“Somnolence”

During the 13th Annual Conference of CESS, the Sinor Research Institute for Inner Asian Studies is pleased to sponsor an exhibit of selected cartoons from the remarkable satirical journal Molla Nasreddin. Published weekly between 1906 and 1932, Molla Nasreddin was one of the earliest and, by all accounts, the most dramatic and sophisticated of such periodicals appearing across the Russian Empire in various of the Turkic-speaking communities. Alone among its competitors, it appeared in color and employed the skills of foreign professional artists as it used satire to critique aspects of contemporary Azerbaijani society, the larger Russian Empire, and international politics. As its title suggests, the folkloric figure of Nasreddin hoca, common throughout Central Eurasia, provided the inspiration for the journal and “hook” for its audience. The exhibition will be on display at the Frangipani Room of the Indiana Memorial Union throughout the duration of the conference.

Edited by Luo Xin and Roger Covey

Published and distributed by the Sinor Research Institute for Inner Asian Studies

Indiana University Uralic and Altaic Series, Volume 174

Publication Date: February 2012

774  pages, 4 maps | 978-0-93307058-5 | $55.00 cloth, plus shipping

In Chinese Scholars on Inner Asia, some of the best work of the past half-century by leading Chinese scholars on the history and peoples of Inner Asia is presented for the first time in English. The fifteen essays were selected by a team of contemporary Chinese specialists to represent the unique and important contributions made to the field of Inner Asian studies by Chinese scholarship. In addition, many of the essays have been revised and enhanced by their authors especially for this volume of translations.

The wide range of topics covered includes new evidence from the Turfan documents on the Turks and on Chinese military activities in Central Asia, appellations of Xiongnu Shanyu titles, the Sogdians in China, the religious background to the An Lushan rebellion, the establishment of the Khitan state, the cultural anthropology of the Khitan naming system, the Kirghiz and neighboring tribes,the Kerait Kingdom, the geography of Turkestan in the Yuan dynasty, the Mongol bo’ol, and the historical development of Manchu ethnic identity.

Luo Xin is Professor of History, the Center for Research on Ancient Chinese History at Beijing University.

Roger Covey is President of the Tang Research Foundation.

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