A Further Fragment of the Old Uighur Qianziwen

Abstract

In this paper the authors edit one fragment of the Old Uighur Qianziwen that belongs to the Serindia Collection of the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of Sciences at St. Petersburg. This fragment is joined with some others that were already published by M. Shōgaito. The Qianziwen belonging to the classical scriptures is an old Chinese primer for learning Chinese. Rarely translated into other languages the Old Uighur version confirms the strong relationship between Chinese and Uighur scholarship in the Medieval period.

 

 

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Hiroshi Umemura, Peter Zieme A Further Fragment of the Old Uighur Qianziwen In memoriam Masahiro Shōgaito Abstract: In this paper the authors edit one fragment of the Old Uighur Qianziwen that belongs to the Serindia Collection of the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of Sciences at St. Petersburg. This fragment is joined with some others that were already published by M. Shōgaito. The Qianziwen belonging to the classical scriptures is an old Chinese primer for learning Chinese. Rarely translated into other languages the Old Uighur version confirms the strong relationship between Chinese and Uighur scholarship in the Medieval period. Key words: Qianziwen, Thousand Characters Book, Chinese primer, Old Uighur fragments, Serindia Collection, translations from Chinese into Old Uighur Beyond doubt one of the great achievements of late Masahiro Shōgaito is his work on Old Uighur texts and their dependence on and relationship to the Chinese originals. The texts he studied and edited include the 千字文 Qianziwen an old Chinese primer used for learning Chinese. In the Middle Ages this Chinese text was rarely translated into other languages. Among the Old Uighur materials quite a few fragments were identified, mainly by Shōgaito, one contribution was written by him together with Abdurishid Yakup (SHŌGAITO and YAKUP 2001). At that time the authors referred to three Old Uighur translations. The first 1 they mention is Ch/U 8152v studied by Tsuneki Nishiwaki, but this is not a © Hiroshi Umemura, Chuo University, Tokyo © Peter Zieme, Free University, Berlin 1 Cp. NISHIWAKI 2002, 70-87. Ch/U 8152 verso contains the Old Uighur phrase [miŋ už]iklarnıŋ čızıgı translated by SHŌGAITO and YAKUP 2001, 4 as “The Essay of a Thousand Characters” with the unconventional use of čızıg “line” (not included in ED); cp. strophe 21 of the Old Uighur Qianziwen: 始制文字 shi zhi wen zi = šu či 文字 = ašnu-ča yaratıp užik čızıg = “First they created syllables and lines”. “block print” as the authors write.[1] The second manuscript is known from SI 4000 (4bKr 182),[2] SI 4006 (4bKr 194)[3] and SI 4084 (4bKr 185).[4] The third manuscript is SI 4083 (4bKr 181).[5] They did not mention a fourth.[6] In 2003, Shōgaito discussed some more fragments that he had already edited before: SI 5778 (3Kr 14) and SI 5836 (3Kr 15)[7] without specifying to which manuscript they belong. They apparently constitute a fifth manuscript. In 2004 and 2008 he added SI 1787 (Kr IV 260) which also belongs to that same manuscript.[8] All in all, there are five different manuscripts of Old Uighur versions of the Qianziwen. Now, we are introducing here fragment SI 1850 (Kr IV 312), which is a further part of the above-mentioned fifth manuscript.