production in the Tarim Basin will soon have an impact on theinternational economy but may also hinder future excavations; and issues raisedby Chinese minority policy objectives and environmental problems resultingfrom nuclear testing in the Kroran (Lop Nor) area are other matters of growingconcern in the region. Further exploration of the Uyghur past must not whither,for I deeply believe that without Uyghur history there can be no Central Asianhistory; without Central Asian history, there can be no Asian history; andwithout Asian history there can be no true history of the world.Notes and references1. Kalp originated from the Sanskrit word used for measuring time.2. The term idqut means `happy king’ or `happy lord’ . This is translated into Chinese as gaochang. After the11th century, the word appears as õ È duq-qut, which is still used to refer to a Uyghur governor. But the wordalso means `once we were happy’ . The kingdom of Idqut was occupied by the Ling dynasty in 327 CE, andlater became the seat of the QuÈ family kingdom in 460 CE. From the time of the Idqut Uyghur Khanateonwards, Buddhist culture ¯ ourished there.3. See A. von Gabain, Maitrisimit II, Berlin, 1961.4. Ren Ju Yu. Zong jiao zidian (A Dictionary of Religions). Shanghai: Shanghai cishu chubanshe, 1981, 1140.5. Ibid.6. The original Uyghur title is NihussaÈ klaÈ rning Suyõ È n Yazuqõ È n oÈ kuÈ nguÈ Haustuanivt. This is one of the mostimportant and longest Uyghur Manichaen texts. It has attracted worldwide scholarly attention since ® rsttranslated in 1911; the text, 221 lines long, has been translated into German, English, French, Russian andChinese.7. This document was reproduced in the 1954 edition of Turpan kaogu diaocha (Explorations in theArchaeology of Turpan) (plates 89±94). The original, in the form of a scroll, is in the collection of theBeijing History Museum (Serial No. Zong 8782 T, 82).8. The original Uyghur document presents the four words ® rst in their Persian form and then in Uyghur. Thisdocument shows us that scholars who believed that the Turkic or Uyghur word baÈ g originated from thePersian word bagh are correct.9. In line 71 of the original text, the origin of the word aÈ sbir is unknown. From the context, it seems it couldbe translated as `a place which has tigers and elephants’ , but it is not clear why Mani would suggest thatthe two go to such a place. The translation of the term is made more problematic by Mani’ s statement thatthey should go to the highest point which an arrow can reach. The latter is suggestive of other stories ofthe period which tell of shooting an arrow to decide borders. The phrase might also refer to determiningthe limit of power between Manichaeism and secular kingship; alternatively it could also mean to gowithout any precondition. A de® nitive translation must await further research.BibliographyAbdursul, Idris (1993) `Xinjiang Diqu Xishiqi Yizi (The neolithic sites of Xinjiang Region)’ . Xinjiang Wenwu,4: 15±59.(1982) Along the Ancient Silk Routes, New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art.Almas, Turghun (1989) Uygurlar (The Uyghurs). UÈ ruÈ mchi: Xinjiang Yashlar OÈ smuÈ rlaÈ r NaÈ shiryati.Bang, W. (1929±1931) TuÈ rkish Turpan Texte. Berlin: Akademie-Verlag.299DOLKUN KAMBERICarter, Thomas and Goodrich, Carrington (1988). The Invention of Printing in China and its Spread Westward.New York: The Ronald Press Company, 147.Chen Ge (1988) `Xinjiang Hejing Xian Chawuhu Goukou Yihao Mudi (Number One Cemetery at CharwighulPass of Hotunsunbul in Xinjiang).’ Kaogu Xuebao, 1: 75±99.Chen Ge (1995) `Xinjiang Yuangu Wenhua Chulun (A Preliminary Study of Ancient Culture in Xinjiang)’Zhongya Xuekan, 4: 5±72.Clauson (1972) An Etymological Dictionary of Pre-Thirteenth Century Turkish. 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UÈ ruÈ mchi: Xinjiang KhaÈ lq NaÈ shriyati.(Modern Uyghur Version).Rogers, Everett (1926) Diffusion of Innovations New York: Free Press.300A SURVEY OF UYGHUR DOCUMENTS FROM TURPANStein, Aural (1912) Ruins of Desert Cathay I± II, London: Macmillan.Taylor, Edward Burnett (1924) Primitive Culture: Research into the Development of Mythodology, Philosophy,Religion, Language, Art, and Custom. New York: Brentano’ s Publishers.Wang Binghua (1993) Sichou Zhi Lu Kaogu Yanjiu (The Studies of Archeology on the Silk Road). UÈ ruÈ mchi:Xinjiang Renmin Chubanshe.WaÈ li, Qurban (1987) `Gongyuan Wushiji de Huiguwen Mujian’ Wenwu, 1: 63.Xinjiang Ijtima-i PaÈ nlaÈ r TaÈ tqiqati//Xinjing Shehuikexue Yanjiu (The Studies of Xinjiang Academy of SocialSciences). UÈ ruÈ mchi: the Xinjiang Academy of Social Sciences. 1986±1996 (bimonthly in Uyghur andChinese).Xinjiang Kaogu San Shi Nian (Thirty Years of Xinjiang Archaeology). 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By www.kashghari.com/en

A survey of Uyghur documents from

Central Asian Survey (1999), 18(3), 281±301
A survey of Uyghur documents from
Turpan and their importance forAsian and Central Eurasian history
DOLKUN KAMBERIIntroduction
Since the end of the 19th century, numerous cultural relics and historicaldocuments have been unearthed in the Turpan Basin in present-day northwesternChina. Among them are medieval Uyghur manuscripts that provide invaluablehistorical material for scholars studying the history, literature, language, religionand arts of Uyghur civilization. The unearthed Turpan manuscripts and thediscoveries of the ancient mummi® ed human remains from the Tarim Basin inrecent years have rekindled scholarly debate about Central Asian history ingeneral and Uyghur history in particular. Coverage of these discoveries in theinternational media has captured not only the popular imagination but also theinterest of scholars now engaged in heated debate about the origins anddevelopment of the Indo-European UyghursÐthe single most populous group inChina’ s Xinjiang-Uyghur Autonomous Region.But who are the Uyghurs? Where is the Turpan Basin? Where else have theUyghurs lived in Central Eurasia? How, when, and why did they acceptBuddhism, Manichaeism and, ® nally, Islam? By what names did neighbours tothe east and west identity them in history? When did they become a part ofChina? How do we develop Uyghur historiography and how best to integratenewly unearthed archaeological evidence into Asian and Central Asian history?These important questions address such key historical issues as the spread ofreligious belief across cultures, migration across all of Eurasia, and culturalexchange over many centuries that linked the peoples of the vast Eurasiansteppe.Five hundred million years ago, there was only the land of the Tarim andYarish in the centre of Eurasia, surrounded by the waters of an inland sea. Aftera crustal upheaval in the Paleozoic Era, the waters of the sea graduallydisappeared. Approximately at the end of the third period of the Cenozoic Era,Dolkun Kamberi is senior editor, Radio Free Asia, Uyghur Broadcast ServicePrint 0263-4937; Online 1465-3354/99/030281-21Ó1999 Central Asian SurveyDOLKUN KAMBERIwhat was formerly the sea ¯ oor protruded and became the great mountain rangesthat today surround the Tarim and Yarish [Jungarian] Basins.According to Uyghur legends, this pre-historic period was `the time when thethree