API tools faq
paste
Advertisement
jonstond2

Uighur Buddhism (Buddhism)

jonstond2
May 4th, 2018
132
0
Never
Add comment
Not a member of Pastebin yet? Sign Up, it unlocks many cool features!
text 66.93 KB | None | 0 0
raw download clone embed print report
  1. Introduction
  2. Uighur Buddhism is based on different traditions. In the earlier period (roughly 9th–10th centuries), Tocharian- and Sogdian-based influences were strong, but in the later period, especially in the Yuan period (13th–14th centuries) Chinese and Tibetan Buddhisms played a larger role. With the shift from Manichaeism to Buddhism around the turn of the millennium, Uighur society became Buddhism-oriented, as can be easily seen in the development of Uighur art. In wall paintings and other art media, a Uighur style developed. Various inscriptions written on stone or wood tell us of newly founded monasteries and the support of high-ranking people, including the royal house, providing us with valuable sources for the study of the history of Old Uighur Buddhism. Special Buddhist schools like the Faxiang School, already well known in the Dunhuang area, exerted their influence among the Buddhists in the West Uighur Kingdom. Cults centered on Avalokiteśvara, Mañjuśrī, or Maitreya existed side by side. Special features of Uighur Buddhism can be seen in a predilection for jātakas and avadānas and in adapting these to their own literary imaginary; in the formation of a widely used confession of sins text; in compositions of doctrinal treatises; and mainly in a large body of poetry that covers all domains of Buddhism. Worth mentioning is the reshaping of the Chinese Meditation sutra on Amitābha Buddha of the Pure Land School from a prose text into an Old Uighur version in verse, which is the only old translation into a non-Chinese language. The translation of the Chinese illustrated sutra on the Ten Kings of the Netherworld into Old Uighur offers another fascinating facet. During the Yuan period Uighur people played a large role in politics, administration, and cultural affairs of the Mongol Empire. Some of them worked as scholars, priests, and writers, including members of the Hanlin Academy, while others were ministers or generals. The West Uighur Kingdom played a prominent role in Central Asia between Song China, Kidan, and Jin (Liao) in the East and other powers in the West headed by the Karahanid Empire.
  3.  
  4. General Surveys
  5. There exist several short surveys on Old Uighur Buddhist texts mentioned in Elverskog 1997 (see Bibliographies). Gabain 1964 is a good general introduction, while Tekin 1993 discusses problems of book production and literary aspects. Scharlipp 2005 investigates the cultural-historical aspects of Old Uighur literature. Zieme 1992 is an introduction to the philological study of Old Uighur colophons. Kasai 2008 is a comprehensive study of Old Uighur colophons of Buddhist scriptures, providing essential information about the origin and transmission of the discussed scriptures.
  6.  
  7. Gabain, Annemarie von. “Die alttürkische Literatur.” In Philologiae Turcicae Fundamenta II. Edited by Louis Bazin, et al., 211–243. Wiesbaden, Germany: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1964.
  8.  
  9. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  10.  
  11. This German essay discusses the general development of Old Turkic literature and includes firsthand information on Old Uighur Buddhist texts known up to that time.
  12.  
  13. Find this resource:
  14.  
  15.  
  16. Kasai, Yukiyo. Die uigurischen buddhistischen Kolophone. Berliner Turfantexte XXVI. Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols, 2008.
  17.  
  18. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  19.  
  20. A comprehensive study of the known colophons attached to Uighur Buddhist texts. The author discusses questions of provenance, translators, the contents of the colophons and their dates, and many other problems.
  21.  
  22. Find this resource:
  23.  
  24.  
  25. Scharlipp, Wolfgang-E. Die alttürkische Literatur: Einführung in das vorislamische Schrifttum. Engelschoff, Germany: Verlag auf dem Ruffel, 2005.
  26.  
  27. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  28.  
  29. The author discusses in his essay general questions about Old Turkic literature. He includes a section on Old Uighur Buddhist scriptures and highlights some essential points regarding their importance in the development of Old Turkic culture.
  30.  
  31. Find this resource:
  32.  
  33.  
  34. Tekin, Şinasi. Eski Türklerde Yazı, Kağıt Ve Kağıt Damgaları. Istanbul: Eren Yayıncılık ve Kitapčılık Ltd. Şti, 1993.
  35.  
  36. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  37.  
  38. Written in Turkish, this book concerns writing materials, codicological problems of manuscripts and block prints, book formats, and similar topics. A general outline of the development of the Old Uighur language in the areas of Dunhuang and Turfan is given.
  39.  
  40. Find this resource:
  41.  
  42.  
  43. Zieme, Peter. Religion und Gesellschaft im Uigurischen Königreich von Qočo. Kolophone und Stifter des alttürkischen buddhistischen Schrifttums aus Zentralasien. Opladen, Germany: Westdeutscher Verlag, 1992.
  44.  
  45. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-322-84378-4Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  46.  
  47. The author provides a short survey of the Buddhist literature written in Old Uighur from the viewpoint of their involvement in the society of the Old Uighur period.
  48.  
  49. Find this resource:
  50.  
  51.  
  52. Catalogues
  53. The compilation of catalogues is a very important stage in the preparation of editions, but as the edition of Old Uighur texts so far preceded the edition of texts, several volumes give information on previous published editions. The catalogue information includes data on signatures, book form, script, special features of a fragment, etc. The cataloguing work is naturally collection oriented; no cataloguing project of Old Uighur Buddhist texts preserved in all collections has been undertaken. A list of the Old Uighur texts preserved in the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts in St. Petersburg was published by Umemura, et al. 2002 at the Toyo Bunko in Japan.
  54.  
  55. Verzeichnis der Orientalischen Handschriften in Deutschland. Wiesbaden, Germany: Franz Steiner Verlag.
  56.  
  57. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  58.  
  59. Since 1987 the academic project Verzeichnis der Orientalischen Handschriften in Deutschland published a great number of catalogues. Up to 2013 within this series the volumes on Old Uighur texts extend from 13, 9 up to 13, 28 (the list includes some volumes still not printed).
  60.  
  61. Find this resource:
  62.  
  63.  
  64. Umemura, Hiroshi, Masahiro Shogaito, Yutaka Yoshida, and Abdurishid Yakup. A Provisional Catalogue of the Microfilms of Uighur, Sogdian and Manichaean Manuscripts belonging to the St. Petersburg Branch of the Institute of Oriental Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences brought to the Toyo Bunko. Tokyo: Toyo Bunko, 2002.
  65.  
  66. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  67.  
  68. This list provides brief information about each fragment of the St. Petersburg collection. Identification of the fragments is preliminary.
  69.  
  70. Find this resource:
  71.  
  72.  
  73. Facsimile Editions and Digitization
  74. Facsimile editions and the digitization of the original texts provide important tools for research. Among recent publications of facsimiles, the most important is Peng and Wang 2002–2004. The text materials of some collections are now available as digitized images. These new resources are very helpful tools for further research. The academic project “Turfanforschung” of the Berlin Brandenburg Academy of Sciences began the digitization of the Berlin collection in the last decade of the 20th century. Now all texts of that collection are available on Digitales Turfanarchiv (DTA) and International Dunhuang Project (IDP).
  75.  
  76. Digitales Turfanarchiv (DTA).
  77.  
  78. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  79.  
  80. This archive comprises all fragments preserved in the Turfan Collection of the Berlin Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities housed at the Academy and at the Staatsbibliothek Preußischer Kulturbesitz. The Uighur Buddhist texts of that collection can be found under the signatures U + number, Ch/U + number, and Mainz + number. The images are freely available; for research, higher-resolution images can be ordered through the website.
  81.  
  82. Find this resource:
  83.  
  84.  
  85. International Dunhuang Project (IDP).
  86.  
  87. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  88.  
  89. The IDP archive comprises images of texts and pictures from nearly all collections of Dunhuang and Turfan finds. The images can be searched by collections, subjects, etc., and also by their shelf numbers. They are freely accessible; for research, higher-resolution images are obtainable.
  90.  
  91. Find this resource:
  92.  
  93.  
  94. Peng, Jinzhang, and Jianjun Wang. Northern Grottoes of Dunhuang Mogao Caves. 3 vols. Beijing: Cultural Relics, 2002–2004.
  95.  
  96. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  97.  
  98. This three-volume edition of the new finds from the Northern Grottoes of the Mogao Caves near Dunhuang contains not only pictures of the new finds but also extensive descriptions of the investigated caves. Most of the material is from the 13th and 14th centuries.
  99.  
  100. Find this resource:
  101.  
