Mohamadbagher Vosoghi; Chen Binbin
Volume 10, Issue 2 , March 2021, , Pages 1-19
Abstract
Iran-China relations are not limited to political and economic affairs. The invasion of China by Genghis Khan in the early 14th century and the rise of Yuan Dynasty changed the situation ...
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Iran-China relations are not limited to political and economic affairs. The invasion of China by Genghis Khan in the early 14th century and the rise of Yuan Dynasty changed the situation for China's non-indigenous ethnics. The ruling Mongols used these immigrants as their administrative agents in China. In fact, the Mongol rulers of China exploited these non-indigenous forces to prolong their political presence in this country. A large ethnic group that migrated (or was forced to migrate) to China during this era was the Persian speakers of Transoxiana, Khorasan, and other parts of Iran. These immigrants were appointed to different administrative and commercial positions by Mongol rulers of China and as a result, Persian language was gradually introduced to Chinese administrative and commercial literature. In other words, the spread of Persian language in China is due to the administrative system of the Yuan Dynasty on the one hand, and the immigration of Persian speakers to China on the other. During this epoch, Persian became the common tongue between Muslim ethnicities and a newly-formed ethnic group called Hui Hui. This new ethnic group was rooted in the community of the Persian speaker immigrants from Transoxiana and other parts of Iran who were settled in China and were absorbed in the Chinese society. The use of Persian in Chinese administrative system continued in the Ming Dynasty era. A new department was even established in the court of the King for translation of Persian texts to Chinese. Consequently, several documents were created in Persian in the administrative branch of the Ming Dynasty, one being the Chinese-Persian-Uighur decree presented in this paper. The decree was issued to a Muslim official, Amίrhāji, in the city of Yangzhou. This study aims to investigate and review this trilingual decree, which is kept in China Cultural Palace of Nationalities in Beijing, and evaluate the historical aspects of its writing in addition to explaining the background of the application of Persian language in Chinese administrative affairs.