mountain ranges gripped the three basins’ . Today, the Uyghur homelandencompasses the Tarim, Yarish and Turpan Basins. The three basins aresurrounded by some of the world’ s highest mountain ranges: the Qurum(Karum), Qara-Qurum (Kara-Korum) and Altun mountains in the south; the`roof of the world’ Pamirs in the southwest; the Altay mountains of the north;and the TaÈ ngri (Tianshan) ranges which bisect today’ s Uyghur region. The latterseparate the Yarish (Jungar) Basin of the north from the Tarim Basin of thesouth. The Turpan Basin lies to the east of the Tangri mountain ranges,contiguous to the famous Buddhist caves of Dunhuang.Early in the century, German scholars published numerous scholarly workson Central Asia and on medieval Uyghur manuscripts in particular. Thelatter included such works as Uigurica, Turkische Turpantexte, Deutsche TurpanForschung, Berliner Turpantexte, and the like. These works and researchmaterials established the foundation for the ® eld of Turkology; at the sametime, they also stimulated explorers to search Central Asia for artefactsof past civilizations, resulting in a century of Silk Road archaeologicalexploration.Building upon this base, in the past few decades the study of Turpan Uyghurmanuscripts and Dunhuang documents has reached new heights. According tothe character and speci® c achievements in archeological ® eld work, I havedivided a century of archeological explorations in the Turpan and surroundingarea into four distinct periods. The ® rst was between 1886 and 1935; the secondfrom 1935 to 1955; the third 1955 to 1976; and the fourth from 1976 to 1996.During these four periods, archeologists discovered a range of manuscripts atTurpan and other sites written in a variety of ancient scripts. Among the mostimportant were well-preserved ancient texts in Sanskrit, Sogdian, Karoshti,Khotan-Tumshuqese, Tokharian A, Tokharian B, and many medieval Uyghurtexts as well (Kamberi, 1996).Since 1975 I have been involved in archeological ® eld work in the TurpanBasinÐa rich archeological site where extreme aridity has preserved manyimportant artefacts that include naturally mummi® ed human remains, art work inbronze and gold, textiles, and numerous petroglyphs. It is also the site ofdiscovery of numerous medieval Uyghur documents, charting both religiouspractice and economic development in the region. Religious documents includeworks of Uyghur Buddhist and Manicheaen literature, fragments of Manicheaenstories and poems, and Buddhist sutras, sutra colophons, dedicatory odes; thereis also much evidence of socioeconomic development, including fragments ofcontracts, receipts for loans, of® cial orders, government documents and the like.I have deciphered and translated many of these manuscripts, noting that each hasits own characteristics in terms of ideology, language and culture. Thesematerials provide ® rst-hand data for the further study of Asian and Uyghurhistory.282A SURVEY OF UYGHUR DOCUMENTS FROM TURPANThe UyghursThe basic meaning of the name Uyghur is unity, but it may also be translatedas union, coalition or federation. The name appeared ® rst in records of theOrkhun KoÈ k TuÈ rk inscriptions and in early Uyghur. Later forms of the name canbe found in medieval Uyghur script, the Manichaean’ s Sogdian script, and theArabic script of the Qarakhanid and Chagatay period. Apart from these InnerAsian forms, the name can also be found in different periods and diverse textsin Chinese, appearing in more than 100 transliterated forms. The latter includesuch forms as Die, Chidie, Hu Saka/Scythian, Hun, Uysun, Dingling, Qangqil,Sogdian, and Tokharian.The lands inhabited by the above groups were called the Western Regions, orthe Western States in ancient Chinese records. Because of their location on theancient trade routes between East and West, connecting the Greco-Roman worldwith Indian Buddhist culture and with the Central and East Asian traditions, theregion that includes Turpan was very prosperous. Passing merchants’ caravansand warrior parties made stops for extended periods of time, leaving behind theirlegacy of material wealth and cultural practices. In the process, they imparted tothe region a cosmopolitan character, marked by linguistic, racial and religioustolerance. Uyghur culture and art at Turpan and other Silk Road sites thusdeveloped not only on the basis of their own steppe traditions but was alsoin¯ uenced by cultural exchange between the East and West.One of the most interesting facets of early Uyghur civilization is the developmentof a sophisticated urban culture. Although little attention has been paid toUyghur urbiculture in scholarly research, there is, in fact, a good deal ofdocumentation as well as archaeological relics that provide us with evidence ofurban society. One of the earliest written texts referring speci® cally to cities inthe early medieval period is the Maitrisimit, the Uyghur author of which wrote:Bu buyan aÈ dguÈ qõ È lõÈ nch kuÈ chintaÈ taÈ ngridaÈ m chogh yalõ È nlarõ È ashõ È lzun uÈ staÈ lzun ulusõ È mõ È nbalõ È qlõ È rõ È mõ È koÈ zaÈ duÈ ichtin sõÈ ngar ¼ migaÈ n bolmazun tashtõ È n sõÈ ngar yaghõ È boÈ ri bolmazunqamughun tõ È nlõ È ghlar maÈ ngilig bolzunlar.With aid from the power of merit and virtuous doing, I hope that the dignity of the highestlords will be greatly raised. Let them protect our state and cities; let us live without internalmisery, or the external world-like enemy; let all creatures be happy. (Kamberi, 1995)Another important written source on Uyghur cities is the 11th-century encyclopediaDiwan LughatõÈ t TuÈ rk by Uyghur scholar MaÈ khmud QaÈ shqaÈ ri. In thiswork, the author writes that the Uyghurs have a `long history of an urbanizedlifestyle’ . Under his entry for the name `Uyghur’ , he records that the Uyghursbuilt ® ve cities after Alexander the Great left his footprints in Central Asia; heindicated the position of these cities on his famous map of Asia. The followingdirect translation from the encyclopedia mentions the source of his information,a man of princely rank who acquired his information from his father, the Khan:Uyghur is the name of a state. It has ® ve cities. These cities were built after ZulqarnaÈ yin*reached an agreement with the Turk Khaqan. Nizamidin Isra® l Tuqan Tigin, the son of283DOLKUN KAMBERIMaÈ khmud ChaqõÈ r Tutqa Khan, told me what [information] he acquired from his father andsaid: When ZulqarnaÈ yin arrived near the Uyghur state, the Turk Khaqan sent four thousandtroop against him. The feathers of the troop’ s helmets are like the wings of an eagle. Theyshoot arrows forward as well as they do backward. ZulqarnaÈ yin was amazed by their skilland said: `They could ® nd food for feeding themselves without depending on others; nobird and beast would escape from their hunting. Whenever they want food, they can huntto eat’ . Since that time the state was called Uyghur. (Kamberi, 1995)*In Central Asia, Alexander the Great is known as IskaÈ ndaÈ r ZulqarnaÈ yin.Clearly, by the 11th-century the Uyghurs were known as a Central Asianpower. The encyclopedia notes that they have a `strong army’ with `excellentmilitary equipment’ , and are known to be `courageous and skillful in battle’ .These elements were no doubt one