  102.  
  103. Yakup, Abdurishid. “Uighurica from the Northern Grottoes of Dunhuang.” In A Festschrift of Professor Masahiro Shōgaito’s Retirement: Studies on Eurasian Languages. Edited by Masahiro Shōgaito, 1–41. Kyoto: “Studies on Eurasian Languages” Publication Committee, 2006.
  104.  
  105. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  106.  
  107. Japanese title: “庄垣内正弘先生退任記念論集. ユーラシア諸言語の迺研.” In 京都: ⎡ユーラシア諸言語の迺研⎦刊行会. Yakup’s article provides an overview of the Old Uighur fragments among the recent finds in the Northern Grottoes of Dunhuang. It also includes some studies of important Buddhist fragments of different subjects, such as a fragment of the Säkiz yükmäk yaruk sudur or a colophon to the Acintyabuddhaviśayanirdeśa.
  108.  
  109. Find this resource:
  110.  
  111.  
  112. Editions of Texts
  113. While general questions of compiling catalogues of Old Uighur texts were never discussed, the editions of the texts were rather diversified since the early years of the 20th century. In German editions the Old Uighur Buddhist texts were first presented in a mixture of transcription and transliteration. Later, following the standard in Middle Iranian studies, some scholars introduced the method of transliteration only. Finally, a system was introduced that gives both transliteration and transcription, but it is mainly used only in Germany. Röhrborn 2012 discusses the different methods of edition. A future task is an international discussion about principles of transcription and edition. Most editions are accompanied by translations and commentaries, as well as glossaries, and sometimes also by facsimiles. Röhrborn and Laut 1988 present a valuable compilation of the Japanese studies of K. Kudara and M. Shōgaito in German translation. The collection of articles by P. Zieme on specific problems of Old Uighur Buddhism by Raschmann and Wilkens 2009 not only includes indexes and corrections, but also gives easy access to widely scattered studies. Hamilton 1986 is an edition of Old Uighur text fragments from the Hidden Cave in Dunhuang.
  114.  
  115. Hamilton, James Russell. Manuscrits ouïgours du IXe-Xesiècle de Touen-Houang. 2 vols. Paris: Peeters, 1986.
  116.  
  117. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  118.  
  119. Edition of all Old Uighur texts that presumably were found in the so-called Hidden Cave 17 of the Mogao Caves near Dunhuang and thus, at the latest, datable to the early decades of the 11th century. The volumes contain transliterations and transcriptions of the text fragments, translation and commentaries in French, a glossary, and facsimiles.
  120.  
  121. Find this resource:
  122.  
  123.  
  124. Raschmann, Simone-Christiane, and Jens Wilkens. Fragmenta Buddhica Uigurica. Ausgewählte Schriften von Peter Zieme. Berlin: Klaus Schwarz Verlag, 2009.
  125.  
  126. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  127.  
  128. The book contains thematically arranged reprints of articles published between 1969 and 2002. Additions and concordances facilitate access to these studies, which were previously published in journals and collected works.
  129.  
  130. Find this resource:
  131.  
  132.  
  133. Röhrborn, Klaus. “Uygur Filolojisinde Üç Yayım Metodu.” Modern Türklük Araştırmaları Dergisi Cilt 9, Sayı 3 (Eylül 2012): 7–24.
  134.  
  135. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  136.  
  137. The author discusses some problems of editions of the Old Uighur texts and questions of transcription and transliteration. Besides enumerating mistakes in recent publications, the author also discusses how to create a united text and when it is necessary. He also gives arguments for placing transliteration and transcription line by line, not in separate sections. Further discussion on these issues is necessary.
  138.  
  139. Find this resource:
  140.  
  141.  
  142. Röhrborn, Klaus, and Jens Peter Laut. Der türkische Buddhismus in der japanischen Forschung. Wiesbaden, Germany: In Kommission bei Otto Harrassowitz, 1988.
  143.  
  144. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  145.  
  146. German translation of three Japanese studies by K. Kudara and M. Shōgaito on Old Uighur Buddhism.
  147.  
  148. Find this resource:
  149.  
  150.  
  151. Bibliographies
  152. Bibliographic work is well established. Since the first overview by Sinor 1939, many shorter studies were published in the subsequent years till the extensive overview in Elverskog 1997. The previous bibliographic surveys are therefore here neglected with one exception. Bibliographical data after 1997 are given in the works by Adam, et al. 2000.
  153.  
  154. Adam, Volker, Jens Peter Laut, and Andreas Weiss. Bibliographie alttürkischer Studien. Ausgewählt und chronologischangeordnet. Nebst einem Anhang: Alphabetisches Siglenverzeichnis zu Klaus Röhrborn: UigurischesWörterbuch, Lieferung 1–6 (1977–1998). Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2000.
  155.  
  156. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  157.  
  158. This bibliography is a good tool for first information. It is chronologically arranged and is supplemented irregularly in a sequence of articles by J. P. Laut, “Bibliographie alttürkischer Studien: Nachträge und Neuzugänge” in the journal Ural-Altaische Jahrbücher (from volume 17 (2001/2002) onward, cited under Sogdian Tradition).
  159.  
  160. Find this resource:
  161.  
  162.  
  163. Elverskog, Johan. Uyghur Buddhist Literature. Silk Road Studies 1. Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols, 1997.
  164.  
  165. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  166.  
  167. This work is a helpful tool to give scholars an orientation to the scattered editions of Old Uighur Buddhist texts. It provides a general introduction to the history of studies as well as detailed bibliographical data to the sections non-Mahāyāna texts (sūtra, vinaya, biographies, avadāna), Mahāyāna sūtras, commentaries, Chinese apocrypha, tantric texts, and other Buddhist works.
  168.  
  169. Find this resource:
  170.  
  171.  
  172. Sinor, Denis. “A közép-ázsiai török buddhizmusról.” Kőrösi Csoma Archivum I. Ergänzungsband (1939): 353–396.
  173.  
  174. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  175.  
  176. This survey, written in Hungarian, is mentioned here because it was the first attempt to systematize the knowledge gained from the study of Old Uighur Buddhist texts in the preceding decades. The author based this survey on firsthand information from Annemarie von Gabain, who was working at the Berlin Academy at that time.
  177.  
  178. Find this resource:
  179.  
  180.  
  181. Old Uighur Buddhism
  182. Old Uighur Buddhism flourished in the West Uighur Kingdom till the Mongol period (Yuan Dynasty). Several traditions were the basis of the Buddhist culture that developed during this period. The survey is grouped into five subsections: Indian (Sanskrit) Tradition, Sogdian Tradition, Tocharian Tradition, Chinese Tradition, and Tibetan Tradition.
  183.  
  184. Indian (Sanskrit) Tradition
  185. In a broader sense, of course, all Buddhist literature follows the Indian tradition, as Buddhism emerged on Indian territory. Here “Indian tradition” is meant in a narrow sense, referring to the research on those texts that directly have Sanskrit originals or that have a thorough connection with Indian forerunners. The rather large number of Old Uighur texts in Brāhmī script, some of which are bilingual (Sanskrit–Old Uighur), comprise all kinds of Buddhist literature: vinaya, sūtra, abhidharma, verse collections (Udānavarga and others), and tales (jātakas and avadānas). A first specimen was edited by Stönner 1904, followed by Gabain 1954 and Maue 1996. Although in most cases only fragments of these works have become known, these testimonies are important for the study of the history of Buddhism not only of the West Uighur Kingdom and of the later period during the Yuan (13th–14th centuries), but also in the wider context of Buddhism in Central Asia.
  186.  
  187. Gabain, Annemarie von. Türkische Turfan-Texte VIII: Texte in Brāhmīschrift. Abhandlungen der Deutschen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Klasse für Sprachen, Literatur und Kunst 7. Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, 1954.
  188.  
  189. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  190.  
  191. Fifty years later, Annemarie von Gabain edited the larger surviving fragments written in Brāhmī script in a volume of the German series Türkische Turfantexte. The book contains the edition of the texts as well as German translations and commentaries, concluded by a glossary.
  192.  
  193. Find this resource:
  194.  
  195.  
  196. Maue, Dieter. Alttürkische Handschriften. Teil 1. Dokumente in Brāhmī und tibetischer Schrift. Veröffentlichungen der Orientalischen Handschriften in Deutschland 13.9. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1996.
  197.  
  198. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  199.  
