PIS'MENNYE
PAMYATNIKI
VOSTOKA

Vol. 19, No. 2 (49)
Summer 2022

Journal based in 2004
Issued quarterly

Full text as a *.PDF file

PUBLICATIONS
HISTORY, PHILOSOPHY, PHILOLOGY

Youli A. Ioannesyan. “A Guide for the Perplexed” by Sayyid Kazim Rashti. Translated from Arabic and Persian Part 1 — 5

The article presents a part of a Russian translation (with an introduction and commentaries) of the valuable treatise: Dalīl al-mutaḥayyirīn (“A Guide for the Perplexed”) by Sayyid Kazim Rashti, one of the founders of the Shaykhi school. The work is dated 1842. The translation is made from the Arabic original and two Persian translations of the treatise.
Keywords: Shi‘ah schools, Shaykhism, Sayyid Kazim Rashti


Tatiana A. Pang. The Manchu-Chinese Zidi Shu “Eating the Crab”. Translation from Manchu and Chinese, Introduction and Commentaries — 20

The origin of the Manchu written texts is connected with the introduction of Manchu script in the early 17th century. Some literary texts, shamanic songs and popular tales are classified under the original literature of the Manchus. During the Qing dynasty existed an unusual genre of short anecdotes zidi shu 子弟书 (“youth books”) which was popular among bannermen and was recited in the tea houses of Beijing, Shenyang and other cities. The texts are written in a mixed Manchu-Chinese language where Manchu words are transcribed in Chinese characters. A rare zidi shu titled “Eating the Crab” was introduced by Stephen Wadley in 1991 in facsimile and English translation. The Manchu words are given in Manchu script and are accompanied by their Chinese translation. The text describes the everyday life of a bannerman family: the husband and his wife do not know how to cook and eat a crab, their aunt comes to save the situation. The whole description is given in a humorous way, and was definitely popular among the visitors of the tea houses. The text is interesting for linguists as an example of a mixed language. It may attract the attention of ethnologists as it gives detailed descriptions of female costume and everyday life scenes. The article presents a Russian translation of the zidi shu with commentaries.
Keywords: IOM, RAS, classical Oriental Studies, written heritage, manuscripts, Oriental languages

RESEARCH WORKS
HISTORY, PHILOSOPHY, PHILOLOGY

Iuliia V. Boltach. Dreams in the Narratives of the Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms — 37

The article presents a classification and analysis of references to dreams in the Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms (Samguk yusa)—an extensive systematized collection of materials on the history of Korea from ancient times to the end of the 13th century, which was composed by the Korean Buddhist monk Iryeon (1206–1289). According to the functions of these references in the text and to the degree of their exposure to Buddhist influence, they are classified into two groups: “figurative dreams”, graphically and unambiguously predicting inevitable future events, and “dreams-conversations”, in which supernatural beings seek to influence the behavior of the hero. These two groups are further subdivided into several subgroups, among which special attention is paid to the stories about interactions between human beings and the characters of the Buddhist pantheon. On the basis of the Buddhist canon, it is suggested that the Buddhist concept of correlation between the way of such an interaction (in a dream or in reality) and the degree of spiritual maturity of the practitioner is superimposed here on the universal scheme of “prophetic dreams”.
Keywords: early Korean Buddhism, dreams, Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms

Alexandr L. Khosroyev. Once Again on the Story about Jesus the Dyer — 51

For a long time, a number of religious stories of Early Christian Apocrypha, including the so-called “Infancy Gospels”, have been on the periphery of the mainstream evolution of Christianity; yet changing, they sometimes penetrated even into other cultures (e.g., Islam). Among them is a tale about the miracle worked by the child Jesus at the dyer’s workshop, namely: with one dye he dyed clothes in different colors (as a variant: he made clothes of different colors white). Reviewing all multilingual versions of the story, the essay tentatively attempts to trace its origin.
Keywords: Early Christianity, Apocrypha, Gospels of Childhood, Islam

HISTORY AND HISTORIOGRAPHY
TEXTOLOGY, CODICOLOGY, PALEOGRAPHY, ARCHEOGRAPHY

Natalia V. Yampolskaya. Tibetan Subscripts ya and wa in the Oirat Clear Script — 73