reason why QaÈ shqaÈ ri felt secure in describingthem as a `completely independent’ people since the time of Alexander theGreat. Interestingly, the words ascribed to Alexander have taken on newsigni® cance in light of recent archaeological discoveries: many of the recentlyunearthed mummies of the Tarim Basin wear hats trimmed with goose feathers,corroborating QaÈ shqaÈ ri’ s account of helmets decorated with feathers, as citedabove.MaÈ khmud QaÈ shqaÈ ri also discussed the Uyghurs of his own era. He dividedthem into two groups according to their religious beliefs. Those living south ofthe TaÈ ngri [Tianshan] in the capital cities of QaÈ shqaÈ r and Balasaghun hadalready converted to Islam, as had QaÈ shqaÈ ri himself. Those living north of theTaÈ ngri, where the most important cities were BaÈ sh Balõ È q and IÈ dqut, followeddifferent faiths, including Buddhism, Manichaeanism and Nestorian Christianity,although the latter group was small. Because these Uyghurs were not Muslim,he de® ned them as `the most in® del’ of people. Speci® cally, of the contemporaneousnorthern Uyghurs, he wrote:The State of Uyghur has ® ve cities. Their people are the most ferocious in® dels, and themost skilful shooters. Those cities are Solmi, which ZulqarnaÈ yin let them build, and Qochu,Jan Balõ È q and Yengi Balõ È q. (Kamberi, 1995)More evidence of Uyghur urbiculture comes from the important observationsfound in the report of the medieval Arab traveller, Tamim Ibn Bahr, who visitedUyghur cities at the end of the 8th century. Of the Uyghur capital city he wrote:This is a great town, rich in agriculture and surrounded by rustaqs [villages] full ofcultivation and villages lying close together. The town has twelve iron gates of huge size.The town is populous and thickly crowded and has markets and various trades. Among itspopulation, the Zindiq (atheist, non-Muslim) religion prevails. (Minorsky, 1948)One of the most important written descriptions of Uyghur urbiculture andcivilization comes from a Chinese traveller, Wang Yande. Wang visited theUyghurs in 981 CE and submitted a written report to the Song dynasty court uponhis return. Because his account is written in great detail, presented in a coherentand clear writing style, his is among the most valuable written sources on10th-century Uyghur culture. As he neared the town of Qumul (Hami), he wrote:284A SURVEY OF UYGHUR DOCUMENTS FROM TURPANWe next passed through the I-li Wang-zi (Ellig Prince’ s) domain. There (we came to) theHelochuan (river). It is the place where the Uyghur princesses of the Tang period resided(618±907 CE). The foundation of the city wall still remains. There are lots of hot springs.Tradition has it that formerly the Kitan were herding sheep for the Uyghurs, and the Tatarswere herding cattle for the Uyghurs. When the Uyghurs migrated to Gan Zhou, the Kitanand Tatar struggled for supremacy and fought among themselves. (Izgi, 1972)Wang continues his account with a vivid depiction of a ¯ ourishing medievalUyghur culture, describing an urban environment, textile production, irrigated® elds with varied agricultural products, and many orchards. He notes that thereis no poverty, suggesting good government and strong leadership in this af¯ uenturban centre:The river which comes out of the Ching-ling mountain is led to encircle all the national city(capital) and to irrigate farms and orchards and to run water mills. This place produces thewu-ku (® ve grains) but no ch’ iao mai (buckwheat). Rich people eat horse (meat). The resteat beef and wild geese. In their music they use many kung-hou (ancient musicalinstrument). They produce sable skin pelts and cotton and embroidered-design blossomcloth. In this land there are no poor people. They give relief to those who lack food. Peoplemostly live long, generally over a hundred years. There are not any at all who die young¼ We rested at the Kao-tai (high platform) monastery. Their king (Arslan Khan) cookedlambs and horses. The King, the princesses, and the heir-apparent each breed horses. Theygraze them in a ¯ at valley which stretches out more than one thousand li (one li equals halfa kilometre). They distinguish their herds by the colour of the coats (of the horses). Nobodyknows the number of the herds (innumerable herds). The spread of the Pei-t’ ing (BaÈ shBalõ È q) valley is several thousand li. There are found eagles, kites, falcons and vultures.There is much nice grass, below which there are pebble-rats (gophers?) as big as hares.Birds of prey catch and eat them. (Izgi, 1972)In addition to the textual evidence discussed above, information on Uyghururbiculture also comes from the work of the medieval Uyghur thinker, YuÈ suÈ pKhas Hajip. This author of poetic dramas devoted the longest chapter of hiswork, Outadghu Bilik, to discussion of the quali® cations and values of Uyghurleaders and professionals, con® rming the existence of a rich urban culture inInner Asia (Outadghu Bilik, 1984). From this and other texts noted above, it isevident that the medieval Uyghurs built cities and developed a distinctivecultural life, earning a place of importance within Central Asian history.Archaeological evidence is another category of proof for the vitality ofUyghur urbiculture. Fieldwork in the present-day oasis of Turpan has deepenedour understanding of medieval urban life through the discovery of new artefactsand written records. The results of some of this recent excavation work aresummarized in the following sections.Historic Turpan and environsThe name Turpan means settlement in medieval Uyghur. Turpan was once astrategic town on the Silk Road noted for its Buddhist culture during themedieval period. Chinese and Uyghur texts from the pre-Qangqil, Qocho,285DOLKUN KAMBERIWestern Uyghur, and IdõÈ qut Uyghur Khanate all refer to the Turpan Basin ofUyghuristan. During medieval times, Turpan was the capital city of the Idõ È qutUyghur Empire and one of the centres of Uyghur culture. The territory of thiskingdom varied over time, but the city and its immediate environs remained thepolitical and cultural centre of Uyghuristan throughout the 15th century. Theimportant Bezeklik Buddhist cave complex, about 46 kilometres northeast ofpresent-day Turpan and 3 kilometres from Murtuq village, is evidence of thearea’ s importance as a religious centre. At Bezeklik, there are 84 cave grottoescarved into cliffs above a stream which ¯ ows along the ¯ oor of a deep gorge.Turpan is also the name given to the Turpan Basin, located northeast of thelarger Tarim Basin. The eastern reaches of the TaÈ ngri (Tianshan) Mountains areto the north of the basin which is 240 kilometres wide from north to south and300 miles in length. The basin holds East Asia’ s lowest point, Ayding Lake,whose surface is 154 metres below sea level, second only to that of the Dead Seain Jordan. The basin is also the hottest place in East Asia. Although it isextremely arid, with less than 16 millimetres of annual rainfall, it has plentifulwater resources for irrigation as a result of rivers that run into the depressionfrom the surrounding mountains. Since ancient times, this water has beenaccessible to cultivators via a unique irrigation system of deep, interconnectedunderground channels