[9] It can be joined directly to the other fragments and extends from line 37 to line 52, counting from the beginning. Altogether, the fifth manuscript covers the first 38 fourcharacter units of the Qianziwen, i.e., 152 characters. The four-character group is the structural unit of the Qianziwen and the Old Uighur translators followed this model. Considering all the Qianziwen fragments known in Old Uighur, there are remnants of sections 1-38, 82-101, 104-117, 114-146 and 224-241. Altogether, this covers about 440 characters, thus so far nearly half of the Qianziwen is attested in Old Uighur translation albeit in different manuscripts. Taking into account that on the Chinese recto side one line has only 17 characters11 and considering the joint Uighur (verso) side, we can now better reconstruct the Old Uighur translation of the fifth manuscript. As a complete re-examination of the Qianziwen will be a future task, we start here from section 27 by including the new text of fragment SI 1850 (Kr IV 312). Qianziwen sections 27 to 38 according to the following structure 1) Section number; 2) Chinese characters and transcription in Pinyin; 3) English translation of Chinese, following the interpretation of the Chinese by Ōgawa and Kida;[10] 4) Chinese characters in the Old Uighur manuscript (characters only/transcription only/mixed);[11] 5) Transliteration of the Old Uighur text; 6) Transcription of the Old Uighur text (in Italic); 7) English translation of the Old Uighur text; 8) Commentary.[12] 27 坐朝問道 zuo chao wen dao Presiding at court and asking the way; (35)[13] sʾčyv 問道[14] kwyswnč lwk . (36) ʾwrwn ʾwyzʾʾwlwrwp {twylw}[15] twyrw ywl yn ʾʾyydty közünč-lüg (36) orun üzä olurup törü yol-ın ayıdtı Sitting on the precious throne he asked the way of the law. Comm.: The scribe quotes the text half in transcription, half as characters. Old Uig. közünčlüg orun “precious throne” is the equivalent of chao “court, palace”. The “way” can have several meanings, here the Old Uighur translator interpreted it as “the way of the law”. Cp. HAUER 1925, 5 (Mo.) baraglal-dur saguju yoso-yi asaguhui-dur (p. 12) “Sitzend zu Hofe erfragten sie das Tao.”18 28 垂拱平章 chui gong ping zhang Not moving the hand, he fairly rules. šw kwnk . (37) py čw twn yn kʾtyp ʾylykyn yyrdynčwk pʾšlʾty tonın kädip eligin yertinčüg bašlatı Putting on his dress by hand he ruled the world. Comm.: The quotation is given only in transcription. There is no rule for quoting Chinese text, laying down which words were quoted as in the original Chinese text and which were transcribed. The first two characters 垂拱 chui gong mean “Wearing cloth and not moving the hand”. One might assume that the translator left out a word for “not moving”, but the converb speaks against this. He interpreted the binom simply as “putting on cloth”. On the other hand, he added “by hand(s)” to the second binom. The translation of this binom makes it very clear that bašla- means “to rule”, not only “to begin”. We quote here a clear example from a passage in the Old Uighur translation of the Suvarṇaprabhāsottamasūtra: (T. 665, p. 443c17) 以善化衆生, 正法治於國 = Suv 565/3-6 (以善>) ädgügärü inčip (化>) ötläyür (衆生>) kamag kara bodunın / (正法>) köni nomča (治>) bašlayur (於國>) elniŋ ulušnuŋ törüsin “(The true ruler) advises his whole people to the good, he rules the law of the realm according to the true dharma”.[16] Here the verb 治 zhi “to govern” is translated by bašla- “id.”. Cp. HAUER 1925, 5 nurkiju julgugulun tübsin bolgaju todorhailamui “(das Gewand) herabwallen lassend und die Hände vor der Brust gefaltet (d.h. in der Regungslosigkeit des Wuwei verharrend) klärten sie ausgleichend auf”.