| The theme of Rabi'e-Se'idin has great significance in Uyghur literary history and in illuminating the reality of previous eras. The original content of Rabi'e-Se'idin is a love story based on true events; at various times, six works have been authored on the subject by five different authors. The first work on this theme was written around the1830s; later authors who wrote works on this theme based their writings on the versions of Rabi'e-Se'idin written before their own. The most recent work written on this theme was completed in1984, more than150years after the first. The Rabi'e-Se'idin theme thus has a history in Uyghur literature of more than a century and a half, making it a special characteristic of Uyghur literature comparable to the Xemse tradition or the themes of Leyli-Mejnun and Perhat-Shirin. Some researchers have previously discussed the works mentioned above; particularly notable is the work of Eset Suleyman, who in his Xemse in Uyghur Literature detailed and analyzed all of the works and authors in Uyghur literature relevant to the Xemse Comparing and researching this kind of literary phenomenon will play an important role in literary historical and theoretical research. The present paper will first introduce the authors and works belonging to the Rabi'e-Se'idin tradition, and will then compare these works on the basis of their contents and the ways in which they reflect the respective social backgrounds of their composition.The paper's first chapter will introduced the authors and work relevant to the Rabi'e-Se'idin tradition, and will briefly outline their content. It will also consider evidence for and against the claim that the first Rabi'e-Se'idin was authored by Newruz Axun Ziya'i. Aside from that, a number of viewpoints will be considered on the subject of whether Ehmed Ziya'is Rabi'e-Se'idin is a novel or a verse novel; the case will be made, on the basis of evidence, that Ehmed Ziya'i has to the present day written only a play and an epic poem on this theme, and that he has never composed a novel or a verse novel.The second chapter will compare the various versions of Rabi'e-Se'idin on the basis of their content, their methods of composition, their forms of creating characters, their use of language, their reflection of social realities, their expressive methods, the beliefs of the author, and other aspects. Arguments will be advanced regarding the superiority in all respects of the poet Ehmed Ziya'i's1984Rabi'e-Se'idin to other versions of the work, and on the subecjt of its content and thematic breadth,The third chapter, after considering carefully the characteristics of the Rabi'e-Se'idin theme, will thoroughly discuss the place of the Rabi'e-Se'idin theme in Uyghur literature. |