called kariz. The steady water supply has sustainedTurpan oases’ population whose cotton and grapevines have long been amongthe famous products of this productive area.Human settlement of Turpan can be traced back to as early as 10,000 BCE, thelate Paleolithic and Neolithic periods. Numerous stone implements have beenunearthed to the west of the Yarghul River, in the desert northwest of Astana,and along the southern rim of the Turpan Basin. Archeological discoveriescon® rm ancient records that the Turpan region was settled and developed into apowerful kingdom by the Qangqil peoples in the ® rst millennium BCE. They werefollowed by many kingdoms founded by such people as the ToÈ lis, Turan, Hun,Jurjan (Ruan Ruan), Turk, and Uyghur peoples. Archeologists have uncoverednumerous burial sites, Buddhist and Manichaean temples, and documents writtenin various scripts throughout the Turpan Basin. The burials, in particular, haveyielded a fascinating array of items, including unique pottery vessels, sophisticatedbronze weaponry and gold ornaments, and advanced woven woollenfabrics. Some of these are artefacts of the Qangqil, forerunners of the Uyghurwho established their capital at Yarghul (referred to as Jiaohe by the Chinese),about 10 kilometres west of today’ s Turpan. Situated on a narrow plateau thatrises some 30 metres above the river beds on either side, the plateau has asurface area of 49,000 square metres. This ancient city was inhabited from the3rd century BCE to the 15th century CE and is now a UNESCO world heritagesite.In the beginning of the 5th century CE, the centre of political power in theTurpan area was shifted from Yarghul to the ancient city of Idiqut, by the kingof the QuÈ family. Idiqut was a walled city, with an outside circumference of over5 kilometres. The extant city walls are approximately 12 metres thick at the base286A SURVEY OF UYGHUR DOCUMENTS FROM TURPANand 11 metres high. The city is divided into three sections: the palace city; theinner city; and the outer city. From its founding in the 2nd century CE to the 10thcentury CE, it remained a strategically important site. Artefacts and textualsources indicate that it was an international, cosmopolitan centre with diversepeoples, religions and a well-developed culture. This is illustrated clearly by therich and remarkable ® nds from graveyard sites near Idiqut. More than 450 graveshave been excavated from the famous Astana and Qara-Khoja sites, from whichover 10,000 cultural relics have been unearthed. Among the extraordinarilywell-preserved artefacts from Astana are wooden ® gurines, paper documents,paintings on silk, a bouquet of funerary ¯ owers made of silk, plaited silkslippers, a variety of dyed or embroidered silks, and bags of millet, wheat, cottonseed and fruit. Items of daily use include a wooden ruler, writing brushes,Persian silver coins, Roman golden coins, the dried remains of boiled dumplings,nan (¯ at bread that remains a staple of the diet today), dough patties, and¯ ower-shaped cookies. All these different objects show various aspects of thesocial life and culture of the ancient Uyghur people (Kamberi, 1996).Of special importance are the many written texts unearthed at Turpan. Manyof these documents are so well preserved that even today they remain clear andeasy to decipher. The majority of the manuscripts unearthed from Bezeklik werewritten in the old Uyghur language. Some are written in Chinese and others inSanskrit, Sogdian, Tanghut and Tokarian. Among those I personally uncoveredin Turpan is a Manichaean scripture written in the Sogdian language. The papersize is 268 cm 3 26 cm. There are two musical ® gures painted in colour at thecentre of the scroll. This is one of the most valuable historiographic treasuresof Manichaeaism in the world, and I have described it in detail elsewhere(Kamberi, 1984).Uyghur manuscripts of the Turpan areaUyghur manuscripts unearthed from Turpan concern the religious, economic andcultural interaction of medieval Uyghurs with the peoples of neighbouringcountries during the period from the 8th to the 11th centuries. These documents,detailed below, reveal that the Uyghurs continued to develop as a civilizationand to expand their role as the leading cultural in¯ uence along the whole of theSilk Road in Central Asia.Among the most important caches of such texts is the Buddhist site atBezeklik. The name itself means `a place being decorated’ . `Being decorated’can also be extended to mean `wall painting’ or `the place with art’ in medievalUyghur. Many Bezeklik documents are preserved in museum collections inGermany, France, England, Japan and Russia; special items are today housed inBeijing, Urumchi and Turpan. These documents can be divided according to themedium used into two categories: written manuscripts and woodblock prints.The manuscripts are further divided into those written on one side and thosewritten on both sides; printed documents are one-sided. There are also a fewpages of Uyghur Buddhist sutras interspersed with Sanskrit, and small fragments287DOLKUN KAMBERIwith the Chinese translation added. The following is a brief classi® cation ofthese Uyghur documents unearthed from Turpan, in Uyghur script and Uyghurlanguage, based on the medium used.I. Woodblock Print Documents (one side only).A. Printed in Uyghur script.B. Printed in Uyghur script with Chinese characters inserted.C. Printed in Uyghur with Brahmi script inserted.II. Written Manuscripts.A. Formal style (Sutra writing style).1. Written on one side (on thick or thin paper, in formal Uyghur script).2. Written on both sides.(a) Both sides in formal Uyghur script.(b) One side in Uyghur, the other in Chinese.B. Cursive style.1. Written on one side.(a) Written on thin paper in very cursive Uyghur script.(b) All written in formal Uyghur.2. Written on both sides.(a) Both sides in Uyghur.(b) One side in Uyghur, the other in Brahmi.(c) Both sides in Uyghur, interspersed with Chinese.(d) One side in Uyghur, the other in Chinese.(e) Both sides in Chinese, with Uyghur written in columns in between.The Chinese characters inserted in some texts are simply numbers in mostinstances, but some fragments with interspersed Chinese are the remnants of anUyghur-Chinese dictionary. The Brahmi text consists of phonetic notes onSanskrit Buddhist terms. Of the documents with writing on both sides, thecontent of the Uyghur text differs from the Chinese text. Documents in Chinesewith Uyghur inserted in columns in between also have different contents on eachside.The unearthed evidence shows that the Idiqut Uyghur Kingdom was not onlya Buddhist cultural centre, but was also a printing centre, producing literaryworks and documents of many kinds. Wooden movable type for medievalUyghur discovered at Turpan dates back to the Idiqut Uyghur Khanate (605±1250 CE). The wooden type and the many documents from Turpan validate thetheory that block printing was primarily a Uyghur or Central Asiatic invention(Carter and Goodrich, 1988). It is also signi® cant that almost all the blockprinting of medieval Uyghur found thus far is used for Buddhist documents.These have been found at almost every site excavated in the Turpan Basin.288A SURVEY OF UYGHUR DOCUMENTS FROM TURPANToqsun, at