[17] 29 愛育黎首 ai yu li shou With love he reared the common people. (38) ʾʾy ywq 黎[18]首. ʾmrʾnmʾq[ ]n ʾykytdy qʾmʾq qʾrʾ pwdwn wq amranmak[ı]n egitdi kamag kara bodunug In love he reared the whole people. Comm.: The first half of the quotation is given in transcription, the other as characters. Here the translation is rather precise, with the exception that the translator added kamag “whole”. The Chinese compound 黎首 lishou means “the common people”. Cp. HAUER 1925, 5 hara terigütü irgen-i ürüsigen kümüjigüljü (p. 12) “Liebreich versorgten sie die schwarzen Häupter.” 30 臣伏戎羌 chen fu rong qiang He administers that Rong and Qiang bend down. (39)[19] šyn vwq šy kw :: tʾpyqčy qylyp yʾvʾldwrty ʾwč qytyq ʾyl dʾky (40) kwyčʾk mwnkwr wq lʾr yq :: tapıgčı kılıp yavaldurtı uč kıdıg eldäki (40) küčäk muŋuruklarıg :: He made to servants and pacified the wild Bellowing Ones in the border lands. Comm.: Here the translator quotes the Chinese text only in transcription. The names Rong and Qiang are used to exemplify the various western barbarian tribes. These are here replaced by a more general term: people living in the border regions. The word muŋur-uk is not attested elsewhere, unless one postulates a missing l-hook and reads muŋulug = muŋlug “distressed”. But, more probably, it seems to be a passive of the back vowel variant of the verb muŋra-/müŋrä- “to bellow, howl, bleat”.[20] There are two possible routes of derivation: 1) supposing a verb *muŋur- as a variant of muŋra-: >*muŋuruk; 2) or simply a word derived from muŋra->muŋruk with an epenthetic vowel > muŋuruk. Cp. HAUER 1925, 5 gadagadu aimak tüsimel bolju dagara irejüküi “und machten untertan die Jung und die Kʿiang”. 31 遐邇壹體 xia er yi ti Far and near appear as one. (([XXXX] özli yat-lı kiši-(41) -lär elig bägkä... [ı]rak-takı yakın-takı kišilär (42) bir tözlüg boltı :: ))[21] qʾšy 一 [t]y ʾyrʾq tʾqy yʾqyn tʾqy (43) [ ]šy lʾr pyr twyzlwk pwlty lʾr :: ırak-takı yakın-takı (43) [ki]ši-lär bir tözlüg boltı-lar :: People of far and near became like one. Comm.: When the scribe realised that he had omitted to translate section 31, he stopped and started to write the passage of that section, so he encircled the wrong passage with ((…)). Here, only the third character is quoted as Chinese character: 一 instead of 壹 “one”. The word kišilär “people” is obviously an addition. The expression bir tözlüg corresponds to Chinese “of one body” = “the same”. Cp. HAUER 1925, 5 holaki oiraki-yi anu nigen adali üjijü “Die Fernen und die Nahen in corpore”. 32 率賓歸王 shuai bin gui wang All rallied, obeyed the king. šwk vwn kw 王 ʾwyz (44) ly yʾd ly kyšy lʾr . ʾylyk pʾkkʾʾyčykdy lʾr :: öz (44) li yad-lı kiši-lär . elig bägkä ičikdi-lär :: The own and the foreign people obeyed the king. Comm.: Only the last character of the group is quoted as a Chinese character. “All”, the first word of the Chinese line (shuai), was split into “the own and the foreign people” which might be caused by the second word bin “guest” or “to submit”. In this case it is easier to understand the choice for yad “foreign”, because a guest can also be foreign, of course. If the translator first thought of yad, he may have opted for öz, because the word pair öz yad is frequent. Cp. HAUER 1925, 5 jergeber hagan-dur dagara iremüi (p. 12) “kehrten sich, führend und geführt, dem Weltherrscher zu”. 33 鳴鳳在樹 ming feng zai shu Calling phoenix is on the tree. (45) 鳴[22] vwnk 在 šw : ywy-y qwš lʾr ʾylyky ʾdty swykwd (46) ʾwyzʾ : yuy kuš-lar eligi ätti sögüt (46) üzä : The king of the peacock birds sang on the tree. Comm.: Two characters are quoted as Chinese, two in Old Uighur transcription. “The king of the peacocks” is a circumlocution for 鳳 feng “phoenix”. In the Old Uighur translation of the Biography of Xuanzang feng is translated in the same manner.