  200. This volume is a catalogue of a part of the unedited fragments of Old Uighur texts in Brāhmī script of āgamas, jātakas, abhidharma texts, and many other genres, a few of them in Tibetan script. Besides descriptions of the single items, the book contains a full transliteration and transcription of the texts accompanied by translations into German as well as extensive commentaries. The indexes that conclude the book are important tools for further research.
  201.  
  202. Find this resource:
  203.  
  204.  
  205. Stönner, Heinrich. Zentralasiatische Sanskrittexte in Brāhmīschrift aus Idikutšahri, Chinesisch-Turkistān. I. Nebst Anhang: Uigurische Fragmente in Brāhmīschrift. Sitzungsberichte der Königlich Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften 44. Berlin: Verlag der Königlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1904.
  206.  
  207. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  208.  
  209. Whether texts in Brāhmī script are the earliest Old Uighur texts is doubtful, but they document the closest relationship to the Sanskrit heritage in Central Asia. The first fragment of this kind was edited by Heinrich Stönner in 1904 just shortly after the first Prussian expedition to Turfan in the annex (Anhang) of his article written in German.
  210.  
  211. Find this resource:
  212.  
  213.  
  214. Buddhist Texts of the Indian (Sanskrit) Tradition in Scripts Other than Brāhmī Script
  215. The usual script for writing Buddhist texts is the Uighur script, derived from the cursive type of the Sogdian script, which belongs to the Aramaic family. There are some colophons stating that a text was translated from Sanskrit (äntkäk tili), e.g., Hazai 1976. But, as often argued, such statements might have been used as a sign of reference to the holy tradition. Therefore it remains doubtful as to which extant real Sanskrit manuscripts were used for translations into Old Uighur (see Yakup 2006). But as shown in Zieme 2012, it is highly probable that such texts were among the working materials of those monks who were engaged in the translation work.
  216.  
  217. Hazai, Georg. “Ein uigurisches Blockdruckfragment der Berliner Turfansammlung.” Altorientalische Forschungen 4 (1976): 231–234.
  218.  
  219. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  220.  
  221. As one example the Triskandhakadharmasūtra alias Vinayaviniścaya Upāliparipṛcchā may be mentioned. The author presents in his German article an edition of the text that was used for confession of sins by invoking and venerating the thirty-five Bodhisattvas. It was translated from Sanskrit into Old Uighur by Prajñāśrī, as the colophon says.
  222.  
  223. Find this resource:
  224.  
  225.  
  226. Yakup, Abdurishid. Dišastvustik. Eine altuigurische Bearbeitung einer Legende aus dem Catuṣpariṣat-sūtra. Wiesbaden, Germany: Harrassowitz Verlag in Kommission. 2006.
  227.  
  228. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  229.  
  230. This book is a new study of the St. Petersburg manuscript of an Old Uighur adoption of a legend from the Catuṣpariṣat-sūtra. The manuscript is written in Old Uighur script with glosses in Brāhmā script. It contains the text in transliteration and transcription, a glossary of the Old Uighur words, and commentaries.
  231.  
  232. Find this resource:
  233.  
  234.  
  235. Zieme, Peter. “Über Wunschbäume, Schlangen und eine altuigurische Erzählung, in: “Die Wunder der Schöpfung.” In Mensch und Natur in der türksprachigen Welt. Edited by B. Heuer, B. Kellner-Heinkele, and C. Schönig, 205–214, 327–332. Würzburg, Germany: Ergon Verlag, 2012.
  236.  
  237. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  238.  
  239. Some fragments contain an Old Uighur version of a story about King Jīmūtaketu and his son Jīmūtavāhana based on an Indian topic that became famous through the drama Nāgananda by Harṣa. Although no colophon is preserved, some Indian sources were used by the author of the Uighur texts.
  240.  
  241. Find this resource:
  242.  
  243.  
  244. Sogdian Tradition
  245. Although the Sogdian influence upon the Old Turkic culture in general, and especially in the case of the Uighur Steppe Empire, when Manichaeism was adopted (around 760), is widely accepted, there is only a little evidence that texts were translated from Sogdian. The main problem is that some terms that were borrowed from Sogdian belong to the stock expressions of the Old Uighur language. Since there existed a general Sogdian influence on the language of the Uighurs, only special words of definite Sogdian origin can be used for searching a direct dependence from Sogdian. General questions are discussed by Laut 1986 and Moriyasu 1990. A new example of a direct relationship between Sogdian and Old Uighur was provided by Yoshida 2008. Texts in Sogdian script were examined by Fedakâr 1996.
  246.  
  247. Fedakâr, Durdu. “Das Alttürkische in sogdischer Schrift. Textmaterial und Orthographie.” (Teil I), Ural-Altaische Jahrbücher N.S. 10 (1991): 85–98; (Teil II), Ural-Altaische Jahrbücher N.S. 13 (1994): 133–157; (Teil III), Ural-Altaische Jahrbücher N.S. 14 (1996): 187–205.
  248.  
  249. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  250.  
  251. Old Uighur texts were written in Sogdian script, the forerunner of the Uighur script. Although not dated, these texts are regarded as an argument for a Sogdian influence in Buddhism. The manuscripts were probably more familiar with the Sogdian script because the scribes were engaged in copying Sogdian sutra texts. Despite the Sogdian features, the fragments from the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka and from the Vimalakīrtinirdeśasūtra written in Sogdian script were translated from Chinese versions.
  252.  
  253. Find this resource:
  254.  
  255.  
  256. Laut, Jens Peter. Der frühe türkische Buddhismus und seine literarischen Denkmäler. Wiesbaden, Germany: Harrassowitz, 1986.
  257.  
  258. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  259.  
  260. Laut examines the Old Uighur lexicon and analyzes the origin of Buddhist terms. Although some of them are of Sogdian origin, showing the earlier layer of Manichaean influence, the majority are borrowings from Tocharian.
  261.  
  262. Find this resource:
  263.  
  264.  
  265. Moriyasu, Takao. “L’origine du bouddhisme chez les Turcs et l’apparition des textes bouddhiques en turc ancien.” In Documents et archives provenant de l’Asie Centrale: Actes du Colloque franco-japonais organisé par l’Association franco-japonaise des Études orientales, 147–165. Kyoto: Association Franco-Japonaise des Études Orientales, 1990.
  266.  
  267. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  268.  
  269. After examining Laut’s hypothesis, Moriyasu proposed in his article in French the Tocharian hypothesis. The discussion between the so-called Sogdian hypothesis and the Tocharian hypothesis is not insurmountable.
  270.  
  271. Find this resource:
  272.  
  273.  
  274. Yoshida, Yutaka. “Die buddhistischen sogdischen Texte in der Berliner Turfansammlung und die Herkunft des buddhistischen sogdischen Wortes für Bodhisattva. Zum Gedenken an Prof. Kōgi Kudaras Arbeiten an den sogdischen Texten, übersetzt von Yukiyo Kasai in Zusammenarbeit mit Christiane Reck.” Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 61 (2008): 325–358.
  275.  
  276. DOI: 10.1556/AOrient.61.2008.3.3Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  277.  
  278. Yoshida examines the fragment So 18276 of the Turfan collection in Berlin according to which a colophon in Old Uighur was attached to an unidentified Sogdian Buddhist sūtra. This shows either that Sogdian and Uighur authors/scribes were working together or that a Uighur was copying a Sogdian text. This fact is very important for the question of the relationship between Sogdian and Uighur Buddhism.
  279.  
  280. Find this resource:
  281.  
  282.  
  283. Tocharian Tradition
  284. The earlier layer of Old Uighur Buddhism is connected with the Tocharians, who had a strong Buddhism-oriented culture during the second half of the first millennium. Some Old Uighur colophons give clear evidence for a translation work from Tocharian into Old Uighur during the 10th and early 11th centuries. Among these texts two prose works are of priority. One is the Daśakarmapathāvadānamālā, the other the Maitrisimit nom bitig.
  285.  
  286. Daśakarmapathāvadānamālā
  287. The Daśakarmapathāvadānamālā is a collection of ten books arranged according to the ten karmapathās. That one should avoid all of the ten bad deeds of body, sense, and speech is elaborated and exemplified by stories known from original Indian sources but here assembled in a new way not seen before. Each book is embedded into a framework talk in which the master teaches the pupil by giving examples for each section. These examples are shorter or longer tales known from the extensive Jātaka and avadāna literature. So far not all tales have been identified. The number of manuscripts and fragments is rather high, and there are some unanswered questions. In recent years Jens Wilkens (e.g., Wilkens 2010 and Geng, et al. 2005) concentrated his research on this important collection of texts. As a major result he published a catalogue of the fragments in the Berlin Collection.
  288.  
