2015 Fiscal Year Annual Research Report
シルクロードにおける言語と文字の伝統 ：トカラ語と周辺言語の事例研究
| Project/Area Number |
15F15303
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| Research Institution | Kyoto University |
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Principal Investigator |
吉田 豊 京都大学, 文学研究科, 教授 (30191620)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
CHING CHAO-JUNG 京都大学, 文学研究科, 外国人特別研究員
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| Project Period (FY) |
2015-11-09 – 2018-03-31
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| Keywords | Central Asia / Tocharian / Buddhism / Brahmi / Karosthi |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
In the course of her research she published “Rethinking ‘MQR’: On a location where texts were found in the Kizil Grottoes”: This paper relocates the ancient “library” at Kizil to a complex of multi-purpose storage caves near Cave 53. Claimed by A. von Le Coq (1860-1930) as a cave near the Red Dome Cave (Cave. 66-67), the contradictory between his various descriptions and A Gruenwedel’s report in 1912 has caused many disputes. The paper solves the problem to a great extent and analyzes the inter-site spatial function of the grottoes, in addition to clarifying the findspot of most Indic and Tocharian manuscripts from Kizil, which form the most important collection of pre-Tang non-Chinese text in Chinese Turkestan.
She also published another article on the metal technology as reflected in the Tocharian documents. Kucha has been famous for its rich deposits of heavy metals, salts and other minerals. In particular, numerous fragments of coin moulds found at Kizil and other Buddhist sites in Kucha speaks for the active role of Buddhist communities -- including their lay members and servants -- on that highly profitable business. This paper not only explains the ethics in Vinaya about opening caves and mining, but also the location of many Buddhist sites in Kucha near mining and mintage ones. Hence it sheds light on the interplay of local governments and monasteries concerning the development of economy, religion and culture in Central Asia.
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| Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
2: Research has progressed on the whole more than it was originally planned.
Reason
At this moment most of the written manuscripts kept in Berlin (Staasbiliothek zu Berlin and Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften), Kyoto (Ryukoku University) and China classified as the main target of the present project have been investigated, transcribed and measured to a close degree. In particular, the result of the 2-week stay in Berlin working on original wooden and paper fragments is especially fruitful. Therefore, her edition of secular texts from discovered in Kucha is in steady progress.
Furthermore, Ching also explored the historical and cultural context of Kucha and other oases on the northern rim of the Tarim Basin in the 5th-9th century and provides promising ideas and new results. In addition to restore the cultural environment of these societies by material written in different languages and scripts (see the research results), she also entered in the field of Kushan studies by assisting the edition of “Primary sources and translations: The texts” in Harry Falk (ed.) Kushan Histories: Literary Sources and Selected Papers from a Symposium at Berlin, December 5 to 7, 2013 (Bremen: Dr. Ute Hempen Verlag, 2016) until its publication.
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
A broader research on international politics, cultural interactions and language contacts around the Tarim Basin and the Pamirs in Kushan and post-Kushan period is set to be one of the main goals in 2016, in order to deeply analyze the historical background of Kucha and its neighbouring kingdom around the 4th-6th centuries when Buddhism reached its summit in Central Asia, and the reason why the Brahmi; script subsituted the Kharoathi script as the official script in most oases states in Chinese Turkestan.
In addition, because of Ching’s breakthrough during her decipherment of TS42 (Result 1), a close investigation of the original manuscripts kept in Paris (Bibliotheque nationale de France), St. Petersburg (State Hermitage Museum) and Berlin (Museum fuer Asiatische Kunst), especially the wooden tablets written before the Tang Conquest, will be organized in 2016-2017.
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Research Products
(4 results)