the western edge of the Turpan oasis, is the western-most point atwhich Central Asian block printing has been discovered.Scholars know that the invention of printing from carved blocks made itpossible to produce multiple copies of a text with only one set of carved blocks,thus increasing the quantity of books produced and facilitating the disseminationof knowledge. Turpan played an important role in extending knowledge ofBuddhism as well as disseminating Buddhist learning for hundreds of years,proving that `¼ there was during the early Mongol times in the monasteries ofthe Turpan region a highly developed and widely extended printing industry,which had very likely been going on for several centuries’ (Carter and Goodrich,1988).These early Uyghur printing techniques as well as the literature and thedocuments themselves provide historical evidence for social activities in medievalUyghur cultural development. The texts can be classi® ed into generalcategories based on their contents: (A) Buddhist manuscripts; (B) Literarydocuments; and (C) Manichaean manuscripts. Examples from each of thecategories are detailed below.(A) Buddhist manuscriptsAlthough the early Buddhist teaching of Gautama Buddha (also known as PrinceSiddhartha of the Sakya clan, and as Sakyamuni Sage of the Sakyas) probablybegan in the 6th century (C. 563±483 BCE), its oldest surviving remains andmanuscripts are dated much later. The ® rst independent evidence for Buddhismcomes in the reign of the Maurya Emperor Asoka (273±232 BCE), whose stoneinscriptions are the earliest Indian historical records. They mainly explain abenevolent creed which he called dharma, a word also used for Buddism. As thereligion spread and developed, the belief in Maitreya, the future Buddha (or, theBuddha Yet to Come) emerged among many Buddhist communities. Among theimportant Turpan texts is a medieval manuscript in Uyghur, the Maitrisimit,which records the story of Sakyamuni anointing Maitreya as his successor. Thisdocument is also the oldest written source to suggest a speci® c age for thebeginning of the Buddha’ s journey to enlightenment, as indicated in thefollowing translation from the original text by the author:Line 19: bu oÈ duÈ n ayaghqa taÈ gimligLine 20: burkhan toquz otuz yashõ È nta kapilavasLine 21: tu balõ È qtõ È n koÈ ruÈ nchuÈ laÈ yuÈ uÈ nuÈ p nayanchanLine 22: oÈ guÈ z qõ È dõ È ghõ È nta altõÈ yõ È l alp qõÈ lõ È shõ È ghLine 24: ishlaÈ yuÈ r oghurdaAt the time that the respected Buddha was twenty-nine years old, he secretly went out ofthe Kapilavastu city, on the side of the Nairanjana River and practised his belief withdevotion for six years ¼ (Kamberi, 1988)Other texts unearthed at Turpan indicate that medieval Uyghur Buddhistliterature and art ¯ ourished during the period of the Idiqut Uyghur Khanate in289DOLKUN KAMBERIthe Turpan Basin and spread throughout the Uyghur lands. These includeUyghur Buddhist literature, Buddhist sutras fragments, whole sutras, colophons,dedicatory odes, poems in praise of the Buddha, offering to the Buddha bysentient beings, as well as courteous Buddhist words that believers offeredrespectfully to the heavens. The two pieces of Buddhist writings selected here asexamples were discovered in Turpan in the early 1980s. Both relate to teachingsabout the future Buddha, Maitreya.The ® rst item, which I have assigned the number 80 T.B. I, 598, consists ofonly one page with six lines of characters, comprising seven sentences. Thepaper size is 20.5 cm 3 10 cm and the size of the script is 16 cm 3 6.5 cm. Thehandwriting is ordinary, but the language is excellent. After deciphering theselines, it became clear that it was a Buddhist document, but it was unclear initiallyas to what sutra it might belong.Further research, however, ® nally revealed that this page belongs to the thirdparagraph of the fourth Saddharma (Praising Maitreya), in the work VajracchedikaprajnaParamikta Sutra. This medieval Uyghur version was translatedfrom Sanskrit to Chinese by Fu Dashi, in the Liang Wudi period, 502±549CE. The Vajracchedikaprajna Paramikta Sutra was translated into Chinese inseveral different versions. Three versions, translated by Kumarajiva, Bodhiruci,and Chen Zhendi in the period of the Northern and Southern Dynasties (420±589CE), became known as the Jingangjing. In the Tang dynasty, new translations byYi Jing and the monk Xuanzhang (Samszo) were known as the Neng DuanJingang Baropolomidojing.According to this sutra: `All things are empty, illusory and without substance;what appears real is actual illusion.’ It recommends one to `extricate oneselffrom all of appearance’ and become `without abode’ , which means one shouldnot rigidly cling to the `real’ world. Perhaps Uyghurs had received such ideas inthe Idiqut Uyghur Khanate period, or earlier. The transliteration and translationof this fragment of the sutra reads as follows:Transliteration in the ® rst line. Translation in the second line.1. (uÈ lguÈ suÈ z) k(a) lplartõÈ n1 baÈ ruÈ ki awant-lar tõ È ltaghlar1. Since time immemorial, predestined relationships were2. igid saqõ È nch aÈ rsaÈ r qaltõ È yawlagh yaghõ È taÈ g aÈ ruÈ r2. wild fantasy and vain thought exactly like an evil enemy.3. az amranmaq koÈ nguÈ l aÈ rsaÈ r aghulugh yõ È lanqa okhshayurc3. A loveless and senseless heart is like a poisonous snake.4. biroÈ k kuÈ suÈ sh-taÈ turup kuÈ suÈ sh-suÈ z bulghalõ È usar4. However, if one lives in an avaricious world without greed,5. niz-wani-ta turup niz-waniqa yoqlunmasar5. and lives in a vexed society uninfected by vexation,6. yirtinchuÈ uÈ zaÈ tayansar kkir-siz arõÈ gh orunqa6. standing ® rmly on the earth, one will reach the unblemished7. timin oÈ k tanuqlaghalõ È uyur nom khanõ È nõ È ngaÈ toÈ zin7. pure land and immediately gain the body of the moral king.This text is written in standard medieval Uyghur literary language. There is290A SURVEY OF UYGHUR DOCUMENTS FROM TURPANone Sanskrit loan word (kalp) which was commonly used in medieval UyghurBuddhist documents, and there are three Sogdian loan words (awant, niz-wan,nom). These suggest that the piece was probably translated from the Sanskritoriginal or from a Sogdian text. The translator showed surprising skill, choosingwords carefully to convey accurately abstract Buddhist philosophical concepts.The second item, to which I have assigned the number 80 T.B. I, 596, consistsof only three pages (numbered 596±1, 596±2, and 596±3). Each wood blockprinted page has ® ve lines of medieval Uyghur script, with a few insertedSanskrit characters. Because the three pages of the document come fromdifferent sections of the same sutra, I have selected only one page (596±1) fortransliteration and translation, below. This page is on paper 28 cm 3 11 cm, andthe script is 19 cm 3 7.4 cm in height.Transliteration in ® rst line. Translation in second line.1. Bu anchulayu KaÈ lmish-laÈ -gaÈ yiti aÈ rdini-1. If one worships the Buddha using2. laÈ r tapõ È nsar udõÈ nsar ol buyan2. seven kinds of treasure, merits3. aÈ dguÈ qõ È lõ È nchõ È ±nõ È ng uÈ lguÈ sin taÈ gin3. and good deeds would be measurable, but4. uÈ lguÈ laÈ gaÈ li sanaghalõ È boghay ¼ amita-4. someone who respects the Aparimitayuh5. ayusi sudur-qa tapõ È nmõÈ sh udunmõ È s5. Sutra, merit (would not be measurable)From this single page, it appeared that the text was part of a postscript to theAparimitayuh Sutra. The other two pages con® rmed this assumption because oftheir content. One page states that if one respects the Aparimitayuh Sutra, thatis equal to respect for all other Buddhist sutras. It even indicates that this Sutracan `bring the dying back to life’ .The Aparimitayuh Sutra is called the Maha-Aparimitayuh Sutra, or theMaha-sutra in Sanskrit. In medieval Uyghur, the title was Amita-Ayusi-Sudur,and in Chinese it was known by several names, including the Wulingshoujing,Dawulingshoujing, Dajing, and Dashuangjuanjing. The Chinese version wastranslated by the Wei dynasty monk, Kang Sengyi during the Three Kingdomsperiod (220±265 CE).This is one of the most important Sutras of the Sukhavati, or Pure Land, sectof Mahayana Buddhism. The story of the Sutra tells of a King named Dharmawho became a monk. As a monk, he swore 48 vows, one of which was this: Thecreatures from 10 directions should believe in joy from the bottom of theirhearts. One who wishes to be born in my country should obtain 10 smrti(memories). One who does not gain (this) level is one who will not reach thefruit of the Buddha (Kamberi, 1995). This monk ® nally became a Buddha calledAparimita. Because the land of this king who became a Buddha lay in the west,the sect based on his teachings became known as Sukhavati, the Pure Land orthe Western Paradise.291DOLKUN KAMBERIThe fragments translated above prove that this sutra was translated intoUyghur as early as the medieval period. And because the fragments includeSanskrit words inserted among the 15 lines of Uyghur text, it appears that thetranslator knew Sanskrit and most probably translated this from the originalSanskrit text.Texts from Turpan and other archaeological discoveries in this centurysuggest that there were several thousand Buddhist monks in the capital of theIdiqut Kingdom.2 These monks would have been responsible for the work oftranslation, and from the many fragments now collected from the Turpan area itis clear that virtually all of the TripitakaÐall the basic writings of BuddhismÐwere translated into Uyghur. Works for which fragments now exist includeMaitrisimit, Altun Yarug, Samso Acharining TaÈ rjimali, Abidarim KoshvardiSutra, Amitaba Sutra, Aryarajavavadaka Sutra, Mahamegha Sutra, TishastwustikSutra, Dashakrma Budaawtanamal Sutra, Mahamayuri Sutra, and many,many others. This Buddhist heritage suggests an open, cosmopolitan life amongUyghurs at Turpan where learning and the printing of religious texts played animportant role in medieval Uyghur urbiculture.(B) Literary documentsThe civilization of the medieval Uyghurs is re¯ ected in the Buddhist religiousliterature that remains one of the civilization’s most important legacies. Buddhistideals are similar to those of other universal religions in that they include theteaching that there is a place of perfection, peacefulness, happiness, freedom andhope ahead in the future. Good deeds in this world mean a rebirth in the future.Many pious Buddhist believers at Turpan used various mediums to convey theidea of an in® nitely merciful and kind future Buddha, Maitreya. As a result,many legends, myths, poetic eulogies, poetry, sutras, and Buddhist literarydramas about the future Buddha were created and/or recorded in Turpan, invarious versions.In particular, the manuscript of Maitrisimit written in Uyghur has been foundin seven different versions in Turpan. Six of these were discovered by a Germanarchaeological team at the beginning of the 20th century, in the Singgim andMurtuq areas of the oasis. The two versions unearthed at the former site are nowknown as the Singgim versions, while another three, from Murtuq, are called theMurtuq versions. The place where the sixth version was discovered remainsunknown.3 The most valuable version was discovered in April 1959 by a Uyghurvillager, YaÈ hya Rehim, from the Bashtura village in the ToÈ mirti Unit (threevillages consist of one unit in the Chinese administrative system), on the TaÈ ngriTagh Commune, Qumul (Hami) District. The villager was herding sheep on ahill near ToÈ mirti Unit when he found the Uyghur manuscript in a hole coveredby stones. The manuscript had been wrapped in a felt blanket and then hiddenin the hole. Both the blanket and the manuscript itself had started to decay.YaÈ hya Rehim presented the invaluable ® nd to Ismayil, director of the culturalstation of Qumul at that time. The manuscript was then transferred to a team of292A SURVEY OF UYGHUR DOCUMENTS FROM TURPANcultural relic investigators and it is now preserved in the regional museum atUrumchi. I call this the Qumul version of the Maitrisimit.No original version in Sanskrit has been found thus far, but according to theconclusion of each of the acts of the Uyghur version that have survived (Acts1, 2, 3, 10, 12, 16, 20, 23 and 25), there must be a Sanskrit original. Speci® cally,in the text of this Uyghur version the following clearly written line refers to suchan original:The Maitrisimit was translated from the Sanskrit into the Tokharian language byAryachantri who is from QarashaÈ haÈ r city of Uyghuristan, and then recreated in the Uyghurlanguage by Pirtanrakshit, who is from El-BalõÈ q (Idqut?) city of Uyghuristan. (Author’ stranslation)Having compared the published texts related to Maitreya Buddha, I believethat the content, artistic language, magic and metaphor, conception, compositionand quality of this version of the Maitrisimit are better than in any of the Sutrasmentioned above. In particular, the writing style of the other versions does notcompare to that of this Uyghur version. As further evidence, I have decipheredand translated a medieval Uyghur poem from among the medieval documents Idiscovered at Bezeklik. Currently preserved in Turpan, the original assignednumber of the document, is 80 T.B. I, 522, and it is on paper that is37.5 cm 3 3 cm. The content is a rhymed quatrain with the ® fth line in prose asa postscript. There is no date or author’ s name, but the poem conveys thecharacter of medieval Uyghur folk poetry in its harmonious rhythm and rhyme.Quatrains in early Uyghur carry an initial rhyme, and an escape line rhymes atthe end, as shown in the example below.Rhyme pattern:1. a . . . . . . . . . . . a2. a . . . . . . . . . . .b3. a . . . . . . . . . . . a4. a . . . . . . . . . . .b5. prose postscriptTransliteration in ® rst line. Translation in second line.1. oÈ zuÈ ng-ning oÈ graÈ nmish yandõ È rlarta1. No matter what subject, study by your own process.2. oÈ glinaÈ aÈ dguÈ -ki-maÈ busugh silikil2. Think more, be aware, do not be a show-off.3. oÈ ngi-maÈ naÈ guÈ -kim yanglar-ta oÈ sluÈ -3. Be careful and steady, whatever you do engage in.4. nchuÈ -singaÈ taÈ gi anchulayu ol umuq-4. That is the only way to be outstanding.5. luq koÈ zuÈ m birlaÈ oqõ È p sanga õ È dõ È m.5. I read it with my hopeful eyes and send it to you.This poem presents the kindly feelings of its author for his relative, probablysomeone who lives far away. The author not only greets him, but he also293DOLKUN KAMBERIencourages him to study hard, giving him good advice and wishing him greatsuccess when he returns. The