  289. Geng, Shimin, Jens Peter Laut, and Jens Wilkens. “Fragmente der uigurischen Daśakarmapathāvadānamālā aus Hami (Teil 1).” Ural-Altaische Jahrbücher N.F. 19 (2005): 72–121.
  290.  
  291. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  292.  
  293. Already some articles were published that contain parts of a second group of manuscripts found near Hami were edited. These studies clearly show that this version is rather different from those numerous manuscripts from the Turfan oasis.
  294.  
  295. Find this resource:
  296.  
  297.  
  298. Gesamtedition der alttürkischen Erzählungssammlung Daśakarmapathāvadānamālā. Seminar für Turkologie und Zentralasienkunde.
  299.  
  300. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  301.  
  302. Fragments of the Daśakarmapathāvadānamālā can be found in many other collections, too. Wilkens’s planned edition will include all fragments from other collections. About this project (Gesamtedition der alttürkischen Erzählungssammlung Daśakarmapathāvadānamālā) firsthand information is found on the cited website of the Seminar of Turcology and Central Asian Studies of the University of Göttingen.
  303.  
  304. Find this resource:
  305.  
  306.  
  307. Wilkens, Jens. Buddhistische Erzähltexte. Verzeichnis der Orientalischen Handschriften in Deutschland XIII, 18 = Alttürkische Handschriften Teil 10. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 2010.
  308.  
  309. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  310.  
  311. In this catalogue, written in German, the author presents the numerous fragments of a large number of Old Uighur manuscripts according to an outline of the ten karmapathā books, including the tales he could identify so far. Each fragment is documented and described. Worth mentioning are the numerous joins the author could present. The colophons of some manuscripts have great value for the study of the history of Buddhism among the Old Uighurs.
  312.  
  313. Find this resource:
  314.  
  315.  
  316. Maitrisimit Nom Bitig
  317. Maitreya, the future Buddha, is the central theme of a large book known only in Central Asian languages. The Tocharian Maitreyasamitināṭaka was translated into Old Uighur under the title Maitrisimit nom bitig. Twenty-seven chapters expound Maitreya’s stay in Tuṣita heaven and his descent to and career on Jambudvīpa. The Old Uighur version contains many chapters on the hell (purgatory) beings to whom Maitreya gives comfort. The edition of this Old Uighur scripture was inaugurated by Müller and Sieg 1916. Tekin 1980 published an edition of the fragments of the Turfan Collection in Berlin. Several other studies like Shimin, et al. 1988 followed, and others are in preparation, such as Gesamtedition der alttürkischen Überlieferungen zur Maitreya-Literatur.
  318.  
  319. Gesamtedition der alttürkischen Überlieferungen zur Maitreya-Literatur.
  320.  
  321. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  322.  
  323. The project is based in Göttingen under the leadership of Jens Peter Laut. The major task is a comparative analysis of the two manuscript groups, A (several manuscripts of different sites in the Turfan oasis) and B (one manuscript from the Hami region).
  324.  
  325. Find this resource:
  326.  
  327.  
  328. Müller, F[riedrich] W[ilhelm] K[arl], and E[mil] Sieg. “Maitrisimit und ‘Tocharisch.’” Sitzungsberichte der Preußischen Akademie der Wissenschaften (1916): 395–417.
  329.  
  330. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  331.  
  332. This article, written in German, highlights the Old Uighur texts of the text called Maitrisimit and its importance for deciphering the hitherto unknown Indo-European language Tocharian.
  333.  
  334. Find this resource:
  335.  
  336.  
  337. Shimin, Geng, Hans-Joachim Klimkeit, Mitarbeit von H. Eimer, and J. P. Laut. Das Zusammentreffen mit Maitreya. Die ersten fünf Kapitel der Hami-Version der Maitrisimit. 2 vols. Wiesbaden, Germany: Harrassowitz, 1988.
  338.  
  339. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  340.  
  341. This book, written in German, is an edition of the first five chapters of the Maitrisimit nom bitig according to the so-called Hami version that is a younger copy (1067 CE). The second volume contains a glossary and facsimiles.
  342.  
  343. Find this resource:
  344.  
  345.  
  346. Tekin, Şinasi. Maitrisimit nom bitig. Die uigurische Übersetzung eines Werkes der buddhistischen Vaibhāṣika-Schule. 1–2. Berliner Turfantexte IX. Berlin: Akademie- Verlag, 1980.
  347.  
  348. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  349.  
  350. This book is an edition of the text with translations into German and commentaries of the Maitrisimit fragments preserved in the Turfan Collection of Berlin.
  351.  
  352. Find this resource:
  353.  
  354.  
  355. Idiyut
  356. According to a colophon edited by Müller 1918, an Old Uighur work related to pūrvayoga texts containing summary stories different from the avadāna and jātaka collections was also translated from Tocharian. Two other leaves (Zieme 2012) of the same manuscript were edited recently.
  357.  
  358. Müller, Friedrich Wilhelm Karl. “Toχrï und Kuišan (Küšän).” Sitzungsberichte der Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften (1918): 566–586.
  359.  
  360. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  361.  
  362. After discussing several questions of the name(s) of the Yuezhi, the author writes about the names Toxrï and Kuišan (Küšän) in order to introduce a colophon fragment to a text called “idiyut” and the colophons which testify translations from Tocharian into Old Uighur.
  363.  
  364. Find this resource:
  365.  
  366.  
  367. Zieme, Peter. “An Old Uigur Idiyut Text.” In The History behind the Languages: Essays of Turfan Forum on Old Languages of the Silk Road. Edited by Academia Turfanica, 1–12. Shanghai: Shanghai Classics, 2012.
  368.  
  369. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  370.  
  371. The author edited and interpreted a new leaf of the idiyut text and discussed the possibility that it presents a translation of a pūrvayoga work.
  372.  
  373. Find this resource:
  374.  
  375.  
  376. A Buddhist Commentary
  377. A translation of an unknown commentary from Tocharian into Old Uighur was attested by Kasai 2004 by the examination of its colophon. It can be dated to the late 10th or early 11th century. The unidentified commentary is a discussion about the characteristics of a Bodhisattva. The text mentions meditation and the teaching of emptiness. Thus it is highly probable that the text was a commentary to a Mahāyāna sūtra.
  378.  
  379. Kasai, Yukiyo. “Ein Kolophon um die Legende von Bokug Kagan.” Studies on Inner Asian Languages 19 (2004): 1–27.
  380.  
  381. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  382.  
  383. Kasai introduced an Old Uighur colophon that attests to a translation of an unknown Buddhist commentary from Tocharian B into Old Uighur (called türk [tili] “[Turkish] language”).
  384.  
  385. Find this resource:
  386.  
  387.  
  388. Chinese Tradition
  389. The most influential tradition derives from Chinese Buddhism in all its facets. As several schools of Mahāyāna Buddhism emerged in China, sometimes under the influence of Central Asian monks, we find accordingly reflections of them in Uighur Buddhism, too. Through colophons and some Chinese sources we know of several translators. Among them the most famous name is Šıŋko Šäli Tutuŋ, who may have worked in the early 11th century. Even later, during the Yuan Dynasty (13th–14th centuries), when Tibetan Buddhism played the role of dominating Buddhist development in the neighboring countries, Chinese-based texts continued to be the basis of Uighur Buddhism. In most cases we have no knowledge of how the translations were produced, but we can imagine two scenarios. One is the possibility that the Old Uighur translators used the well-canonized texts, e.g., Kumārajīva’s version of the Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra. On the other hand, the other is the possibility that Dunhuang Buddhist texts were taken as the original.
  390.  
  391. Āgama Translations
  392. Translations of Āgama sūtras were made in a great quantity and variety in different places and at different times, but mainly during the Mongol period. A list is provided by Aydar 2010. The sūtras were excerpted and translated word by word. The principles of excerpting were manifold. These translations, as shown by Shōgaito 2003, offer possibilities for establishing exact meanings of singular words.
  393.  
  394. Aydar, Mirkamal. “The Uighur Madhyama Āgama Fragment Preserved in the Gest Collection of Princeton University Library.” Kyoto University Linguistic Research 29 (2010): 1–26.
  395.  
  396. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  397.  
  398. In the introduction (pp. 1–4) this study contains a survey of the fragments of Āgama texts translated from Chinese and their localization. The rest of the article is an edition of a fragment preserved in Princeton’s Gest Library.
  399.  
  400. Find this resource:
  401.  
  402.  
  403. Shōgaito, Masahiro. Uighur Manuscripts in St. Petersburg: Chinese Texts in Uighur Script and Buddhist Uighur Texts. Kyoto: Nakanishi, 2003.
