Literary Culture and Art
Epics and legends
In this very rich literature that was composed of the memoirs of the Turkish steppe life -full of endless struggles-, the legends about the reproduction from wolf, the birth from the light that fell down from the sky, "Bozkurt" (Grey Wolf), "Divine Mountain", etc. were considered as the motives that identified the anguishes and ardent desires of the Turkish people. The deer in the western branch of the Turks was equipped with extraordinary powers and it had the task of guiding ("magical deer").
The wolf plays a central role in the Turkish legends. The ancestor of the Aşina family that constituted the dynasty of the Gokturk ruler was a female wolf (according to the rumours within the Chinese resources). The wolf-ancestor belief was very widespread in the environments of the Turkish people in the 6th-7th centuries. They would make embossed designs tha described this belief on the stones (an epitaph with an inscription that pertained to the years of 578-580 in the site of Bugut in today's Mongolia) and the Gokturk rulers would erect tuğ (flags) with golden wolf head in front of their big nomad tents out of respect in memory for their ancestors. Therefore, the banner with the Wolf-head became the symbol of the sovereignty. However, this conception was the continuation of an ancient Turkish tradition. The belief about the reproduction from the origin of wolf was present among the Asian Hun people and even among Vu-sun people that lived in the western Turkestan in those periods.
The same legend was also observed among the Tabgaç people. There were "wolf mountains", "wolf rivers" and a temple pertaining to a god of the wolf mountain within the Tabgaç country. Another original legend of Uighur people connected them with the wolf. The legendary relation between the Turks and the wolf had also been reflected in th Islamic and Syrian Christian resources (Gardizi, Mucmal al-Tavarih va'l-kısas, Syrian Christian Mihael).
The original name of kurt (wolf) was Böri in Turkish language and this word with this meaning was cited within the Orhun inscriptions, Uighur documents and the Oguz Khan epic. With its form of "fu-li", it had been frequently cited as the place name, personal name, tribal name, lineage name, etc. within the Chinese resources. The title of the famous Tabgaç ruler Tai-wu (424-452) was Fo-li (=Böri= wolf). The members of the central army of the Gokturk khanate were also called as "Böri". The great importance that was attached to the wolf among the Turks has maintained until our current century.
According to the science of ethnography, the motive of wolf is a "typical" motive for Turks, in other words, it is an ethnographical indicator that was not observed in the other tribes. Even in the ancient Chinese resources, some of the tribes that were not from the Turkish origin were distinguished as those "that had not reproduced from wolf".In the Turkish epics, wolf is observed as a creature that guided the people and provided assistance in the most depressed periods and the famous "Bozkurt" (Grey Wolf) epic explained this motive in the form of a story. This epic was among the traditions that passed from the Turks to the Mongolians. In the "Divine Mountain" legend of Uighur people, a divine stone that was believed to endow prosperity and happiness to the country was given to the Chinese people. Pursuant to this event, the country that was under the burden of misfortune was subject to poverty. Therefore, the wolf had guided the Uighur people that looked for a new homeland for them. The guidance role of the wolf dates back to the 2nd century DC in accordance with the records of application for the aid and assistance to be provided by the wolf for Kuman people in the west (13th century).
The ancestors of Tabgaç people (Huns) that had to leave their places between the years of 160-170 could surmount the high and trackless mountains under the guidance of an animal with a "strange nature". This migration was administered by a commander called as T'ui-yin. This name that was not a Chinese word had the meaning of "passing from one side to the other" in Turkish language. The Turkish influence was also determined in the name of wolf= aşina in the Gokturk States (the pronunciations that have been read so far: Asina, Zena, Aşina, Çino, etc.), the legends, fairy tales and short stories among the Mongolians and the other Asian tribes that were related with the wolf as we have stated as a "typical" motive, the ancient Roman legend of Remus-Romulus, and the Pope Leon, St. Lupus legends in Italy in the Middle Ages, etc. The comprehensive researches that were carried out in the further periods had confirmed and supported this opinion. Actually, it was narrated that the wolf had two functions (ancestor and guide) just like in the Turks within all the European and American and Indian folk tales and stories in the region extending from Greece towards Finland. As a result, it has been convinced that "the wolf mythology that was much more ancient than the dog mythology was diffused from the Central Asia to the entire world in the prehistoric ages."
In the Oguz Khan epic that is considered as the greatest and the most ancient Turkish epic, Bozkurt (Grey Wolf), celestial light and deer are observed all together. Oguz had used the deer as bait against the monster that he fought. He married with the girl that fell down from the sky with a ray of light and he set off for his conquest of the world under the guidance of the Grey Wolf that appeared in the daylight. In the famous rock relief in Madara in Bulgaria, victorious Krum Khan was described as a cavalryman and there was a picture of a wolf by the side of him with its normal size. This constituted the engraving of the Turkish grey wolf tradition upon the stones. Even in this century, the grey wolf identified with luck in the fables and folk tales that are told among the Turks in various countries. The wolf was considered as a divine being with its guiding characteristics -both as an ancestor and as a saviour. Therefore, it had been exalted as the national symbol of the Turkish identity.
One of the ancient Turkish epics was related with Alper Tunga that was a famous hero against his enemies. In the work of the Poet Firdevsi (11th century) titled as Şehname (Poetical history), this Turkish leader was called as Afrasyab and the memoirs of this leader and the Iranian Turan struggles were invigorated among the Turks for centuries. Furthermore, some "yoğ" (mourning ceremonies) were organised in his name within the Gokturk and Uighur States. Similarly, some of the great Turkish ruler dynasties (Karahanli, Uighur, Seljuk dynasties) compared themselves with him. Another famous epic that expressed the steppe lifestyle of Turks was the epic of Manas who was the "typical hero of the period of Alps". "Dede Korkut" Book that is considered as a part of the Ancient Oguz Epics has an important place in our literature of epics since it reflects the organisation, social structure, traditions and customs of the Steppe Turkish community.
The epics and the legends that we have tried to explain with the principal ones indicate that there was a vivid folk literature among the ancient Turks. However, there have not been any written texts and documents pertaining to these epics and legends that have survived until nowadays apart from few records. Priskos stated that Hun folk songs were sung in the accompaniment with the folk musicians in the course of the feast that was organised by Attila for the Byzantine envoys. "Sagu" poems that were the lyric mourning poems sung in the mourning ceremonies constituted an important branch of the Turkish folk literature. Upon the death of Attila, the Hun one-stringed guitar players had sung some laments and one of these laments was translated into Latin language by Jordanes (6th century). A Turkish poem composed of 4 lines pertaining to the Asian Hun people in the 4th century was quoted within the Chinese almanacs.
The text of the Orhun inscriptions (731-735) was arranged by Yolug Tegin. According to an opinion, Tonyukuk was alleged to have written the text of his own inscription in person. Accordingly, he had come before Yolug Tegin and he was considered as the first notable person with his specific character in the Turkish literature. According to our best knowledge, the first Uighur poet is Aprinçur Tegin (However, his poems are related with manichaeism). In addition, the steppe Turkish poet, Çuçu that was mentioned by Kasgarli Mahmud can also be considered among these people.