Two Occurrences of Chìqín in ‘Sòng Yún Xíngjì’ and Related Issues
Abstract
Chìqín 敕勤 cannot be the Chinese phonetic transcription of the ancient Turkic word Tigin , but can only be the Chinese transcription of *Terigin , meaning ‘high carts’, which was the ethnonym given by the Xiānbēi people to the Dīnglíng-Gāochē people. The Chìqín in ‘Sòng Yún Xíngjì’ was not a Tigin (prince or royal clan member) of the Hephthalites, but refers to the Dīnglíng-Gāochē people, with the Alkhans serving as its core. The Alkhans may have once been nominally subordinate to the Hephthalites; however, the two peoples did not belong to the same race.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Eurasian Exchange Networks
Turkic and Altaic Linguistics
Linguistics and language evolution
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Acta Orientalia
- Volume
- 79
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 289–306
- Publication date
- 12 March 2026
- Language
- EN