  404.  
  405. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  406.  
  407. Two chapters of Shōgaito’s book are devoted to the study of Uighur translations of several Āgama sūtras (II, 6 and II, 7).
  408.  
  409. Find this resource:
  410.  
  411.  
  412. Prajñāpāramitā Literature
  413. During the formative phase of Mahāyāna Buddhism, the Prajñāpāramitā texts emerged and gained high prestige in Buddhism. Yakup 2010 investigates the relevant literature in Old Uighur.
  414.  
  415. Yakup, Abdurishid. Prajñāpāramitā Literature in Old Uyghur. Berliner Turfantexte XXVIII. Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols, 2010.
  416.  
  417. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  418.  
  419. Most of the Old Uighur versions of texts belonging to the Prajñāpāramitā literature were recently assembled in a comprehensive volume by Yakup. The reader finds here the edition or re-edition of a number of related texts translated into English and compared to their Chinese forerunners as well as commentaries to the contents of the texts and on the translation practice.
  420.  
  421. Find this resource:
  422.  
  423.  
  424. Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra and Commentaries
  425. The Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra belongs to the most precious Mahāyāna sutras, which were translated into many Asian and nowadays also European languages. There is no complete version in Old Uighur; a list is provided by Zieme 2005. Many fragments, such as those edited by Maue and Röhrborn 1980, are remnants from different manuscripts. There are also traces of a special treatment of the sūtra in Old Uighur, as Yakup 2011 has shown. Likewise, Chinese commentaries, as shown by Kudara 1988, were translated into Old Uighur.
  426.  
  427. Kudara, Kōgi. “Uigurische Fragmente eines Kommentars zum Saddharmapuṇḍarīka-Sūtra.” In Der türkische Buddhismus in der japanischen Forschung. Edited by K. Röhrborn and J. P. Laut, 34–55. Wiesbaden, Germany: In Kommission bei Otto Harrassowitz, 1988.
  428.  
  429. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  430.  
  431. Kudara edited fragments of the Chinese commentary Miaofalianhuajing Xuanzan written by Kuiji (7th century), which gained popularity especially in Dunhuang and Turfan.
  432.  
  433. Find this resource:
  434.  
  435.  
  436. Maue, Dieter, and Klaus Röhrborn. “Zur alttürkischen Version des Saddharmapuṇḍarīka-Sūtra.” Central Asiatic Journal 21 (1980): 251–273.
  437.  
  438. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  439.  
  440. Although the fragments edited here are written in Sogdian script, it is not certain that the translation of the sūtra was based on a Sogdian version. In these fragments some loan words from Sogdian are documented.
  441.  
  442. Find this resource:
  443.  
  444.  
  445. Yakup, Abdurishid. “An Old Uyghur Fragment of the Lotus Sūtra from the Krotkov Collection in St. Petersburg.” Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 64.4 (2011): 411–426.
  446.  
  447. DOI: 10.1556/AOrient.64.2011.4.2Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  448.  
  449. This article is an edition of a unique fragment related to the Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtrasūtra. The fragment starts with statements such as “My teacher is this sūtra-jewel” and “This sūtra-jewel of the Blossom (of the Fine) Dharma,” suggesting that the Old Uighur text is a unique composition by Uighurs.
  450.  
  451. Find this resource:
  452.  
  453.  
  454. Zieme, Peter. “Uighur Versions of the Lotus Sutra with Special Reference to Avalokiteśvara’s Transformation Bodies.” Yūrashia kogo bunken no bunkengaku teki kenkyū, Newsletter 13 (22 September 2005).
  455.  
  456. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  457.  
  458. Zieme provides a full list of the fragments identified so far belonging to version(s) of the Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra.
  459.  
  460. Find this resource:
  461.  
  462.  
  463. Vimalakīrtinirdeśasūtra and Commentarie(s)
  464. One of the most famous and widespread Mahāyāna sutras, of which the Sanskrit original turned up only some years ago, is the Vimalakīrtinirdeśasūtra. There are several Chinese versions, but it is Kumārajīva’s rendering that was widely used in Central Asia and that also formed the basis of the Old Uighur translation(s) (see Zieme 2000 and Wilkens 2009). A peculiar manuscript edited by Kasai 2011 and discussed in Kasai 2009 contains a commentary to the Vimalakīrtinirdeśasūtra. The Old Uighur text is different from all existing Chinese commentaries and is probably an original work written by a Uighur monk. It contains some colorful descriptions of how to understand the ālayavjiñāna.
  465.  
  466. Kasai, Yukiyo. “Der Einfluß der Vijñānavāda-Schule im alttürkischen Kommentar zum Vimalakīrtinirdeśa-Sūtra.” In 突厥語文学研究-耿世民教授80華誕記念論文集 Tujue yuwenxue yanjiu – Geng Shimin jiaoshou 80 huadan jinian lunwenji. Edited by 張定京 Zhang, Dingjing, and 阿不都熱西提・亜庫甫 Abdurishid, 298–316. Beijing: China Minzu University Press, 2009.
  467.  
  468. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  469.  
  470. In this study Kasai examine the contents of the Vimalakīrtinirdeśasūtra and points out that the Old Uighur author wrote his work under the influence of the Vijñānavāda School.
  471.  
  472. Find this resource:
  473.  
  474.  
  475. Kasai, Yukiyo. Der alttürkische Kommentar zum Vimalakīrtinirdeśa-Sūtra. Berliner Turfantexte XXIX. Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols, 2011.
  476.  
  477. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  478.  
  479. The large leaves of a peculiar manuscript in the Turfan Collection of Berlin contain a commentary to the Vimalakīrtinirdeśasūtra.
  480.  
  481. Find this resource:
  482.  
  483.  
  484. Wilkens, Jens. “Einige weitere Fragmente des altuigurischen Vimalakīrtinirdeśa.” Ural-Altaische Jahrbücher N.F. 23 (2009): 49–69.
  485.  
  486. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  487.  
  488. In this article Wilkens edits some more fragments belonging to the Old Uighur text of the Vimalakīrtinirdeśasūtra that he could identify.
  489.  
  490. Find this resource:
  491.  
  492.  
  493. Zieme, Peter. Vimalakīrtinirdeśasūtra. Edition alttürkischer Übersetzungen nach Handschriftfragmenten von Berlin und Kyoto. Mit einem Appendix von Jorinde Ebert: Ein Vimalakīrti-Bildfragment aus Turfan. Berliner Turfantexte. XX. Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols, 2000.
  494.  
  495. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  496.  
  497. First edition of several fragments belonging to different manuscripts of the Vimalakīrtinirdeśasūtra written in Sogdian script or, as is mostly the case, in Uighur script.
  498.  
  499. Find this resource:
  500.  
  501.  
  502. Suvarṇaprabhāsottamasūtra (Golden Light Sutra) and Commentaries
  503. The Suvarṇaprabhāsottamasūtra was the favorite sūtra among Old Uighur Buddhists. There are in nearly all collections of Turfan texts manuscripts of the Old Uighur version of this sutra. As the sutra was very influential in many countries where Mahāyāna Buddhism was flourishing, it is quite understandable why it was so often copied. In due course of time the sutra grew in content and some new texts were incorporated, especially in Yi Jing’s Chinese version, which was the original of the Old Uighur translation. The books of this sūtra are devoted to diverse themes, thus giving the impression of being a kind of anthology of Buddhism. It starts with a discussion of Buddha’s lifetime and ends with the famous jātaka story of the hungry lioness. In between there are two chapters devoted to confession of sins. Confession of sins belongs to the vinaya of the monks, but in Uighur Buddhism it also played a great role among the laity (see Confession of Sins). Another famous chapter concerns prescriptions for how the ruler of a country should behave in order to keep the realm in peace and order (rājaśāstra). Other parts are praises of gods and Bodhisattvas. Also instrumental is the chapter on medicine interwoven with mantras. Thus, as a whole, this sūtra was widely used. The St. Petersburg Collection has two large manuscripts that were written according to their attached colophons in Gansu in 1687 and edited for the first time by Radloff and Malov 1914–1917, later in Latin letters by Kaya 1994. These are the most recent manuscripts of the classical Old Uighur language. About one thousand fragments belonging to a large number of manuscripts and block prints of the early period (11th–14th centuries) are known, cf. Zieme 1996 and Wilkens 2001. Recent editions and studies have been published by Ayazlı 2012, Çetin 2012, Raschmann 2012, and Uçar 2012.
  504.  
