PIS'MENNYE
PAMYATNIKI
VOSTOKA

Vol. 19, No. 4 (51)
Winter 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 3 — 5

The article presents a part of a Russian translation (with an introduction and commentaries) of the important treatise: Dalil al-mutahayyirin (“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, Shaikhism, Sayyid Kazim Rashti

Safarali Kh. Shomakhmadov. The Kṣāntivādi-jātaka’s Fragment in the Serindia Collection of IOM, RAS — 27

The articles give an analysis of a fragment of the Sanskrit text from Kṣāntivādi-jātaka of the Jātakamālā (“The Garland of Jātakas”) by Āryaśūra housed at the Serindian Fund of the IOM, RAS (SI 2998/5). The article presents a paleographic review of the fragment, indicates the features of the proto-śāradā writing used in its text. A logical conclusion has been made that the examined fragment is part of a once single manuscript, divided into some pieces which are currently stored in various manuscript collections of the world, for example, at Berlin Ethnological Museum. Correspondences and differences between the Sanskrit version of the Jātaka and its Pāḷi version are being analyzed. It is noted that the idea of the “aggregate of forms (matter)” (rūpa-skandha) and information on the yogic technique of “cutting off attachments” are incorporated into the plot of the Kṣāntivādi-jātaka. These views are more clearly presented in the Pāḷi version of this text. The article contains a transliteration and translation of and commentary on the text of the fragment.
Keywords: Buddhism, jātaka, Jātakamālā, kṣānti, manuscript, paleography, proto-śāradā, Sanskrit, Serindia

RESEARCH WORKS
HISTORY, PHILOSOPHY, PHILOLOGY

Alexandr L. Khosroyev. On Docetic Christology in Early Christianity. Part 2.4 — 39

According to the doctrine of the so-called docetic Christology, the earthly Jesus and the heavenly Christ were two different persons; it was Jesus who suffered on the cross, whereas Christ just entered Jesus’ body for a while and abandoned it before his death on the cross; consequently, the suffering of Christ was mere appearance. On the basis of some passages from Gnostic texts containing examples of docetic Christology, the author attempts here to trace the origin of that concept, starting with the New Testament (Pt. 1: Synoptic Gospels); in the previous parts of the article (Pts. 2.1; 2.2; 2.3), he analyzed such Paul’s passages as Rom. 1.3–4, Gal. 4.4–7, 1Cor 8.4–6, Phlp. 2.5–11; in this part, he is dealing with Col 1.15–20. To be continued.
Keywords: the New Testament, pre-existence, docetism, Paul the Apostle and his followers

Matthew T. Kapstein. L’oubli des Russes: An (Almost) Forgotten Chapter in the History of 19th-Century Orientalism — 58

The celebrated Russian academician Vasily P. Vasilyev’s (1818–1900) pioneering study of the history of Buddhist thought, Buddhism, Its Dogmas, History and Literature (St. Petersburg: Akademii Nauk, 1857), became well-known to Еuropean learned circles thanks to its excellent 1860 German translation by the Indologist Theodor Benfey (1809–1881). It was in this form that Vasilyev’s work remained, for more than a century, one of the main Western sources of knowledge of Buddhist philosophy as it had been transmitted in Tibet. Largely forgotten, however, was the flawed French translation by G.A. La Comme (Paris 1865) and the controversy that it aroused. Dedicated to the contemporary French philosopher Roger-Pol Droit to honor his contributions to the history of the Еuropean study of Indian and Buddhist philosophy, the present article retraces that controversy and its implications for our understanding of the reception of Vasilyev’s masterwork.
Keywords: Theodor Benfey, Buddhism, Orientalism, Vasily P. Vasilyev

HISTORY AND HISTORIOGRAPHY
TEXTOLOGY, CODICOLOGY, PALEOGRAPHY, ARCHEOGRAPHY

Irina F. Popova. Emperor Tang Taizong on the Founders of the Jin Dynasty — 74

The subject of state governance always occupied an important place in traditional Chinese ideology. It is noteworthy that there were periods when it was becoming a matter of even greater importance and urgency due to the monarchs’ personal interest in justifying their own legitimacy as convincingly as possible. This happened in the reign of the second emperor of the Tang Dynasty, Taizong (627–649) (Li Shi-min, 599–649), who entered the history of China as one of the greatest rulers of the Celestial Empire. Taizong came to power as a result of a political upheaval and felt for a long time that his ascent to power was somewhat “incomplete” as regards its ritual aspect. To substantiate his right to rule, he turned to historical examples—in particular, to the assessment of the role of the founding emperors of the Jin dynasty (265–420), which united China for a short while after its division during the Three Kingdoms (220–289).
Keywords: the Jin dynasty, Tang Taizong, the founder emperor, Jin Xuandi, Jin Wudi

