Дүкен Мәсімханұлы

Duken Masimkhanuly

Director  General of the R. B. Suleimenov Institute of Oriental Studies (since 2020) – Doctor of Philology, Professor

Biography:

Duken (given name at birth: Dulat) Masimkhanuly is a distinguished Kazakh poet, renowned translator, and prominent Sinologist. He was born on April 20, 1963, in the village of Aqshi, Tekes County, Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China.

Duken Masimkhanuly’s poetic talent and intellectual leadership may be attributed to his family heritage. His father, Masimkhan Naqysbekuly, was a respected religious figure who served for many years as a village imam. His mother, Damesh Turlybayqyzy, was well known in her youth as an improvisational poet (aitys aqyn) and possessed exceptional knowledge of folk epics, legends, and oral narratives. His grandfather, Naqysbek Zhalpetekuly, served as a local administrator (bolys) from the age of 25 until his death at 75 and was widely recognized as an influential community leader, remembered in history as “Naqysbek the Orator.”

In 1982, after graduating with honors from secondary school in his home district, Duken Masimkhanuly enrolled at the Central University for Nationalities (now Minzu University of China) in Beijing. He completed his studies in 1987 with a degree in translation and philology. Following graduation, he was assigned to the Institute of Literature at the Xinjiang Academy of Humanities and Social Sciences in Urumqi, where he worked as a research fellow from 1987 to 1993.

In 1993, at the invitation of Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, he returned to his historical homeland, Kazakhstan. After the completion of his contract, he chose to settle permanently in Kazakhstan and joined the Faculty of Oriental Studies at KazNU, where he taught at the Department of Far Eastern Studies. From 2000 to 2002, he served as head of the department.

In 1999, under the supervision of Academician R. Nurgali, he defended his Candidate of Sciences (PhD-equivalent) dissertation entitled “The Idea of National Liberation in the Poetry of Chinese Kazakhs (1920s–1950s).” In 2008, he successfully defended his doctoral dissertation on “National Tradition and Innovation in Kazakh and Chinese Literature (Based on the Works of Mukhtar Auezov and Lu Xun).”

In 2002, Duken Masimkhanuly was invited to join L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University (ENU) and relocated to Astana. From 2003 to 2009, he served as Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Oriental Studies at the Faculty of International Relations. Between 2010 and 2019, he worked as Professor and Head of the Department of Chinese Philology at the Faculty of Philology.

From 2019 to 2020, he served as Director of the Research Institute of Sinology at ENU. Since June 2020, he has been serving as Director General of the R.B. Suleimenov Institute of Oriental Studies under the Committee of Science of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Almaty.

II. Literary and Scholarly Contributions

Duken Masimkhanuly began his creative career during his university years. To date, he has published more than 40 books, including works of poetry, literary criticism, scholarly research, and literary translation. In addition, he is the author of approximately 500 academic, popular-scientific, and literary-critical articles published in leading scholarly journals and periodicals both in Kazakhstan and abroad.

Alongside his scholarly work, he has made notable contributions to prose fiction. His short stories and novellas—such as “Semgen Sezim” (Withered Feeling), “Bizdin Noyandar” (Our Lords), “Mysyk Dauysy” (The Cat’s Voice), “The Day Mao Died,” and “Muqaman the Teacher”—have appeared in various national and international literary publications.

Duken Masimkhanuly has also translated into Kazakh the selected works of major Chinese philosophers and writers directly from the original language. These include Confucius, Li Bai, Du Fu, Bai Juyi, Wang Wei, Meng Haoran, Ba Jin, Lao She, Ai Qing, Mao Dun, Yu Guangzhong, Wang Meng, Mo Yan, Zhang Chengzhi, Tie Ning, Bei Dao, Gu Cheng, Chi Zijian, Chen Dongdong, Zhao Lihua, Ding Dang, Cao Shui, and others, thereby making Chinese classical and modern literature accessible to Kazakh readers.

In 2010, following a special assignment from Kassym-Jomart Tokayev—then Chairman of the Senate of the Republic of Kazakhstan—he undertook the compilation of a comprehensive Chinese–Kazakh dictionary. Together with his spouse, PhD Ainur Abidenqyzy, he devoted nearly ten years to this project. The result was the publication in 2017 of the “Comprehensive Chinese–Kazakh Dictionary,” an extensive work comprising approximately 80,000 lexical units and expressions across 110 printing sheets.