  505. Ayazlı, Özlem. Altun Yaruk Sudur VI. Kitap Karşılaştırmalı Metin Yayını. Türk Dil Kurumu Yayınları 1051. Istanbul, 2012.
  506.  
  507. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  508.  
  509. This Turkish book is a comparative edition of chapter 12, explaining how the four mahārājas protect the world.
  510.  
  511. Find this resource:
  512.  
  513.  
  514. Çetin, Engin. Altun Yaruk Yedinci Kitap. Berlin Bilimler Akademisindeki Metin Parçaları. Karşılaştırmalı Metin, Çeviri, Açıklamalar, Dizin. Seyhan/Adana: Karahan Kitabevi, 2012.
  515.  
  516. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  517.  
  518. The book, written in Turkish, is a comparative edition of the 7th book of the Altun Yaruk Sudur.
  519.  
  520. Find this resource:
  521.  
  522.  
  523. Kaya, Ceval. Uygurca Altun Yaruk. Giriş, Metin ve Dizin. Atatürk Kültür, Dil ve Tarih Yüksek Kurumu, 607. Ankara: Türk Dil Kurumu Yayınları, 1994.
  524.  
  525. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  526.  
  527. This book, written in Turkish, is a romanized edition of the St. Petersburg edition by Radloff and Malov and includes some variants of the much earlier fragments of the Berlin collection. The book contains a complete index of all word forms.
  528.  
  529. Find this resource:
  530.  
  531.  
  532. Radloff, Wilhelm, and Sergey Efimovitch Malov. Suvarṇaprabhāsa (Sutra “Zolotogo bleska”). Tekst ujgurskoj redakcii. Sanktpeterburg 1913. Petrograd, 1914–1917.
  533.  
  534. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  535.  
  536. This book is an edition of two 17th-century manuscripts of the Old Uighur translation of the Suvarṇaprabhāsa kept in the collection of St. Petersburg. For reproducing the original manuscripts in letters a new set of Uighur print letters was created and used.
  537.  
  538. Find this resource:
  539.  
  540.  
  541. Raschmann, Simone-Christiane. “Three New Fragments of the Altun Yaruk Sudur from Bezeklik.” Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 65 (2012): 271–284.
  542.  
  543. DOI: 10.1556/AOrient.65.2012.3.2Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  544.  
  545. This study is an example for recent research of manuscripts of this sūtra kept in other collections. The edited texts belong to the Collection of Old Uighur Texts in the Museum of Turfan (Academia Turfanica).
  546.  
  547. Find this resource:
  548.  
  549.  
  550. Uçar, Erdem. “Bodhisattva Ruciraketu’nun Buddha’ya Methiyesi: Altun Yaruk Sudur, X. Tegzinç, XXVIII. Bölök [R–M 649/09–653/07].” Modern Türklük Araştırmaları Dergisi Cilt 9, Sayı 4 ( 2012): 82–102.
  551.  
  552. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  553.  
  554. Uçar presents a comparative edition of the chapter of the Altun Yaruk Sudur, which contains a Buddha praise.
  555.  
  556. Find this resource:
  557.  
  558.  
  559. Wilkens, Jens. Die drei Körper des Buddha (trikāya). Das dritte Kapitel der uigurischen Fassung des Goldglanz-Sūtras (Altun Yaruk Sudur) eingeleitet, nach den Handschriften aus Berlin und St. Petersburg herausgegeben, übersetzt und kommentiert. Berliner Turfantexte XXI. Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols, 2001.
  560.  
  561. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  562.  
  563. Besides the comparative study and edition of the third chapter, the author discusses in this German book the possible relationship to the Tibetan versions of the text.
  564.  
  565. Find this resource:
  566.  
  567.  
  568. Zieme, Peter. Altun Yaruq Sudur. Vorworte und das erste Buch. Berliner Turfantexte XVIII. Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols, 1996.
  569.  
  570. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  571.  
  572. Consideration of the manuscripts kept in other collections, especially those of the Berlin Collection, is the main basis for new research on the Old Uighur version of this sūtra in recent years. This German book presents an edition of prefaces to different older editions of the sūtra as well as of the first two chapters (book I).
  573.  
  574. Find this resource:
  575.  
  576.  
  577. Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra
  578. Only a few fragments could be identified as translations of the famous Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra. They are included in Raschmann and Wilkens 2009 (see Editions of Texts). An important colophon was introduced by Yusup 1998.
  579.  
  580. Yusup, Israpil. “Huihuwen dasheng Dabanniepan jing bei ben can ye yanjiu [Study on an Uighur fragment of the Northern version of the Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra].” In Zhongguo weiwu’er lishi wenhua yanjiu luncong [Collection of studies on history and culture of China’s Uighurs] 1 (1998): 194–207.
  581.  
  582. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  583.  
  584. In this study, written in Chinese, the author introduces a colophon to the Old Uighur version of the Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra. The author’s name in Old Uighur is D(a)rma[k]šeme, which confirms the Sanskrit reconstruction of Chinese Tanmochan as Dharmakṣema.
  585.  
  586. Find this resource:
  587.  
  588.  
  589. Buddhāvataṃsaka-sūtra
  590. The Buddhāvataṃsaka-sūtra is a large Mahāyāna sūtra that is the basic text of Tiandai Buddhism. All three versions were translated into Old Uighur, of which only fragments of several manuscripts are extant today, as discussed in Yakup 2008.
  591.  
  592. Yakup, Abdurishid. “Berlin Fragments of the Block-Printed Uyghur Edition of the Buddhāvataṃsaka-sūtra in Forty Volumes.” In Aspects of Research into Central Asian Buddhism: In Memoriam Kōgi Kudara. Edited by Peter Zieme, 435–459. Silk Road Studies 16. Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols, 2008.
  593.  
  594. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  595.  
  596. In this article the author introduces several fragments identified with the Chinese original text of the different versions of the Buddhāvataṃsaka-sūtra.
  597.  
  598. Find this resource:
  599.  
  600.  
  601. Mahāpraṇidhānotpāda-gāthās
  602. The Mahāpraṇidhānotpāda-gāthās, as documented by Röhrborn 2002 and partly edited by Dilara 2011, are hymns probably composed by Nāgārjuna, an early Mahāyāna author of a very high and influential reputation. These hymns resemble the Samantabhadrcaryāpraṇidhāna hymns in a section of the Buddhāvataṃsaka-sūtra.
  603.  
  604. Dilara, Israpil. 国家图书馆藏“畏吾儿写经残卷”跋文研究 [Guojia tushuguan cang “Weiwuer xie jingcan juan” bawen yanjiu] (A study of a colophon to a fragmentary Uighur manuscript of the National Library). Minzu yuwen 3 (2011): 56–62.
  605.  
  606. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  607.  
  608. English title: A study of a colophon to a fragmentary Uighur manuscript of the National Library. The author interprets the colophon attached to the aforementioned manuscript which is now also available as a facsimile (BD15370) in 國家圖書館藏敦煌遺書 [Guojia tushuguan cang Dunhuang yishu], Vol. 143, 北京圖書館出版社 [Beijing tushuguan chubanshe], Beijing, 2012.
  609.  
  610. Find this resource:
  611.  
  612.  
  613. Röhrborn, Klaus. “Die alttürkische Version des Mahāpranidhāna des Nāgārjuna.” In Splitter aus der Gegend von Turfan: Festschrift für Peter Zieme. Edited by M. Ölmez and S. -C. Raschmann, 243–249. Istanbul: Mehmet Ölmez, 2002.
  614.  
  615. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  616.  
  617. The author discusses a manuscript from the National Library of Beijing on which Annemarie von Gabain had worked in Beijing in the years 1931 and 1932. In some articles, Gabain regarded it as a translation of Nāgārjuna’s Suḥrlleka. The author explains how this mistake happened.
  618.  
  619. Find this resource:
  620.  
  621.  
  622. Cibeidaochangchanfa
  623. The Cibeidaochangchanfa (慈悲道場懺法) is a Chinese compilation ordered by Emperor Wudi of the Liang Dynasty in order to encourage people to make confession of sins. Judging from the great number of fragments of several manuscripts, this book was widespread among the Old Uighurs and was known under the title Kšanti kılguluk nom bitig. This text was very often quoted in previous studies but finally edited by Wilkens 2007.
  624.  
  625. Wilkens, Jens. Das Buch von der Sündentilgung. Edition des alttürkisch-buddhistischen Kšanti Kılguluk Nom Bitig. 2 vols. Berliner Turfantexte XXV. Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols Publishers, 2007.
  626.  
