The ancient Silk Road, the vast sea preserves treasures. The "obscure and unique" Turpan studies hidden deep in the "Huozhou" region of Xinjiang are becoming well-known to the world. As an international outstanding school, which is also known as Dunhuang Studies, Turpan's educational background has been accumulated for a hundred years and cultivated by several generations of scholars. It is emerging from the fragments of documents. With the joint promotion of new archaeological discoveries, new academic inheritance, and new forces of youth, it is gradually emerging from the "cold door". From a piece of paper scraps to a subject of knowledge, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a large number of cultural relics and documents in Turpan were stolen and transported out of the country by foreign explorers and inspection teams, scattered around the world. The loss of these precious historical relics has attracted international academic attention, and Turpan studies have gained popularity in the overseas academic community. The rise of Turpan studies in China began with the great historian Tang Changru. In 1975, the National Cutural Heritage Administration organized a team led by Professor Tang Changru of Wuhan University to sort out a large number of documents unearthed in Turpan, and published ten volumes of "Documents Unearthed in Turpan" (recorded text) and four volumes of "Documents Unearthed in Turpan" (atlas), marking a new stage in the study of Chinese Turpan. This not only restored order to scattered fragments, but also established the core norms for the compilation of Turpan documents, becoming the standard followed by later generations of document compilation, including Dunhuang documents. ”Chen Aifeng, Vice President and Research Fellow of the Turpan Studies Research Institute, said that with Wuhan University as the cradle, the disciples of the "Tangmen" have passed on the torch, allowing the research of Turpan documents to continue throughout. In 1983, the Chinese Dunhuang and Turfan Society was established, and the name of Turfan Studies was determined, which is close to the famous Dunhuang Studies at home and abroad. The expansion of research boundaries through diverse discoveries has been a key focus of Turpan studies, and Turpan documents have always received attention. Chen Aifeng said, "The unearthed documents in Turpan span a long period of time and are rich in content, including four collections of classics and histories from the Sixteen Kingdoms to the Song and Yuan dynasties, various official and private documents, religious documents, etc., which are related to the political, economic, military, social, ethnic, cultural, religious, and transportation fields of the Middle Ages, greatly filling the gap in historical records." Documents are the core of Turpan studies, and archaeology injects new vitality into this unique discipline. In recent years, with the continuous efforts of archaeological work, abundant achievements have been made, which has propelled Turpan studies from a focus on ancient Chinese texts to a new stage of emphasizing both prehistoric and historical periods and integrating multiple disciplines. The excavation of sites such as Yanghai Cemetery and Subexi Cemetery has filled the gap in the prehistoric history of Turpan and even Xinjiang, making the cultural landscape of the Western Regions more complete. In addition, the Nestorian site on the western side of Turpan has been excavated for many years, and more than a thousand Chinese, Uyghur, and Syrian documents have been unearthed. Among them, Syrian documents are particularly precious, providing irreplaceable physical evidence for the study of ancient religious dissemination and cultural exchange. ”Chen Aifeng said. The cross integration of archaeology, history, linguistics, and religious studies has enabled Turpan studies to break through the limitations of single document research and develop into a comprehensive discipline with wider geographical coverage, more comprehensive disciplines, and deeper dimensions. The development of Turpan studies cannot be separated from international dialogue and youth relay. This discipline emerged in the late 19th and early 20th centuries due to the dispersion of cultural relics overseas, and countries such as Germany and Japan have long occupied the forefront of research by plundering precious documents. Since its establishment in August 2005, the Turpan Studies Research Institute has held seven international academic seminars on Turpan studies, which has strengthened international cooperation between scholars from China and other countries in Turpan studies research. Chen Aifeng said, "By actively building an international academic platform, we aim to make this discipline, which was born from incomplete papers, a cultural link connecting the East and the West." In recent years, more and more international scholars have participated in academic seminars. At the same time, the academic field in China continues to grow, and the "research fever" of Turpan studies has emerged in many universities in China, prompting a large number of young students to take over the research of Turpan studies. It is reported that the Turpan Studies Research Institute will hold the third Turpan Studies Graduate Forum consecutively this year. Since its first event in 2024, we have jointly organized Turpan Studies with different universities or research institutes every year. Unexpectedly, Turpan Studies has received widespread attention among young students, and the number of participants and research results have been increasing year by year. ”Chen Aifeng said that this indicates that Turpan studies have a solid research foundation among graduate students in various universities, and it is gratifying to see that there are successors to outstanding studies in the relay of youth. (New Society)