河西回鹘摩尼教稽考

On the Manichaeism of the Hexi Uighur Kingdom

自763年始,摩尼教成为漠北回鹘汗国的国教。840年,回鹘汗国崩溃以后,部众西迁,其中一部分迁至今河西走廊地区,以甘州、沙州为中心建立政权,史称甘州回鹘与沙州回鹘。由于受河西地区长期流行的佛教的影响,回鹘民众大多皈依佛教,但回鹘王室仍以摩尼教为奉,如同漠北回鹘一样,河西回鹘的统治者非常敬重摩尼教,任用摩尼教高僧作为使臣出使中原王朝。对摩尼教在河西的流行情况,汉文史书记载鲜少,但敦煌发现的回鹘文文献、汉文对此却有不少反映,波斯文史料也有一定记载,可填补汉文史籍的空白。从中可以看出,自9世纪中叶至11世纪中期,摩尼教在河西回鹘中是相当流行的。

In 763,Bogu Qaghan,the ruler of the Uighur Khanate in Mongolia quickly established Manichaeism as the state religion. In 840,the Uighur Khanate broke down,and they began to move westward. Part of the Uighurs moved to the present- day Hexi Corridor area,and established two regimes centered on Ganzhou and Shazhou,hence known historically as the Ganzhou Uighur Kingdom and Shazhou Uighur Kingdom. During the period of 9th to 12 th centuries,although most local people converted to Buddhism,the Uighur royal family still followed Manichaeism. Manichaeist monks were appointed as envoy ambassador to the Central Plain of China. The above mentioned events are rarely recorded in Chinese historical records,but the unearthed Uighur,Chinese and Persian documents fill void in Chinese historical records. From these documents we can see that,from the end of the ninth century till the middle of the eleventh century,Manichaeism in the Hexi Uighurs was quite popular.