後吐蕃時代藏語文在西域河西西夏的行用與影響=Sociolinguistic Implications of the Use of Tibetan Language in East Turkestan from the End of Tibetan Occupation through the Tangut Period(9th-12th c.)
Tibetan Language and Texts continued to be used in the Hexi and Western Regions after the end of the Tibetan occupation.There were as many as 57 pieces of Tibetan manuscripts among the Dunhuang documents,all dating from the end of the 10th century or the beginning of the 11th century,the post-Tibetan period.These manuscripts include not only correspondence between the Guiyijun(Return-to-Allegiance Army) regime and the Uighur powers in Khotan and Ganzhou,but also Buddhist texts written by local people. The enduring popularity of the Tibetan Language in these regions was attributed to the Tibetan ruler during the past decades as well as to the local multi- language environment. Ever since the middle of the 8th century，the Tibetan Language had gradually been a common language in addition to the native one. Moreover，the Tibetan language was easy to learn. All these promoted the extensive popularity of the Tibetan language. As a result，ancient Tibetan language was also popular in the Western Xia kingdom，as verified by relevant documents discovered from Khara Khoto and Etsin- gol. Discoveries of these valuable manuscripts and printed documents fill a void in the Tibetan documents because Tibetan documents dating from the middle of the 9th century to the 12th century are very scarce in Tibet.