  627. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  628.  
  629. The author presents an edition of all fragments that were known at that time. The book includes the Old Uighur texts accompanied by a German translation, extensive commentaries, and a word index.
  630.  
  631. Find this resource:
  632.  
  633.  
  634. Bayangjing
  635. The Chinese Buddhist text Foshuo tiandi bayang shenzhou jing (佛說天地八楊神咒經) is of an apocryphal type, being an original Chinese composition despite the Sanskrit title given at the beginning of the text. It was translated at least in two recensions (with two different titles) into Old Uighur and gained great fame among Buddhists. Fragments of numerous copies are found in nearly all collections. Most of them are now edited by Oda 2010 and catalogued by Raschmann 2012.
  636.  
  637. Oda, Juten. A Study on the Buddhist Sūtra named Säkiz yükmäk yaruq or Säkiz törlügin yarumïš yaltrïmïš in Old Turkic. 2 vols. Kyoto: Hōzōkan, 2010.
  638.  
  639. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  640.  
  641. Oda studied several aspects of this text in the context of the religious history of Central Asia in a number of previous articles. Volume I contains a comparative edition of the Old Uighur text accompanied by a Japanese translation and the original Chinese text, as well as a glossary and several concordances concerning Mongol and Tibetan versions. Volume II presents transcriptions and facsimiles of all fragments.
  642.  
  643. Find this resource:
  644.  
  645.  
  646. Raschmann, Simone-Christiane. Buddhica aus der Berliner Turfansammlung. Teil 1: Das apokryphe Sūtra Säkiz Yükmäk Yaruk. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 2012.
  647.  
  648. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  649.  
  650. This catalogue contains a description of all fragments of the Old Uighur version of the Bayangjing preserved in the Berlin Collection and gives some new joins of fragments, thus enlarging the knowledge of this widespread Buddhist text.
  651.  
  652. Find this resource:
  653.  
  654.  
  655. Commentaries
  656. Among several fragments of Buddhist commentaries, there is an Old Uighur manuscript of the Turfan Collection in Berlin traditionally called “Lehrtext,” which has been investigated by Kitsudō 2008. This is a composition of excerpts from Chinese sūtras and śāstras and thus belongs rather to the canon of original works written and compiled by Old Uighur Buddhists.
  657.  
  658. Kitsudō, Kōichi. “Uigurugo yaku ‘Kammirokujōshōtosotsutengyōsan’ ni tsuite.” Bukkyō shigaku kenkyū 51 (heisei 20 = 2008): 24–46.
  659.  
  660. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  661.  
  662. The author examines some fragments of a large manuscript in Old Uighur that is traditionally called “Lehrtext.” The investigated leaves are translated parts of the commentary, known as 觀彌勒上生兜率天經贊 (Guanmile shangsheng doushuaitian jing zan) (Commentary of a famous Maitreya sūtra, Taishō Tripiṭaka, 1772). This study is part of a larger work locating a complete edition of this manuscript.
  663.  
  664. Find this resource:
  665.  
  666.  
  667. Xuanzang’s Biography
  668. The Old Uighur translation of the biography of Xuanzang, the famous Chinese monk of the 7th century (Datang daciensi sanzang fashi zhuan 大唐大慈恩寺三藏法師傳), a work by Huili and his pupils, was made in the 10th–11th centuries by the famous Old Uighur translator Šiŋko Šäli Tutuŋ. There is one large manuscript preserved in Beijing, Paris, Berlin, and St. Petersburg as well as fragments of some other copies. This text is one of the larger works of the cultural heritage of the Old Uighurs and is a source for the study of the translation techniques from Chinese to Old Uighur. Beside many single studies, the project “Xuanzangs Leben und Werk” directed by Mayer and Röhrbornis aimed at being a complete edition of all preserved Old Uighur fragments in transliteration/transcription, German translation, and commentaries. German translations of the single Chinese books (I to X) are also part of the project; see Aydemir 2013.
  669.  
  670. Aydemir, Hakan. Die alttürkische Xuanzang-Biographie IX. Nach der Handschrift von Paris, Peking und St. Petersburg sowie nach dem Transkript von Annemarie v. Gabain. 2 vols. Wiesbaden, Germany: Harrassowitz, 2013.
  671.  
  672. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  673.  
  674. The author edits the fragments belonging to book IX of Xuanzang’s biography in transliteration and transcription, accompanied by a German translation and commentaries in a separate volume. This study is the newest one in the series of the project “Xuanzang Leben und Werk.”
  675.  
  676. Find this resource:
  677.  
  678.  
  679. Shiwangjing
  680. The apocryphal Chinese sūtra Shiwangjing is known from some precious scrolls from Dunhuang studied by St. Teiser and others. The longer recension consists of fourteen depictions (tables) of some introductory scenes followed by the ten scenes of the underworld judges. The text passages contain some advice to the users and hymns. Besides a Tibetan version, there are Old Uighur fragments preserved in several collections. Some of them can be joined with fragments of the St. Petersburg collection, as demonstrated by Raschmann 2012.
  681.  
  682. Raschmann, Simone-Christiane. “The Old Turkish Fragments of The Scripture on the Ten Kings (十王經 Shiwang jing) in the Collection of the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts, RAS.” In Dunhuang Studies: Prospects and Problems for the Coming Second Century of Research. Edited by Irina F. Popova, and Liu Yi, 209–216. St. Petersburg: Slavia, 2012.
  683.  
  684. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  685.  
  686. The author not only introduces the precious remnants of some Old Uighur scrolls of the Shiwang jing that consist of text and pictures just like their Dunhuang forerunners, but presents also some joins with fragments of the collections in Berlin. Alternate titles: 敦煌學:第二個百年的研究視角與問題 (Chinese); Дуньхуановедение: перспективы и проблемы второго столетия исследований (Russian).
  687.  
  688. Find this resource:
  689.  
  690.  
  691. Chan Buddhism
  692. Early Chinese and Tibetan texts of Chan Buddhism are known from Dunhuang. One can estimate that the influence of Chan can also be traced among the Old Uighurs; one example was examined by Zieme 2012.
  693.  
  694. Zieme, Peter. “A Chinese Chan Text from Dunhuang in Uighur Transcription and in Translation from Turfan.” In Dunhuang Studies: Prospects and Problems for the Coming Second Century of Research. Edited by Irina F. Popova and Liu Yi, 361–364. St. Petersburg: Slavia, 2012.
  695.  
  696. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  697.  
  698. The author examines the Turfan remnants of the poem “The Twelve Hours” of the Chan tradition of Dunhuang. Besides an Old Uighur transcription of the Chinese original in Old Uighur script, he also introduces an Old Uighur fragment of a translation of this work.
  699.  
  700. Find this resource:
  701.  
  702.  
  703. Abhidharma Literature
  704. Besides the numerous traces of Old Uighur Abhidharma works in Brāhmī script there are many fragments of some Abhidharma works translated from Chinese texts. Some of these manuscripts, studied and edited by Shōgaito 2008, use Chinese extracts as a kind of guidance through the text.
  705.  
  706. Shōgaito, Masahiro. Uigurubun Abidaruma ronsho no bunkengaku teki kenkyū. Uighur Abhidharma texts: A philological study. Kyoto: Shokadoh, 2008.
  707.  
  708. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  709.  
  710. This book contains a new edition of the Abhidharmakośabhāṣya-ṭīkā Tattvārtha together with a Japanese translation and commentaries. Abhidharma literature is presented by fragments of a commentary to the Abhidharma-avatāra-prakaraṇa and of verse commentaries to the Abhidharmakośabhāṣya. The voluminous glossary is based on the edition augmented by words from hitherto unpublished fragments of the Old Uighur version of the Abhidharmakośabhāṣya.
  711.  
  712. Find this resource:
  713.  
  714.  
  715. Tibetan Tradition
  716. The Tibetan tradition in Old Uighur Buddhism may be traced to the 10th or 11th century, but the main stream of influence coincides with the relationship between Old Uighur and Mongol Buddhism, during the 13th and 14th century leading to an increasing interest in original Tibetan written texts. In several cases it is difficult exactly to determine the original language, but even in works translated from Chinese, the Tibetan influence is traceable.
  717.  
  718. Ārya-aparamitāyur-jñāna-mahāyāna-sūtra
  719. The Ārya-aparamitāyur-jñāna-mahāyāna-sūtra is a popular text known in many Central Asian languages. As demonstrated by Yakup 2012, it consists of a dhāraṇī embedded into a repetitive praise of the sūtra.
  720.  
