高昌回鹘摩尼教稽考

Notes on Manichaeism of the Qoo Uighur Kingdom

高昌回鹘王国时期,当地民众尽管大多都皈依了佛教,但回鹘王室仍延续漠北回鹃汗国信仰,以摩尼教是奉。汉文史书尽管记载鲜少,但吐鲁番、敦煌等地出土的回鹘文文献、汉文、波斯文文献以及域外史籍对此却有不少记载,可填补汉文史籍的空白。从中可以看出,自8世纪末直到11世纪中期,摩尼教在高昌回鹘王国是相当流行的。

Since Bgti Khan, the ruler ofUighur Khanate （744-840） , converted to Manichaeism in 763 CE, he quickly established Manichaeism as the state religion. In 840, the Uighur Khanate broke down, and they began to move westward. Part of the Khanate moved to the present-day Xinjiang area, and established a regime centered on Qoco and Be^-baliq, hence known historically as the Qo^o Uighur Kingdom or West Uighur Kingdom. The Uighur royal family continued to accept Manichaeism. In 840, before the Uighur immigrated to the west, Manichaeism had been disseminated in the area south of the Tianshan Mountain, and Qo ~ o became the center of western Manichaeism. During the Qo ~ o Uighur Kingdom period, although most local people converted to Buddhism, the Uighur royal family still followed Manichaeism. The above mentioned events are rarely recorded in Chinese historical records, but the unearthed Uighur, Chinese and Persian documents in Turpan and Dunhuang as well as the Persian and Arabic documents and other historical records contain much information about this, which fills a void in Chinese historical records. From these documents we can see that, from the end of the eighth century till the middle of the eleventh century, Manichaeism in the Qo c o Uighur Kingdom was quite popular.