Yudong Wang

This inter-disciplinary study investigates the development of ancient Uighur culture between the formation of the Qoco Uighur Kingdom in the middle of the ninth century and the advent of the Buddhist triumph over Manichaeism in the early eleventh century. Built on excavated materials, their latest interpretations, and field work in 2009 and 2010, this study explores the role Buddhist mortuary practices played in these conversions and discusses how the analytical device known as the "Tang-Song" transition in Chinese historiography can also be applied to the study of China's neighboring countries from the mid-ninth century to the eleventh century, an "empireless" time in East Asian political geography.