  721. Yakup, Abdurishid. “Multilingual Source of the Old Uyghur Translation of the Ārya-aparimāyur-jñāna-mahāyāna Sūtra.” In The History behind the Languages: Essays of Turfan Forum on Old Languages of the Silk Road. Edited by Academia Turfanica, 61–73. Shanghai: Shanghai Classics, 2012.
  722.  
  723. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  724.  
  725. As the beginning of the Old Uighur translation includes the Tibetan title, earlier research believed that the text was translated from Tibetan, but the author presents the hypothesis that the Sanskrit and Chinese versions have also been consulted during the translation process.
  726.  
  727. Find this resource:
  728.  
  729.  
  730. Sitātapatrā-dhāraṇī
  731. Mantras or dhāraṇīs formed the center of some Tantric sutras and gained wide acceptance, such as the Sitātapatrā-dhāraṇī or the Uṣnīṣavijayā-dhāraṇī; see Röhrborn and Róna-Tas 2004. This tradition was maintained in Old Uighur Buddhism, whether during the translation versions in other languages were consulted or not.
  732.  
  733. Röhrborn, Klaus, and András Róna-Tas. Spätformen des zentralasiatischen Buddhismus: Die altuigurische Sitātapatrā-dhāraṇī. Nachrichten der Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen I. Philologisch-historische Klasse. Göttingen, Germany: Vandenhoek & Ruprecht, 2004.
  734.  
  735. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  736.  
  737. Re-edition of the Old Uighur text of the Sitātapatrā-dhāraṇī, including newly found texts with German translation and glossary. The authors argue for a Sanskrit Vorlage but, on the other hand, they also consider that the relation to the Tibetan text is not settled yet.
  738.  
  739. Find this resource:
  740.  
  741.  
  742. Old Uighur works
  743. Most of the Old Uighur Buddhist literature consists of translations from various traditions and languages. Gāndhārī, Pāli, and Sanskrit works were translated during the first millennium into Central and East Asian languages, creating a vast body of Buddhist literature over the centuries. At the same time, in each new Buddhist culture a tendency for composing their own works emerged. Although it is still not easy to find out which texts can be regarded as “original” Old Uighur works, since a lot of comparative work first has to be finished before one can establish a firm conclusion about the nature of a given text, some tendencies can be observed, and it is possible to surmise that some works are surely original Old Uighur works (see e.g. Daśakarmapathāvadānamālā and Maitrisimit nom bitig).
  744.  
  745. Insadi-Sūtra
  746. The so-called Insadi-sūtra derives from the word insadi found in the colophon, a title still not identified but used for a long manuscript on verso sides of a Chinese Buddhist scroll rebound into a booklet. This manuscript, for the first time edited by Tezcan 1974, consists of several texts, mainly of a Vinaya story about the murder of the nun Sundarī written in a mixture of prose and alliteration verses. Parts of the Sundarī story can be traced in other fragments of other collections, e.g. in the National Library. Also the second part of the manuscript, which is a Maitreya praise written exclusively in alliterating stanzas, can be found in newly identified manuscripts.
  747.  
  748. Tezcan, Semih. Das uigurische Insadi-Sūtra. Berliner Turfantexte III. Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 1974.
  749.  
  750. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  751.  
  752. The author introduced in 1974 a long text written in very cursive Uighur script. He gave a transcription of the manuscript that belongs to the Berlin Collection, a German translation, and extensive notes to linguistic, Buddhist, and cultural matters as well as a complete glossary. At the end the book contains facsimiles of the manuscript.
  753.  
  754. Find this resource:
  755.  
  756.  
  757. Köŋül Tözin Ukıttačı Nom
  758. Among the Dunhuang materials there is one manuscript known under the title Köŋül tözin ukıttačı nom (“The sūtra explaining the essence of citta”), edited for the first time by Tekin 1980 and later studied by Yiğitoğlu 2012. Although this manuscript is written in Uighur script mixed with inserted Chinese characters, this work cannot be identified as a translation from a Chinese Buddhist text; rather it seems to be an original composition that puts together several portions from several Mahāyāna sūtras. These quotations are exact translations and most of them can be traced in Chinese Buddhist texts.
  759.  
  760. Tekin, Şinasi. Buddhistische Uigurica aus der Yüan-Zeit. Teil I HSIN Tözin Oqidtači Nom, Teil II Die Geschichte von Sadāprarudita and Dharmodgata Bodhisattva. Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1980.
  761.  
  762. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  763.  
  764. The first part of this book contains the edition of the Köŋül tözin ukıttačı nom according to a Dunhuang manuscript now preserved in the British Library. This text is probably an original Old Uighur work.
  765.  
  766. Find this resource:
  767.  
  768.  
  769. Yiğitoğlu, Özlem. “Köŋül Tözin Ukıtdaçı Nom’da Boşluk.” Journal of Turkish Studies. Türklük Bilgisi Ataştırmaları 38 (2012): 169–178.
  770.  
  771. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  772.  
  773. Based on her re-edition of the Köŋül tözin ukıttačı nom, the author examines the Buddhist terms in Old Uighur used for translating the term śunyatā (emptiness).
  774.  
  775. Find this resource:
  776.  
  777.  
  778. Confession of Sins
  779. Besides the translations of Confession texts from Chinese like the Kšanti kılguluk nom bitig an anonymous work was composed entitled Kšanti kılmak nom (“Sutra of Making Confession”) for which no parallel exists. It was edited by Bang and von Gabain 1930. Its structure is simple: I. After being converted, even evil-doing kings became pious Buddhists; II. Several lists of sins; III. Warning of the dangers of hell and a promise of meeting with Maitreya still on earth.
  780.  
  781. Bang, Willi, and Annemarie v. Gabain. “Ein neues uigurisches Sündenbekenntnis.” Sitzungsberichte der philosophisch-historischen Klasse der Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften (1930): 432–450. Berlin, 1930.
  782.  
  783. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  784.  
  785. Compiled from a large number of manuscripts, Bang and v. Gabain Gabain edited here for the first time an important Buddhist confession text that is a clear example of original Uighur Buddhist works.
  786.  
  787. Find this resource:
  788.  
  789.  
  790. Poetical Works
  791. Good candidates for original Old Uighur literature are the numerous works written in alliterative stanzas of usually four verses studied by Zieme 1991. Although there is at least one contra example, i.e. Anzang’s translation of the poetical Samantabhadracaryāpraṇidhāna, most of the alliterative texts can be claimed as original works. Of course, these Buddhist works also contain Buddhist ideas and phrases sometimes even traceable in Chinese Vorlage texts, but they provide a large body of possible candidates. The research on the poetical works of the Old Uighur Buddhists is inspiring and gives us the best possibilities to search for the Old Uighur literary tradition.
  792.  
  793. Zieme, Peter. Die Stabreimtexte der Uiguren von Turfan und Dunhuang. Studien zur alttürkischen Dichtung. Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1991.
  794.  
  795. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  796.  
  797. The author examines in the first part poetical works translated into Old Uighur as prose and original prose works containing poetical passages. The second part is devoted to the study of the Old Uighur works (altogether about seven thousand verses). The third part discusses the persons (authors, editors, scribes, and others). The fourth section examines the place of alliteration in Old Uighur literature, while the last section presents a formal analysis of alliterations and metrical patterns.
  798.  
  799. Find this resource:
  800.  
  801.  
  802. Buddhist History
  803. Among the texts recently published in a facsimile volume by the Chinese Academy of Cultural Heritage in Beijing there are two leaves of a very peculiar Old Uighur manuscript. One leaf is a short history of early Buddhism from the time of Buddha till Aśoka, while the other folio is devoted to the political history of the Uighur king in the West Uighur Empire (10th century). This text was edited by Zhang and Zieme 2011.
  804.  
  805. Zhang, Tieshan, and Peter Zieme. “A Memorandum about the King of the On Uygur and His Realm.” Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 64 (2011): 129–159.
  806.  
  807. DOI: 10.1556/AOrient.64.2011.2.2Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  808.  
  809. The authors present here an edition of the second leaf of the manuscript in transliteration first, then in transcription divided into sections, followed by an English translation. Commentaries and a glossary conclude the article. Although the text is mainly a tale about political affairs, the author also uses pictures with Buddhist imagery.
Advertisement
Add Comment
Please, Sign In to add comment
Advertisement
Public Pastes
Advertisement
We use cookies for various purposes including analytics. By continuing to use Pastebin, you agree to our use of cookies as described in the Cookies Policy.  OK, I Understand
Not a member of Pastebin yet?
Sign Up, it unlocks many cool features!