[23] We think that although a special word denoting the peacock exists, 孔雀 kongque, in Old Uighur, yuy kuš could mean both peacock and phoenix. There are several examples for yuy kuš in the meaning of “peacock”.[24] Note the word ät- for “to sing” instead of öt-. Cp. HAUER 1925, 6 garudi hulusun modun dur dongotbai (p. 12) “Der singende Phönix war auf dem Baume”. 34 白駒食場 bai ju shi chang White pony grazes on threshing-floor. 白駒[25]食čw. kylyn kʾyyk yymšʾdy ʾwyrd- (47)-kwn tʾkrʾ :: kilin käyik yimšädi ürt- (47)-gün tägrä :: The kilin animal grazed around the threshing-floor. Comm.: The reading ürtgün, translation of Skt. khala “threshing place”, is attested in Brāhmī script.[26] The Old Uighur word kylyn kilin, spelled in TT I kʾlʾn kälän, is rare, it is not attested in ED as a lemma,[27] but in TT I, 42[28] kälän[29] käyik müyüzi täg atıŋ küüŋ kötrülgäy “Similar to the kälän animal your name and fame will be exalted!”[30] In their note to line 42 the editors explained kälän as a loan from the Chinese 麒麟 qilin, usually translated as “unicorn”. This shows that the Uighur translator replaced “white pony” with the probably more familiar unicorn. Cp. the legend of Oguz Kagan where a difficult word q-r-y-a-n is attested several times, a dog-like predatory animal, explained by some scholars as the unicorn.[31] The Mongol version follows the Chinese text strictly, cp. HAUER 1925, 6 cagan daga küriyeleng dür idere iremüi (p. 12) “das weiße Fohlen fraß von der Tenne”.[32] 35 化被草木 hua bei cao mu Wise teachings reach each plant and tree; 化被[33]草木 tyn (?)ʾdkw sy tʾkdy : (48) ʾwt qʾʾyqʾč qʾtʾky :: tin(?) ädgü-si tägdi : (48) ot-ka ıgač-katägi :: The virtue of heaven(?) reached to grass and trees. Comm.: The Chinese group is quoted in full. The spelling of the first word is doubtful. Presumably, it is tyn < Chin. 天 tian “heaven”. If so, this seems to be an interpretation by the Old Uighur translator. Cp. HAUER 1925, 6 ebesü modun ece abun geskegdebei (p. 12) “der segensreiche Einfluß erstreckt sich bis auf die Pflanzen und die Bäume”. 36 賴及萬方 lai ji wan fang bounties reach everywhere. 賴[34][及]萬方 ʾʾsyq twsw (49) qylmʾq yn yytkwrdy twy[ ]ʾn ʾwlwš dʾqy lʾr qʾ :: asıg tusu (49) kılmak-ın yetgürdi tü[m]än uluš-dakı-lar-ka :: By providing gain and profit he fostered those in ten thousand countries. Comm.: In this line, too, all the Chinese characters are quoted. The Old Uighur translation tries to make the idea of the short Chinese phrase more plausible through circumlocution 万方 wanfang as uluš-dakı-lar-ka “those in ten thousand countries”. The verb yetgür- “to make something available to somebody, help him reach it” is discussed by M. Erdal.[35] Differently in Mongol, cp. HAUER 1925, 6 tümen gajara ki kesik yi küliyebei (p. 12) “und der Nutzen erreichte sämtliche Gegenden”.[36] 37 蓋此身髪 gai ci shen fa Now, these bodies and hair (50) qʾy sy 身髪[37] ymʾ [...]z ly sʾč ly ʾs[…] (51) […] y(ä)mä [ätʾö]z-li sač-lıʾs[…] (51) […] And the [bodie]s and the hair […] Comm.: It is a word by word translation, but we cannot emend the word ʾs[…]. Cp. HAUER 1925, 6 ene beye üsün kemekei (p. 12) “Nun sind diese Person und Haupthaare”.[38] 38 四大五常 si da wu chang (are made from the) Four Great Things and (keep to the) Five Principles. 四大五常 […]t ʾwlwq pyš mʾnkkw […] (52) -ʾ pwydmyš […] [tör]t ulug beš mäŋgü [üz] (52) -ä bütmiš [ärür] [By fou]r great (ones and) five eternal (principles) [they are] completed. Comm.: The Four great (ones) are the constituents of the human body according to Buddhist theories: earth, wind, fire, and water, while the five eternal (principles) are the Confucian virtues: benevolence, righteousness, politeness, wisdom, and truthfulness. Cp. 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