The Study On The Words In Manichean Texts In Old Uyghur Script

Uyghur people converted to Manicheism when they were living nomadic life onthe Orkhon river in Mongolia. After Uyghurs migrated to the Turfan OasisManichaeism continued to be a protected religion among the them for a long periodand play an significant part in their religious life along with Buddhism andNestorianism. Although Manicheism manuscripts in Old Uyghur Script so fardiscovered are fragmentary and not as various and numerous as Buddhismdocuments, however, they are the first-hand material recorded by manicheansthemselves, contents are very detailed that we can not find in other documents.Relatively notable texts include iki yiltiz nom [Two Principles], dgü tatiγliγ nom[Principle of Good Taste], a text on the economic life of the Manichaean monastery,the letter of Maniehaean monks as well as hymns.These fragments, regardless of their size and content, from different aspects,provide invauable information for our understanding of spreading of Manicheismamong Uyghurs, the relationship between Old Uyghur Language and Manicheism,and for the Uyghur’s religion, social culture, language, literature and the socialcustom at that period of time.The main points of this research paper are as follows: The first part is preface,this part mainly states the significance and value of the carrying research on thewords in Manichaean manuscripts in Old Uyghur Script, the previous and currentresearches of all around the world and in China, gave some brief discreptions aboutOld Uyghur Script and manuscripts recorded in it, Manicheism and its belief. At theend showed the transcription which are used in this article. In the second part, on thebasis of previous researches, discussed the questions like: the reason why Uyghursadopted Manicheism, when and in what kind of social background, its political,economic and cultural influence on Uyghur society etc. The third part of this paper carries research on the nine kinds of words. These words are relating to the name ofthe animals, plants, foods, dresses; the name of the human body; the name of theobjects in nature, season, time, direction; the name of social groups and socialclasses; the name of palace, royal family members and kings; the name of kinshipand family; verbs, adjectives and other kind of words which used more frequently.This part also took the examples which contain these words from those selecteddocuments. The fourth part mainly concentrates on the loan words which are fromChinese, Sogdian, Sanskrit, Old Persian languages and analyses on the origin andmeaning. The last part of this research paper is the conclusion part in whichsummarizes the innovative ideas and shortcomings.