The Value of Dunhuang Literature and Western Xia Literature in the Developmental History of Educational Books
This paper conducts a comprehensive examination of the zazi 杂字texts,a type of encyclopedic word book used for child and adult education,in Dunhuang and Western Xia documents,in order to supplement the deficiency of research on such texts from dynasties prior to the Song dynasty.The study begins by clarifying the names and meanings of the various words,tracing their sources and analyzing their contents,forms and categories;it then compares them with similar words from the Song,Yuan,Ming and Qing dynasties in order to evaluate the place of these texts in the developmental history of Chinese zazi books from a macro perspective.In particular,this paper attempts to demonstrate the following features of zazi documents:"inheriting and developing traditional educational books characterized by memorable verses";"simultaneous overview of comprehensive lit-eracy and the vocabulary of the common people";"producing sub-types of zazi manuscripts in the form of small reference books,"and;"understanding the principles by which the number of words included were increased or decreased in different times and places."On this basis,the meaning and value of research on the history of Chinese zazi texts is used to emphasize that Dun-huang studies research would benefit greatly by extending the scope of its studies to include the Turfan and Khara Khoto docu-ments,all of which complement each other greatly.Dunhuang studies research must be strengthened in both depth and breadth in order for the field to expand and grow.
Dunhuang manuscriptsTangut documentsmiscellaneous characterseducational booksreference books for daily use
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