The paper presents some observations on the special characteristics of two signs used in the Oirat Clear Script alphabet—two additional graphemes that imitate the Tibetan subscripts ya (yatag) and wa (wazur). These two signs are unique because they transfer the principle of Tibetan orthography into Clear Script: if a syllable contains the vowel a, it is not marked in writing. Although the two signs that imitate yatag and wazur are consistently used in Clear Script and can be found in most texts of Buddhist content, in academic publications they are often overlooked and not marked in transliteration, which can lead to inaccurate interpretations of certain words. This paper justifies the necessity of employing special symbols to distinguish these signs in transliteration, and offers examples showing the use of yatag and wazur in seventeenth-century manuscripts, which allows one to trace their history back to the very first decades of the existence of the Clear Script alphabet.
Keywords: Clear Script, the Oirat language, Galik, Mongolian script, Tibetan script, Zaya Pandita

COLLECTIONS AND ARCHIVES

Mark A. Kozintсev, Roman Yu. Pochekaev. Travel Sketches: “A Tourist’s Notes” by Sh.M. Ibragimov as a Source on the History and Geography of the Turkestan Region — 86

The article presents the characteristic of the unfinished and unpublished work Travel Sketches: “A Tourist’s Notes” by Sh.M. Ibragimov (1841–1891), housed at the Archives of the Orientalists of the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Ф. 33. Оп. 1. Ед. хр. 225). The authors attempt to show the value of “A Tourist’s Notes” as a source on the history, historical geography and ethnography of the Turkestan Region. The text of the “Notes” also contains information about some aspects of Russian politics in Central Asia and its perception by the local population. It was prepared by a very competent, well-educated and very observant author, a member of the Russian imperial administration in Turkestan. At the same time, due to his ethnic background and religious affiliation, the author was close to the local population. The article describes Sh.M. Ibragimov as a statesman and Orientalist, analyzes his role in the history of Russian Turkestan and Russia’s relations with the Islamic world in general, as well as his contribution to the Russian Oriental studies.
Keywords: Turkestan Region, history of Central Asia, geography of Central Asia, ethnography of Central Asia, toponymy, travelers’ notes

Irina K. Pavlova. Muhammad Mukri — the First Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Iran to the Soviet Union — 99

The article examines for the first time the diplomatic activity of the famous scholar— Iranian and Kurdish scholar Muhammad Mukri (1921–2007)—who not only left behind a huge number of scholarly works, but also showed his abilities as an official representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI). The article is based on the documents of the Archive of Oriental researches, Institute of Oriental Manuscripts (IVR AS), and of the Archive of Foreign Policy of the Russian Federation (AVRF). It shows the aims pursued in his activity by Mr. M. Mukri, the first Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the Soviet Union (1979–1983). This period was quite difficult in relations between the USSR and Iran. The new Iranian ambassador, based on the doctrines of the Iranian revolution, sought to establish neighborly ties between the countries not only in the sphere of politics and economics, but also in science and culture. As follows from the archival materials of the AV IV RAS, Mr. M. Mukri twice came to Leningrad (February, May 1980). The main purpose of his visits was a personal acquaintance with the manuscript fund and with the leading Iranian and Kurdish researchers of the Leningrad branch of the Institute of Oriental Studies, Academy of Sciences of the USSR (now the IOM, RAS), as well as the establishment of cultural and academic ties between Leningrad scholars studying Iran and the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Thanks to M. Mukri’s efforts, an Iranian consulate was opened in Leningrad, which held a number of important and socially useful events in the city in cooperation with the staff of the institute.
Keywords: Ambassador of Iran, Muhammad Mukri, Archives, the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts

REVIEWS

Levey, Benjamin. “Züünhar dah Chingiyin ayan ba sarnisan Oyiraduudyg Yilid nutagluulan n” [The Qing Military Campaign to Zungharia and the Resettlement of the Scattered Oirats in Ili]. Historia Mongolarum (Journal of History), Vol. X. Ulaanbaatar, 2011, pp. 64–112 (in Mongolian) (Dordzhi G. Kukeev) — 107

Bogoslovsky E.S. New Sources for the History of Egypt in the 15th–10th Centuries B.C. Edited by Ivan V. Bogdanov. St. Petersburg: Publishing House of the Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia, 2019. 260 p., ill. (“Studia Aegyptia”) (in Russian) (Ksenia F. Karlova, Alexander V. Safronov) — 114

Makarov, Alexey D. “Circulation of St. Isaac of Nineveh’s Ascetic Homilies Outside the Church of the East. Part Two: Interpolation of Personal Names”. Theological Herald, 2021, no. 2 (iss. 41), pp. 164–207 (in Russian) (Nicon (Scarga)) — 120


IN MEMORIAM

In memory of Gasan Mirzoev (1927–2015) (Irina F. Popova, Аpollinaria С. Avrutina) — 129

Zare Alievna Yusupova (1934–2022) (Elena V. Tanonova) — 131

Tiuriumina Liudmila Vasil’evna (1940–2022) (Тatiana А. Pang) — 133