Comparing with a Manichaean silk-painting at Yamato-bunkakan (Nara, Japan) studied by YOSHIDA Yutaka and basing on the historical background, I have identified another silk-painting at Seiunji temple (Yamanashi prefecture) as an image of the Manichaean Jesus. The latter was first introduced as a Nestorian image by IZUMI Takeo in his article published in 2006. Soon after its publication, however, Dr. Zs. GULACSI and I have independently arrived at the same conclusion that it should be regarded as the Manichaean Jesus. Contrary to her article made from an art-historical point of view, I have mainly discussed a history of the Manichaeans who survived in southern China since the ninth century. We are now able to affirm that at least seven Manichaean paintings are preserved in Japan, and that they were mixed up with paintings generically known as Song and Yuan Buddhist paintings produced chiefly in southern China. Basing on this fact, I have proposed a new interpretation of the bilingual epitaph in Syro-Turkic and Chinese dating from 1313 unearthed at Quanzhou as well as a revaluation of the account on an unknown religion in Fuzhou described by Marco Polo.

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The purpose of this thesis is to study the process of the development of the Naqshbandiya-Mujaddidiya in the Ferghana Valley at the period of the khanate of Khoqand. It is well known that during the later history of the khanate the so-called Miyan or Sahib(-zada) shaykhs, who were the descendants of the founder of this branch, Khwaja Ahmad Sirhindi (d. 1624), established close relations with the rulers of the khanate and occupied higher positions in the government. However, only very fragmentary information about the development of the Naqshbandiya-Mujaddidiya in the Ferghana Valley has come down to us. In this thesis six historical documents called ijdzat-ndmas (the licenses issued by masters to their disciples), which were recently discovered in local private possessions in the Ferghana Valley, are introduced and examined in order to clarify the master-disciple relationship and, by comparing them with other historical sources, to investigate the process of the arrival of the Naqshbandiya-Mujaddidiya to the Ferghana Valley. The doctrine of the Naqshbandiya-Mujaddidiya spread over the Ferghana Valley mainly in the first half of the nineteenth century; the pivotal role in this process belonged to Khalifa Muhammad Husayn (d. 1833/34) (one of the grand-disciples of Musa-khan Dahbidi, who contributed to introduce this branch to the amirate of Bukhara) and his disciple 'Abd al-'Aziz Majdhub Namangani.

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In the latter half of the eighteenth century, a new political system emerged in Tibet: the Dalai Lama became the head of the government and his four bka'blon, government ministers, organized the ministry with the support of the Qing Dynasty. Because this system is followed even today and the bka'blon have played an important role in Tibetan politics all this while, we can consider the latter half of the eighteenth century as an important period for Tibetan politics. I studied how the bka'blon were chosen and examined the relationship between Tibet and the Qing Dynasty. The three main results were as follows. First, the Qing Emperor merely ratified the bka'blon chosen by the Dalai Lama government. Second, although it has been said that the four bka'blon shared an equal status in the ministry, there did exist a political ranking system among them. Third, Bstan 'dzin dpal 'byor was chosen as a bka'blon even though he had no title. In conclusion, although it appears that the Qing Dynasty intervened in Tibetan politics, it actually permitted Tibet to rule by their own methods.

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This paper delineates the style of judicial documents-from the writing format to the final appearance-of the Alasa Banner (qosiyu) in Mongolia during the Qing Dynasty, and compares them with documents of other banner's. Existing studies of public documents of the Qing Dynasty in Mongolia focus on those exchanged between government offices. They indicate that public documents have an identical physical appearance, which is the folding book type (nuyulburi bicig), and follow a common writing format. To the contrary, judicial documents prepared and preserved by respective banners have never been highlighted in any studies to date. The author characterizes the judicial documents based on four observations: (i) Alasa Banner's judicial documents are unique and maintain a rigid style; (ii) during the Qing Dynasty, local government offices of the banners in Mongolia each prepared and preserved their own judicial documents presumed to vary in writing format and appearance by banner; (iii) judicial documents, with variations in style, are different from the official government documents, which are all identical in writing format and appearance; and (iv) judicial documents and public documents share some rules in writing, such as the use of particular expressions, outdenting (擡頭), changing lines before particular words (平出), and omitting letters (闕字).

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The political turmoil in Outer Mongolia in the summer of 1924-the purge of S. DANZAN-is undoubtedly one of the most important events in the modern history of Mongolia. This paper analyzes the critical outcome to illuminate its repercussions on the political landscape of Outer Mongolia during this period. The political struggle between A. G. STARKOV and E. RINCHINO started in 1923, after the closing of the Second Congress of the Mongolian People's Party (MPP). With the support of the Comintern's line, A. G. STARKOV promoted a policy that aimed to expel the Mongolian aristocracy (noyans) and lamas from both the Mongolian People's Government (MPG) and the MPP. However, RINCHINO proposed to extend limited cooperation to noyans and lamas as the best possible choice for Outer Mongolia in those days. This led to the year-long confrontation between A. G. STARKOV and S. DANZAN, on the one side, and RINCHINO. In the summer of 1924, RINCHINO ousted A. G. STARKOV and S. DANZAN from the political arena when the Congress of the MPP and the Mongolian Revolutionary Youth League were in session. The direct cause of the turmoil in the summer of 1924 lies in the political antagonism between two influential politicians, RINCHINO and A. G. STARKOV. Close examination unveils the fact that the USSR and the Comintern tried to push forward with a policy to drive noyans and lamas out of the MPP and the MPG, a policy eventually rejected by both.

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This paper examines the history of the National Museum of "Manchukuo" in terms of both political and scientific histories. The possession of the National Museum was initially comprised of three distinctive collections: property of the former Qing court, cultural artifacts of Chinese civilization, and excavated items. Over the years, however, the items in display changed. The scientific results of the Far Eastern Archaeological Society began to be reflected in the National Museum's exhibits, so the cultural artifacts of the Koguryo, Bohai, and Liao dynasties began to be featured prominently. The archaeological surveys conducted in the northeastern region of China at that time were intended to give substance to the history of "Manchukuo." In "Manchukuo," archaeological surveys of Bohai were given priority, because its exchanges with Japan could be historically confirmed this way. Furthermore, as the heartland of the Liao Dynasty situated in the region occupied by the Kwantung Army in the Battle of Rehe, archaeological results that would create the history of "Manchukuo" were expected from the survey. The exhibits of the National Museum reflecting the, excavation surveys conducted in line with the aforementioned political agendas were the exhibits that served to deliberately create the "Manchurian characteristics."

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KIKUTAKE Jitsuzo (1889-1946), a policy maker for Mongolian affairs in the early "Manchukuo" era, assumed vice directorship of the Xing'an Bureau (Xing'anju) on June 1, 1932 and resigned as vice director of the Xing'an Office (Xing'an Zongshu) on December 19, 1933. Unfortunately, no comprehensive study on the cause of his resignation has been made to date. Through analyzing primary sources in the KATAKURA Tadashi Collection, the author came to a conclusion that KIKUTAKE's resignation can be ascribed to the disagreement over the dismissal of OZAWA Iroha, the supervisor of the Darqan Banner police, in a discord within the "Manchukuo" government over how to rule the Mongols. The author also tries to elucidate actions taken by KATAKURA and KIKUTAKE, after the latter resigned from the office and attempted to make a comeback in politics of "Manchukuo."

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