The influence of Buddhism on Sogdians who had migrated into China was reflected not only in their beliefs, but also in some of their hu (胡, non-Han) names. Sogdian hu names found in Turfan literature include, besides the commonly seen fo (佛, "Buddha"), seng (僧, "monk") and ni (尼, "nun"), some still obscure words, such as A Lan (阿攬) and Fu Tie (浮(口知)). A Lan is a Zoroastrian god with a strong coloring of Buddhism. The word has no etymological connection with its homonyma lan (阿蘭), but instead is related to the ancient capital Alanmi (阿濫謐) in Central Asia and a well-known bird, alandui (阿濫堆), in the Tang Dynasty. The pronunciation and meaning of Alanmi is akin to the Sanskrit wordārāma or aranya, while the alandui, or skylark, is related to an Indian bird called the kalandaka. Fu Tie (浮(口知)) is a Sinicized name for the Buddha: Fu (浮) means Buddha, and Tie (口知) is a phonetic transcription meaning the Buddha's enlightenment. The reconstructed pronunciation system of middle antiquity does not rule out the possibility that Fu Tie is bodhi (菩提). These names were both important symbols of the diversity of Sogdian culture and classic examples of the indirect spread of Buddhist culture.
