The Khocho Toñukuk Tradition in Runiform, Uyghur and Chinese Sources // 探討高昌突厥石碑和維吾爾語、中文文獻上的暾欲谷記

• Published in: Central Asiatic journal 2017-01, Vol.60 (1-2), p.109-117
• Main Authors: Marcel Erdal, Chen Hao 陳浩
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Buddhism; Collective memory; Contributions; Horses; Pronunciation; Rebellion; Thrones; Verbs; Vowels; Words
• ISSN: 0008-9192; 2747-4305
• DOI: 10.13173/CAJ/2017/1-2/8

The purpose of this article will be to analyse proto-Turkic inscriptions resembling Nordic runes in terms of their contents and linguistic matters of interest. In this context, the extant inscriptions will be compared with the first systematic studies by Friedrich Wilhelm Radloff (Βасилий Βасильевич Ρáдлов) in 1910, while giving due significance to the fragmentary nature of the surviving inscriptions. While the lacunae in the majority of this material are too great to create sensible translations, an attempt will be made to approximate a collective interpretation. The documents demonstrate the collective memory of Toñukuk within Manichaean Uyghur society in the first half of the Chinese Tang period (7th–8th centuries); at least amongst the prominent Uyghur families. During the process of integration into Chinese society, the need was felt to commemorate the grandeur of the past – a sentiment to which these fragments pay tribute.