The main areas of Düken Mäsimkhanuly’s scholarly research include:

  • Comparative studies of Kazakh and Chinese literature

  • The history of Kazakh–Chinese cultural and spiritual relations

  • Key issues in the history of Chinese literature

  • Turkological sources and studies in China and Japan

  • The study of ancient Turkic culture based on Chinese historical sources

    III. Major Works

    1. Poetry Collections

    1. Journey to the Heart (Poetry collection, 1991, Ürümqi, PRC)

    2. The Swallow (Collective poetry collection, 1995, Almaty)

    3. The Edge of the Sword (Poetry collection, 1998, Almaty)

    4. Kökpar (Poetry collection, 2003, Almaty)

    5. The Aura of Gold (Poetry collection, 2007, Beijing, PRC)

    6. Crimson Dream (Poetry collection, 2008, Astana)

    7. My Own Sky Is Mine (Poetry collection, 2014, Astana)

    8. Gently, Gently, My Soul (Poetry collection, 2020, Almaty)

    9. The Riddle of My Heart (Poetry collection, 2023, Almaty)

    10. Altai Bi (Historical narrative poem, 2024, Almaty)

    2. Scholarly and Academic Works

    1. Poetry as an Arrow (Zhyr–Zhebe) (Monograph, 2000, Almaty)

    2. Analysis (Sarap) (Collection of scholarly articles, 2001, Astana)

    3. The Word as a Sail (Monograph, 2005, Almaty)

    4. Mukhtar Auezov and Lu Xun (Monograph, 2007, Almaty)

    5. Kazakh and Chinese Literatures: National Tradition and Innovation (Monograph, 2010, Pavlodar)

    6. Fundamentals of Chinese Phonetics (Textbook, co-author: Q. Mamytan, 2002, Almaty)

    7. Introduction to Chinese Philology (Textbook, co-author: A. Abidenqyzy, 2004, Astana)

    8. The World of Lu Xun (Study guide, 2007, Astana)

    9. Lectures on Lu Xun Studies (Textbook, 2011, Astana)

    10. Eurasian Civilization: Spiritual Relations between Ancient Turkic and Chinese Worlds (Collection of scholarly articles, 2012, Astana)

    11. Forty Reflections on China (Collection of research essays, 2014, Astana)

    12. Mukhtar Auezov and Lu Xun (Monograph, Arabic-script Kazakh edition, 2014, Ürümqi, PRC)

    13. My Freedom and My Kazakh Identity (Collection of publicistic and philosophical essays, 2014, Astana)

    14. Selected Works of Düken Mäsimkhanuly (Vol. I: Monographs, 2016, Astana)

    15. Selected Works of Düken Mäsimkhanuly (Vol. II: Research Articles, 2016, Astana)

    16. Selected Works of Düken Mäsimkhanuly (Vol. III: Research Articles, 2016, Astana)

    17. Turkology: The History of World Turkology (Collective monograph, 2016, Almaty)

    18. Тюркология: История всемирной тюркологии (Collective monograph, Russian edition, 2016, Almaty)

    19. Turkology: The History of Global Turkology (Multi-authored monograph, 2016, Almaty)

    20. Comprehensive Chinese–Kazakh Dictionary (Compilers: D. Mäsimkhanuly, A. Abidenqyzy, 2018, Almaty)

    21. Fundamentals of Chinese Phonetics (Study guide, co-authors: A. Abidenkyzy, D. Kulmaganbetova, 2020, Almaty)

    22. Nation and Spirit (Collection of scholarly studies, 2022, Almaty)

    23. New Kazakhstan and the Countries of the East in a Changing Global Context (Collective monograph, 2022, Almaty)

    24. The Eastern World: Myth and Reality (Collection of studies, 2023, Almaty)

    25. Turkological Sources and Studies in China (Monograph, 2023, Almaty)

    26. The National Policy of the Chinese Communist Party in Xinjiang (Monograph, co-author: Prof. N. Mukhametkhanuly, 2024, Almaty)

    3. Translation Works

    1. The Red Belt of the Earth (Novel, translation, 1992, Ürümqi)

    2. Lu Xun: Novellas and Short Stories (Translation, 2009, Astana)

    3. Selected Works from Chinese Literature, Vol. I: Selected Works of Lu Xun (Translation, 2017, Astana)

    4. Selected Works from Chinese Literature, Vol. II: Mao Dun, Midnight (Novel, translation, 2017, Astana)

    5. Ba Jin, Family (Novel, translation, 2019, Almaty)

    6. Mao Dun, Midnight (Novel, translation, 2019, Almaty)

    7. Lu Xun, The Manuscript of Epilepsy (Short stories, translation, 2019, Almaty)

    8. Selected Works of Chinese Writers, Vol. I (Translation, five-volume series, 2023, Almaty)

    9. Selected Works of Chinese Writers, Vol. II (Translation, five-volume series, 2023, Almaty)

    10. Selected Works of Chinese Writers, Vol. III (Translation, five-volume series, 2023, Almaty)

    11. Selected Works of Chinese Writers, Vol. IV (Translation, five-volume series, 2023, Almaty)

    12. Selected Works of Chinese Writers, Vol. V (Translation, five-volume series, 2023, Almaty)

    4. Edited and Prepared for Publication

    1. Ö. Tileuqabyluly, Shipagerlik Bayan (Medical Treatise)
        Prepared from Arabic-script Kazakh for publication by D. Mäsimkhanuly and K. Elemes (1996, Almaty)

