Description

A collection of 54 contributions on Old Uyghur materials of medieval Central Asia arranged to I. Christiana, II. Manichaica, III. Buddhica, IV. Varia. This volume contains a collection of 54 mostly smaller contributions written since 2015 not printed so far. Based on already published texts and editions or on newly found materials they concern various aspects of the culture of the Uyghurs in the medieval period extending from the 10th up to the 14th centuries. The papers are arranged to four groups: I. Christiana, II. Manichaica, III. Buddhica, IV. Varia. Although the articles treat marginal problems they hopefully contribute to the uncovering of the once flourishing and impressive culture of the ancient Uyghurs in Central Asia whose texts show us a world-historical model of acculturation. In the field of Buddhism, the fragments discussed here are on the one hand additions to already well known works such as the Dasakarmapathavadanamala or the Vimalakirtinirdesa commentary, but on the other hand also numerous fragments of original Uyghur texts written for different purposes and on different occasions. Several contributions dealing with words and matters discuss the results of recent editions of ancient Uyghur materials. Old Uyghur texts are written in a "dead" language, but with the constantly growing corpus its importance for all facets of the medieval culture of Central Asia is increasing. The texts convey a vivid picture of a reality which however remains imperfect for us despite the efforts in various and manifold directions.