poem also seems to re¯ ect the general attitude ofthe medieval Uyghurs toward learning. They believed that knowledge broughthappiness as well as great honour, and thus they took education very seriously.One extremely rare document unearthed at Turpan refers to the visual artswhich were also highly prized among the Buddhist community at Turpan. Amedieval Uyghur document today preserved in the Turpan museum records anorder for receiving seven Buddhist portraits, including embroidered depictions ofVajrapani, Samantabhadra, Manjusri and others. Collections in various countriespreserve many such Buddhist images, and portraits and wall paintings are stillto be seen in many places in the Uyghur region today, but documents concerningtheir acquisition are quite rare. Reading and interpreting this single documentthus contributes to the study of Uyghur Buddhist art, Uyghur paleography andprocessional performance.As indicated in the tenth and eleventh lines of the translation, below, thisdocument refers to an order for seven religious pictures. The short sentence, `buchuv tamgha minig ol’ , means `this receipt-seal is mine’ , suggesting that theorder had been ® lled and the pictures received (Kamberi, Umemura, andMoriyasu, 1990). Probably the paintings and portraits were to be used inprocessional performances, which were commonly held during Buddhist festivals.The document is thus also the earliest recorded evidence regardingperformance props.Medieval Uyghur Order/Receipt for Buddhist PortraitsTransliteration:1. yõ È lan yõ È l chakhsh [aput] ay yiti2. yangõ È qa maÈ n aÈ saÈ n t[ughmõ È ]sh buladan3. chim-ning suÈ [a]l[ayõÈ ]n sinsidu4. tan bir bash-balõ È q suÈ -si iki5. vachirapan chigin suÈ iki vukin6. manchushiri chigin suÈ yana iki7. qapõ È ghchõ È vachi[rapan] suÈ bilaÈ n8. yiti suÈ alghõ È l buladan9. chim kaÈ lmish-taÈ oÈ k birz-uÈ n10. bu chuv tamgha [minin]g [ol]11. aÈ saÈ n tughmõ È sh-tu oÈ z-oÈ m bi [tidi]mTranslation:1. On December 7, the snake year2. I, AsaÈ n Tughmõ È sh, will acquire portraits of3. Buladan Chim. Please get one painting of4. the Bash-Balõ È q (the Uyghur capital city), two5. embroidered portraits of Vajrapani, and two6. embroidered portraits of Majusri, another7. two portraits of Gatekeeper Vajrapani (?), all8. together seven pictures. When Buladan9. Chim comes, he should give (them) to you.294

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A Little Close Harmony

Sounds of a language ‘echoing’ each other

As we are speaking, sounds are influencing each other. A given suffix may have several forms depending upon the nature of a vowel or consonant it is attached to. A simple example of this in English is the three forms of the plural -s, the choice of which is automatically decided by the last consonant of the word pluralized. In cats dogs foxes, the similarity in spelling conceals the fact that there are three different pronunciations (which native speakers are normally unaware of):catS dogZ foxIZ.This kind of ‘echoing’ of a neighboring consonant or vowel is something that happens in all languages. To illustrate how vowels influence each other, let’s make up some examples in English. Suppose we consider the common suffix -ness. You can see that in feckless and petless it has the same vowel as the main word. But now imagine that instead of pathless, windless, needless, gutless, formless we pronounced and wrote pathlass, windliss, needleess, gutluss, formloss, where the suffix has a number of forms depending on the vowel of the word it’s attached to. This imaginary example is a rough analogy to the sort of adjustment of sounds that is part of the grammar of some languages. In Turkish we find a particularly striking system whereby vowels influence each other’s ‘color’ all through the word. Turkish is what is called an agglutinating language, meaning that each of the string of syllables added to a word is easily recognizable and has a single meaning, as if each grammatical syllable were ‘stuck on’ in sequence. Turkish has eight vowels -i ï ü ue a ö o- for the moment, don’t be concerned with what these vowels sound like, just note that there are 8 different ones. This is the same way these vowels are spelled in the standard Turkish orthography, with the exception of ï which is spelled i without the dot.Suppose we take the four short words zil ‘bell’, kïz ‘girl’, gül ‘rose’ and pul ‘stamp’. Now we’ll add the suffix -imiz ‘our’, and watch what happens:zilimiz ‘our bell’kïzïmïz ‘our girl’gülümüz ‘our rose’pulumuz ‘our stamp’The ‘our’ suffix turns out to have not just one but four separate forms, and it looks as if the vowels involved are echoing each other completely. This kind of ‘echoing’ or ‘harmonizing’ is called vowel harmony, and even though something like it occurs in many languages of the world, in linguistic textbooks the most famous example is Turkish.It may look as if a suffix simply echoes whatever vowel is in the root word, but not surprisingly, it is rather more complicated than this. Look at some other examples, the words ev ‘house’, at ‘horse’, göz ‘eye’ and dost ‘friend’, adding the same suffix for ‘our’ -evimiz ‘our house’atïmïz ‘our horse’gözümüz ‘our eye’dostumuz ‘our friend’It appears that the suffix is not reproducing the exact same vowel of the root syllable after all. Yet it does seem to be echoing or harmonizing something of this vowel. One further complexity is that the suffix harmonizes with the vowel just before it, in other words it does not reach back to the root syllable. Suppose we take the pluralizing suffix, which has just the two forms -lar and -ler depending on what precedes:zillerimiz ‘our bells’ evlerimiz ‘our houses’kïzlarïmïz ‘our girls’ atlarïmïz ‘our horses’güllerimiz ‘our roses’ gözlerimiz ‘our eyes’pullarïmïz ‘our stamps’ dostlarïmïz ‘our friends’We might almost say that the -lar/-ler suffix ‘resets a switch’, requiring a different set of vowels following it. Look back at what suffix vowels are required following the same vowels in the words ev and at above, and you’ll see that exactly the same choice is made here. For the form of the possessive suffix in the second and third lines, we don’t get -ümüz and -umuz. Can you see why not?Turkish vowel harmony presents many other complexities which we can’t go into here, but this much ought to be enough to illustrate that it is indeed a very striking feature of the ways words are formed in this language. For those who want to see the relatively straightforward phonological explanation, here are a few technical details. Each vowel is uniquely defined by just three phonetic dimensions called features, the plus or minus showing whether the vowel has that particular feature or not. The eight vowels of Turkish can be labeled like this - i ï ü u e a ö oHI + + + + - - - - BA - + - + - + - +RO - - + + - - + + Where HI = high (so -HI means ‘lower vowel’)BA = back (so -BA means ‘front vowel’)RO = roundedThe height of suffix vowels does not change to harmonize with the root vowel, which is why the low vowels in ev at göz dost do not cause the high vowels in -imiz (etc.) to change height. It is only front/back and rounded/unrounded that harmonize. Low vowels with rounding (ö and o) can occur only in the first syllable.

