Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region awarded its 14th Philosophy and Social Sciences Awards in Urumqi on Tuesday. Drawn from 887 submissions, a total of 158 research achievements produced from 2020 to 2023, and 10 outstanding scholars received awards.

For the first time, the awards included categories for social science popularization and outstanding talents, the organizer said, recognizing seven established experts and three emerging scholars.

Award-winning works focused on themes such as the Party's governance strategies for Xinjiang in the new era, Xinjiang's pathway to forging a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation, traditional Chinese culture, and Xinjiang's history and high-quality development, offering both theoretical depth and practical value.

Aydar Mirkamal, a professor at the School of Chinese Language and Literature, Xinjiang University, was among the 10 scholars honored. He specializes in ancient manuscripts from Dunhuang of western Gansu — home to the Mogao Caves, a UNESCO World Heritage site — and from Turpan in eastern Xinjiang where there are a number of ancient tomb complexes, city ruins, and Buddhist cave sties. A wealth of manuscripts written in languages such as Chinese, huihu (Old Uighur) and Sogdian have been unearthed from both places.

For two decades, the professor has focused mainly on the philological examination of Old Uighur texts. The Old Uighur script was developed by the Qocho regime in today's Turpan during the mid-ninth century from Sogdian and was widely used in present-day Turpan and Hami in Xinjiang and western Gansu until the 15th century. It later became the basis for the Mongolian and Manchu scripts. Thus, Old Uighur manuscripts are crucial for understanding historical interactions and integration among ethnic groups in the region.

In 2024, an Old Uighur philology program led by Aydar Mirkamal was included in a funding list of endangered disciplines supported by the Chinese Academy of History.

"In those manuscript fragments spanning a millennium, we see vivid imprints of interaction, exchange, and integration among various ethnic groups, and the powerful, enduring vitality of Chinese culture," he said. "The texts are living proof of a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation and of cross-ethnic exchange and integration since ancient times."