    2. Sh. Älgazyuly, Atameken (Poetry Collection)
        Compiled and introduced by D. Mäsimkhanuly and Zh. Aupbaev (2005, Almaty)

    3. N. A. Nazarbayev, Migration and the Kazakh World (Articles and Interviews)
        Compiled and introduced by D. Mäsimkhanuly and M. Qasymbekov (2017, Astana)

      IV. Studies and Publications on Düken Mäsimkhanuly

      1. Düken Mäsimkhanuly: His Creative and Civic Identity
          (Collected articles on D. Mäsimkhanuly and a bibliographic index of his works; compiler: A. Abidenqyzy, 2014, Astana)

      2. Scholar. Teacher. Poet. Translator. Citizen
          (Collected scholarly articles on D. Mäsimkhanuly; compiler: A. Turlygozhaeva, 2023, Almaty)

      3. Bibliographic Index of the Works of Düken Mäsimkhanuly
          (Compiler: N. Darbay, 2023, Almaty)

      4. Kazakhstan and the Countries of the East: New Horizons of Historical, Cultural, and Political Cooperation
          (Proceedings of the International Scientific and Practical Conference dedicated to the 60th anniversary of Doctor of Philology, Professor Düken Mäsimkhanuly, 2023, Almaty)

      5. Orhan Söylemez, Ömer Faruk Ateş. Düken Mäsimkhanuly and His Poetic World
          (Monograph with Turkish translations of selected poems by D. Mäsimkhanuly, 2025, Ankara, Türkiye)

      V. Awards and Honors

      To date, Düken Mäsimkhanuly has received numerous national and international awards, including:

      • Best Scholarly Work in the Field of Minority Literature Studies (PRC) for “A Study of the Oghuznama” (1990);

      • All-China Youth Award for outstanding achievements in scholarly research and literary creativity (1991);

      • “New Talent” Award of the Writers’ Association of the People’s Republic of China for achievements in literary creation and translation (1992);

      • Commemorative Medal “10 Years of Independence of Kazakhstan” (2001);

      • Commemorative Medal “20 Years of Independence of Kazakhstan” (2011);

      • Commemorative Medal “25 Years of Independence of Kazakhstan” (2016);

      • Commemorative Medal “20 Years of Astana” (2018);

      • Title of “Best University Teacher of the Republic of Kazakhstan” (2010);

      • Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Award “Silk Road: Humanitarian Cooperation” (Gold Medal, 2012);

      • Ibrai Altynsarin Badge of the Ministry of Science and Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan for outstanding contributions to research and the training of young specialists (2013);

      • Honored Figure of Kazakhstan (2013);

      • Certificate of Honor from the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Kazakhstan (2016);

      • Order of Parasat (2022);

      • Gold Medal of the International TURKSOY Organization (2023);

      • “Kültegin” Badge of L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University (2023);

      • Badge “For Contribution to the Development of the Mother Tongue” of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan (2024);

      • Honorary Citizen of Raiymbek District (2024);

      • Commemorative Medal “30 Years of the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan” (2025);

      • “Friend of Chinese Literature” Award of the Writers’ Association of the People’s Republic of China (2025);

      • “Akhmet Baitursynuly” Badge (2025);

      • “Golden Pen” Award of the International PEN Club (2025).

      In addition, as a poet, he has repeatedly been a laureate of national and international poetry competitions. He is a diploma recipient of the Festivals of Turkic-Speaking Poets held in Elazığ, Türkiye (2011, 2022), and the World Poets’ Poetry Festivals held in Bangkok and Pattaya, Thailand (2024).

      VI. Public and Professional Service

      • Member of the Board, Writers’ Union of Kazakhstan

      • Member of the National Council under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan (2003–2015)

      • Member of the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan

      • Member of the World Association of Sinologists

      • Member of the Association of Sinologists of the Republic of Kazakhstan

      • Member of the National Committee of the UNESCO “Memory of the World” Programme in the Republic of Kazakhstan

      • Editor-in-Chief, Kazakhstan Oriental Studies (academic journal)

      • Member of the Editorial Board, Bulletin on Oriental Studies, Osh State University (Kyrgyzstan)

      • Member of the Editorial Board, Ancient Steppe, Azerbaijan Research Center

      • Member of the Editorial Board, World Literature (Kazakhstan)

      • Board Member, International PEN Club

      • Chair, Almaty Branch of the International PEN Club

      The poetry and scholarly works of Düken Mäsimkhanuly have been translated into English, Japanese, Chinese, Russian, Polish, Turkish, Kyrgyz, and Uyghur.

      He is proficient in Kazakh, Chinese, Russian, Turkish, Uyghur, Kyrgyz, and Uzbek, and has reading proficiency in English (with the use of reference tools).

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Duisen Galymzhan Mustakhimuly – deputy director for science
E-mail: galyimzhan@inbox.ru

Belgozha Yernur – Scientific Secretary