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Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books
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were frustrated by the outbreak of the war, and finally destroyed by his lamented death, which took
place in 1916.
It is impossible to foresee when and where a competent scholar may be found capable of
continuing the labours which were so brilliantly begun by M. Gauthiot on the Sogdian texts of
Ch'ien-fo-tung. In the meantime it must suffice here to call attention to a point which presents
a distinct antiquarian interest. The paper and outer appearance of the Sogdian rolls resemble so
closely that of our Chinese texts of the T'ang period from the cave that local production in Tun-
huang or the adjoining region suggests itself at least as a possibility. This assumption would well
agree with what M. Pelliot has been able to prove from historical notices among Ch'ien-fo-tung
manuscripts as to the existence of Sogdian colonies in the Lop tract, and probably eastwards also.¹¹
It is, therefore, of importance to note that, according to an observation kindly communicated to me
by Professor F. W. K. Muller in the autumn of 1910, the Sogdian Buddhist text in the big roll
Ch. 001 shows distinct evidence of having been either translated from a Chinese version or at
least prepared with the help of Chinese materials.¹²
We still have briefly to survey those manuscript remains which, though showing different Manu-
scripts, are all in Turkish language. In regard to these it is particularly gratifying to know that scripts in
those texts among them which are the most interesting by their contents and writing, and in all Turkish
probability also the oldest, have been fully published and adequately elucidated through the care language.
of exceptionally qualified experts. The place of honour may justly be accorded to the remains in
Turkish 'Runic' script, on account of their intrinsic philological value and the fact that it was
Professor V. Thomsen, the famous decipherer of that script, first discovered in the Orkhon and
Yenissei inscriptions, who did me the honour of undertaking their publication. The remains are
few in number; but among them is what in Professor Thomsen's words 'must decidedly be
characterized as the most remarkable, comprehensive, and also best preserved of all the MSS.
found hitherto written in the Turkish Runic script'.¹³
The little book, Ch. 0033, written on fifty-eight leaves of excellent paper of the T'ang period and Divination
in a fine calligraphic hand, is complete from beginning to end, including the colophon.¹⁴ Its state of book in
preservation is perfect, not even the glue which fastens the sheets at the back having loosened. Turkish
The text, as Professor Thomsen's translation and comments show, comprises sixty-five concise 'Runic'
stories and was composed primarily for the purpose of a divination book (called irq-bitig, 'fortune- script.
book', in the text itself). The linguistic interest of the text is great, both 'on account of the rich
supply of words contained in it' and because there is strong internal evidence to prove that, unlike
most, if not all, early Turkish text fragments in this script so far found, it is not a translation from
another language. In Professor Thomsen's opinion most outer and inner criteria speak in favour of
its being of Manichaean origin, and the great care bestowed on the neat writing, both of text and
of rubrics, certainly creates this impression. The cyclical date given in the colophon cannot be
exactly determined; but Professor Thomsen is inclined to assign the manuscript approximately to the
beginning of the ninth century. In the colophon the scribe names two students, evidently Manichaeans,
'staying at the residence (or the college ?) of Taiguntan', a locality which still awaits identification.
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