Drawing upon numerous manuscripts from China and Central Asia, the articles presented in this volume by leading scholars in the field examine a broad range of topics on the multi-lingual, multi-religious, and multi-ethnic communities along the Silk Road in the medieval period, and cover such topics as the social history of Kucha, book history in Dunhuang, the spread of Manichaeism, the political history of Turkic and Khotanese Kingdoms, and the travelogue of the Buddhist pilgrim Xuanzang. They demonstrate that Han Chinese, Khotanese, Sogdians, Tocharians, Tibetans, and Uyghurs have all contributed to constructing a sophisticated international network across Asia.
Contributors are: Bi Bo, Chao-jung Ching, Jean Pierre Drège, Ogihara Hirotoshi, Xiaohe Ma, Nicholas Sims-Williams, Xinjiang Rong, Tokio Takata, Xiaofu Wang, Wenkan Xu, Yutaka Yoshida, Lishuang Zhu, Peter Zieme.
Huaiyu Chen, Ph.D. (2005), Princeton University, is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Arizona State University. He has published many books and articles on medieval Chinese religions and the Silk Road.
Xinjiang Rong,is Changjiang Chair Professor of Chinese History and the Director of the Center for Research on Ancient Chinese History at Peking University. He has published numerous monographs and articles on the Silk Road and Medieval Chinese history, including
Eighteen Lectures on Dunhuang (Brill, 2013).
A Note from the Editors List of Illustrations Abbreviations List of Editors and Contributors A Chronological Bibliography of Professor Zhang Guangda
1
On the Word ṣau Found in the Kuchean Secular Documents Ching Chao-jung 2
Dunhuang and Two Revolutions in the History of the Chinese Book Jean-Pierre Drège 3
Two Fragments of Tocharian B laissez-passers Kept in the Berlin Collection Ogihara Hirotoshi 4
Possible Adaptation of the Book of the Giants in the Manichaean Traité Ma Xiaohe 5
The Rouran Qaghanate and the Western Regions during the Second Half of the Fifth Century based on a Chinese Document Newly Found in Turfan Rong Xinjiang 6
A Sogdian Fragment from Niya Nicolas Sim-Williams and Bi Bo 7
On the Chinese Name for the Syr Darya in Xuanzang’s Account of Western Regions Takata Tokio 8
A New Study on Mouyu Qaghan’s Conversion to Manichaeism Wang Xiaofu 9
Beyond Deciphering: An Overview of Tocharian Studies over the Past Thirty Years Xu Wenkan 10
Historical Background of the Sevrey Inscription in Mongolia Yoshida Yutaka 11
“The Annals of the Noble Land Khotan”: A New Translation of a Chapter of rGya bod yig tshang chen mo Zhu Lishuang 12
Kaniṣka in the Old Turkic Tradition Peter Zieme
Bibliography Index
Anyone concerned with Central Asian Studies, the Silk Road, medieval China, and the transnational networks across Asia in the Medieval era.