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Evidence from unearthed epitaphs: The bilingual and transculturing practice in the Khitan-Liao dynasty, 907-1125
Author(s)
Date Issued
2025
Citation
Yang, R. (10 Jul 2025). Evidence from unearthed epitaphs: The bilingual and transculturing practice in the Khitan-Liao dynasty, 907-1125. International Medieval Congress 2025 (IMC 2025), University of Leeds, UK.
Type
Conference Paper
Abstract
The Khitan-Liao Dynasty (907-1125) was established by the nomadic Khitan people who lived alongside the farming peoples that representated by Chinese Han. This was a bilingual and bicultural society, whereby both Khitan and Chinese were spoken, and two scripts - Khitan (large and small) and Chinese as forms of writing. This study uses unearthed epitaphs with cross-examination of handed down documents as basic sources, to demonstrite the dual language acquisition and transculturing practiced by the Khitan and Han peoples, and the prevalence of bilingualism in the society. It provids a historical example of the practice of bilingualism and the new concept “transculturing” proposed in this study.
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