The Issue of Homophonic Translation of the Name of Maoqian(茂虔)from Juqu(沮渠)Clan and Mujian(牧犍)during the Northern and Southern Dynasty——With a Discussion on the Origin of the Document Yi-Wang Enters Gaochang City in the Russian Collection
After the death of Juqu Mengxun,the founder of the Northern Liang state in the Hexi re-gion,he was succeeded by his third son.The name of the heir was recorded as Maoqian(茂虔)across the official historical documents of the Southern Dynasty,but as Mujian(牧犍)in the documents of the Northern Dynasty.The strict boundary between the two suggests different linguistic backgrounds and his-torical sources in the two areas.According to Guang-yun(广韵),both Qian(虔)and Jian(犍)can be spelled as Qú(渠)+Yān(焉),with the level tone and rhyme with Xiān(仙).They are only one word transcribed differently,and there is no transliteration problem.As for Mao(茂)and Mu(牧),the former is spelled as Mò(莫)+Hòu(候),with the departing tone and rhymes with Hóu(候);while the latter is spelled as Mò(莫)+Liù(六),with the entering tone and rhymes with Wu(屋).Both the tones and the rhymes of these two characters are different.According to the theories of Chinese historical phonology developed during the Qing Dynasty and the Republic period,we can con-firm that Mao(茂)in the Southern Dynasty records represents the transformed pronunciation of Middle Chinese,while Mu(牧)in the Northern Dynasty records inherited the pronunciation of Old Chi-nese.The Turfan document Yi-Wang enters Gaochang City in the Russian collection recorded the successor of Mengxun as Maoqian(茂虔),which suggests that the original text of the document originated from the Southern Dynasty.
The successor of Juqu MengxunMaoqian(茂虔)in the Southern DynastyMujian(牧犍)in the Northern Dynasty
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