Olga M. Chunakova. A Sogdian Fragment from the Dunhuang Fund of the IOM, RAS — 85

The article presents a translation and interpretation of a previously unpublished two-sided Sogdian fragment (written on Chinese scroll DHN [Russian: ДХН] 5966 from the Dunhuang Collection of the IOM, RAS), which contains a prosaic text on the Verso side and a Manichaean hymn on the Recto side of the manuscript.
Keywords: Sogdian manuscripts, Manichaean writings, the Dunhuang Fund of the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts

Magomed A. Gizbulaev. The 10th-Century Arab Geographers Al-Istakhri and Ibn Hawqal on Qabq — 93

For the first time in Russian historiography, this paper provides information on the 10th-century Qabq history through translation, commentary and comparative analysis of excerpts from the Arabic geographical work Kitab al-masalik wa-l-mamalik (“The Book of Routes and Kingdoms”) by al-Istakhri and from the account of the same title written by Ibn Hawqal, which concern the history of the Caucasus’ peoples. The data on polities, the Caspian Sea as well as on other localities of the Eastern Caucasus given by both authors significantly complement those supplied by preceding writers. The paper established that information on Qabq in the works by al-Istakhri and by Ibn Hawqal provided, respectively, in chapters “Armenia, Arran and Azerbaijan” and “Khazar Sea” coincides in general and varies only in some parts of the text. It is noteworthy that Ibn Hawqal’s text is much more detailed than that of al-Istakhri. Moreover, I used a critical approach to N.A. Karaulov’s translation of excerpts from the above-mentioned works of al-Istakhri and Ibn Hawqal and established that his translation not only contains some stylistic flaws and interpretative errors, but also omits certain fragments from both Arabic texts. The results of this research will greatly enrich researchers’ understanding of the early medieval historical geography of Qabq. It can also be used to further the source studies for the writing of a medieval history of the Caucasus.
Keywords: Al-Istakhri, Ibn Hawqal, Qabq, Kitab al-masalik wa-l-mamalik, comparative analysis, Arabic historiography, source study, history of the Caucasus

ACADEMIC LIFE

Elena V. Tanonova. The Anniversary Issue of the Pis’mennye pamiatniki Vostoka Journal — 106
Keywords: Pis’mennye pamiatniki Vostoka, journals of IOM, RAS, editorial board, publishing house.

REVIEWS

Jippensha Ikku. Travels on Foot on the Eastern Seaboard. Introduction, trans. and commentary by A.Yu. Borkina. St. Petersburg: Hyperion Publishers, 2022. 576 рp., ill. (in Russian) (Vasilii V. Shchepkin) — 109
Keywords: Jippensha Ikku, Japanese literature, Edo period, gesaku, humorous literature

Vasiliev Dmitrii V., Pochekaev Roman Yu., Asanova Svetlana A. The Limit of the Empire: Eastern Turkestan, Kulja, Khunza in the Orbit of Russian Political Interests. The Second Half of the 19th Century. Under the general ed. of D.V. Vasiliev. St. Petersburg: Nestor-Istoriia, 2021. 240 pp., ill. (in Russian) ((Irina V. Kulganek) — 113
Keywords: Eastern Turkestan, Kulja, Khunza, political interests of Russia

INDEX PPV

Indexes to the Pis’mennye pamiatniki Vostoka Journal. 2020, vol. 17, no. 2 (iss. 41) — 2022, vol. 19, no. 3 (iss. 50). Comp. Tatiana A. Pang — 117
Keywords: Institute of Oriental Manuscripts, RAS, Pis’mennye pamiatniki Vostoka Journal, indexes, contents

IN MEMORIAM

Stary, Giovanni Enrico (1946–2022) (Тatiana А. Pang) — 125