Xinjiang rescues "living cultural relics" -- Muqam

A Muqam fever has appeared on both sides of the Tianshan Mountains following the Ministry of Culture's recent announcement that China will report Muqam of Xinjiang's Uygur people as world non-material cultural heritage. Once approved, Muqam will become the third "member" of world cultural heritage in China after Kunqu opera and Guqin. Muqam is a kind of musical phenomenon spreading among those nationalities that mainly depend on agriculture and farming in oasis in Xinjiang. Apart from Xinjiang in China, there are also various forms of Muqam music in more than 20 different countries. However, the Muqam music in Xinjiang boasts the biggest composition, longest history and richest forms among all the extant Muqam music. Have you ever heard a concert that takes one day and one night to play? The 12 Muqam of Xinjiang's Uygur people has 360 melodies, 4,000-plus lines of lyrics, and the whole set needs 24 hours to finish. Muqam of Xinjiang serves as a witness of cultural exchanges between the east and the west. Being the communication hub en route the Silk Road, Xinjiang experienced collision and melting of eastern and western cultures. Consequently, the development of Muqam, originated from the local people, has greatly taken on the influence of multi-culture, presenting a scene of radiant splendours. The 12 Muqam has long been passed on from masters to apprentices in a way that oral teaching inspired true understanding. However, the traditional way of inheritance, which was easy to scatter, faded away over the years. On the eve of the founding of People's Republic of China, the 12 Muqam was on the edge of extinction due to its large composition, abysmal meaning of the lyrics and long tunes which made the mechanical memorization of it impossible. At that time, only a seventy-year-old artisan in Xinjiang was able to perform the complete 12 Muqam. In 1950, Ministry of Culture dispatched musicians on a mission to rescue the dying music treasure. After finding that seventy-year-old artisan in Xinjiang, the musicians recorded the whole set of 12 Muqam with an old-fashioned recorder. It takes the musicians six years to sort out all the music score and lyrics. In 1960, Music Collection of 12 Muqam was published and it was the first time that the 12 Muqam was recorded in the form of music score, which served as the prelude to the inheritance of 12 Muqam from oral instruction to written records.
By People's Daily Online
By www.kashghari.com/en

Brief introduction of Uyghur Twelve Muqam

The Uyghur 12 Muqam is so large in scale and so complicated in rendition that no rival can be found in this world. It consists of 360 sung poetry, stories, dance tunes and instrumental sections. Some of the lyrics of the Muqam are drawn from 44 great classic poets and folk poetry, totaling 4,492 lines of words. The Twelve Muqam each consists of suites of fixed melodic sequences and order. To sing a complete Muqam takes around 24 hours. The Twelve Muqam is so loved by nearly every one in a whole minority group that it has no match in this world. It is both a centuries-old cultural tradition and a popular musical suite today; it is both a high-taste works of classic poets and a favorite of farmers and children in the bottom of the social strata; it is both a large scaled musical work and a musical piece that can be performed by dividing into the minutest units. The melody of Muqam is heard floating every where in places where the Uyghurs live, on big streets and small lanes, in teahouses and small restaurants, in villages and town and country fairs, on the donkey-drawn carts, on the back of camels or by bonfire. Young people get to love each other in singing the poetries and people who had experienced miseries and hardships are buried in the sand amidst Muqam music. “I’ve lived in Uyghur areas for years and found no one who cannot perform Muqam. Men and women, old and young, every one can sing Muqam and can dance Muqam dances,” said a Han musician. òIt is indeed a miracle that no one among the Uyghur who does not have a hand in the music treasure handed down from their ancestors. What is more surprising is such a large-scale suite that it consists of 360 sung poetry, stories, dance tunes and instrumental sections. Some of the lyrics of the Muqam are drawn from 44 great classic poets and folk poetry, totaling 4,492 lines of words. The Twelve Muqam each consists of suites of fixed melodic sequences and order. To sing a complete Muqam takes around 24 hours. In fact, the Twelve Muqam is so old - having a history of hundreds of years or even 1000 years - that when an elderly or a child of seven or eight sings it, it seems to be a popular piece just off the table of a composer. It is so high in taste - most of the sung poetries are drawn from classic Uyghur poets who wrote poems in the most beautiful language of Chagatai- that when a Uyghur farmhand or a Uyghur girl harvesting in the field sings it with imagination, it seems to be a music piece of his or her own creation. It is so large in scale - it takes a whole day and night to sing the complete thing without interruption - that when a Uyghur sings it anytime and anywhere irrespective of its completeness, consecration and solumnness, it seems that it is nothing but part of his or her life. This is Uyghur's holy classic musical piece - Twelve Muqam. In 2004, the Chinese government submitted an application with UNESCO for listing it into the Masterpieces of the oral and intangible heritage of humanity.

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