Xixia Language Studies and the Lotus Sutra (II)Tatsuo Nishida
1. The Birth and Death of the Xixia Language—Its LifeI

MMEDIATELY after he had established the Xixia state in 1032, its
first emperor Li Yuanhao
ordered the creation of a new written
language and a writing system for properly recording it, one that would
replace the Tibetan and Chinese scripts that had been used till then. He
intended, internationally, to enhance the prestige of his empire and,domestically, to strengthen the unity of its constituent tribes and to promote vernacular culture.1 The language and its ideographs are called the
Xixia language and Xixia characters, respectively. The project wasquickly and superbly executed and in 1036 the fruits of the endeavor—
the language and the characters—were promulgated throughout thecountry. As a result, a new culture area was formed in the northwestern
corner of the Chinese civilization sphere, as Xixia characters replaced
the use of Chinese characters. The creation of the Xixia characters also
represented the birth of a unique type of ideograph.
Most of the tribes which composed the Xixia state, such as the Mi
and the Minyak, spoke their own dialects, derivative of a common parent language (i.e., they were dialects of Dangxiang yu). Thoughthese dialects are considered to have shared common features,2 theymust have been fairly different from each other in terms of phonology,
grammar and vocabulary formation. For example, these differences
between the expressions of their own designations in the Mi and Minyak
dialects can be noted:
Mi ( )mi (rising 10)n˘a (level 21) “black”

Minyak ()
m (rising 28)
Mi “black”n˘a (rising 18)

Regarding the self-names in Xixia, the Mi tribe pronounced it as rising
tone 10th rhym mi, and the Minyak tribe as rising tone 28th rhym m.
Regarding the word for “black,” both had it as n˘a, the Mi pronounced
it with level tone, and the Minyak with rising tone.
222

XIXIA LANGUAGE STUDIES AND THE LOTUS SUTRA (II)223

It is very probable that the second syllable, mi (level 11), of ŋwwmi (level 11)
meaning “imperial family” was one of thecorresponding cases of the Mi. Its meaning might have been the Mi of
Wei .3
From the time of its promulgation in 1036, the Xixia language
improved and developed in its power of expression through the processof translation of Buddhist canons, official documents and Chinese classics, and through the creation of the nation’s own vernacular literaryworks. The language reached the apex of its development during thereigns of Hui Zong
(1069–1086), Chong Zong(1086–1139)
and Ren Zong
(1139–1194).4 Then, as the state declined, the Xixia
language was brought to the verge of extinction. It appeared to haveended its life after the destruction of the Xixia state by Mongolian
troops, who invaded from the north in 1227. However, the Xixia language received a new lease of life thanks to the Yuan
(Mongolian)dynasty’s preferential treatment of the language. This invigoration cameabout through the publication of The Yuan Version of the Xixia Tripitaka.
The homeland of Xixia (Tangut) was, like Tibet, under the rule of the
Office of Administrative Control(later, the Office of Benevolent
Administration), and the Tangut were given preferential treatment
as the semu ren(persons with special status). Shi Zu(KublaiKhan), who saw in the promotion of Buddhism a means of exerting control over the populace, ordered the production of a set of printing blocksof the Xixia Tripitaka in Dadu
, the capital of the Yuan empire. The
project was suspended in 1294 when Cheng Zongascended thethrone, but it was soon resumed and continued at WanshousiinHangzhou. It seems that by 1302, more than 3,620 volumes of Xixia
scriptures, called the Hexi Tripitaka, were completed anddonated to temples in the Tangut homeland. By this time, more than 70
years had passed since the fall of the Xixia state.
The completion of the project is an almost certain fact, judging fromcolophons attached to Da Zong di xuanwen benlun
in thecollection of Zenpukuji
temple in Japan, as well as preface texts
for Xixia scriptures obtained by Paul Pelliot, and fragments in the collection of the Tenri Central Library.5
In 1970, I found extant portions of the original Xixia triptaka at theSwedish National Museum in Stockholm, as confirmed by the “Baishang Daguo Xinyi Sancang shengjiao xu”(Preface to the Principal, Great and Superior [i.e., Xixia] State’s New Translation of the Three-Basket Sacred Teaching) that was attached to these224

XIXIA LANGUAGE STUDIES AND THE LOTUS SUTRA (II)scriptures. Six sutras remained: the Foshuo Yueguang Pusa jing
(Buddha-delivered Moonlight Bodhisattva Sutra), the Foshuo
Liaoyi Bore boluomi jing
(Buddha-delivered,
Meaning-clearly-determined Perfection of Wisdom Sutra), an unidentified sutra—only the latter part of which remains, without the beginningand ending portions—along with three other fragments (A, B and C).6
As the preface refers to itself as “New Translation”, the scriptures
must belong to what I have termed the second period of the Xixia Tripitaka translation. Though it is not possible to determine how many of thevolumes of the tripitaka (sutra, vinaya and abhidharma) were actually
included, one may assume that it was a compilation of newly-translated
Buddhist scriptures and a reprint of the tripitaka completed during thereign of Ren Zong
(1139–94).
The fact that the translation project was completed suggests that the
Xixia language was still widely used—and that knowledge of its characters had been retained—among people in the middle of the 14th century.
On the inner wall of Guojieta(Crossing Street Tower) at the
Juyong-guan(Common Dwelling Pass), which is on the way
from Beijing to the Western Regions, there are inscriptions of dharani
texts and the account of building the tower in six languages and scripts.
One of these inscriptions is in Xixia language and characters. The
inscriptions were made in 1345, thirty-three years after the completionof the Hexi Tripitaka. It is possible that the Xixia script was included
because the Xixia people remained an influential ethnic group even 118
years after the fall of their state. Although the Xixia texts in these
inscriptions has lost the B-stems of verbs, and the use of view sentences
is not as frequent as in earlier times, the script still appears to fully preserve the basic grammatical structure of the Xixia language, to theextent that it uses both of the two series of prefixes.7
Regarding Xixia texts after the Juyong-guan inscription, there is apaper that introduces the extant text of “Gao Wang Guanshiyin jing Gan
De xu”(Preface by Gan De to the Gaowang Bodhisattva Perceiver of the World’s Sounds Sutra) (29 lines) dated the fifth
year of Hongwu(1372) of the Ming dynasty. This text is preservedat the Palace Museumin Beijing. The text in the preface still
frequently uses the prefix series B.8
The approaching end of the Xixia language is evident in the text on an
octagonal stone pillar, Xiangsheng chuang, unearthed in
Hanzhuang, Baoding, 130 kilometers southwest of Beijing.9 It
was probably built by descendants of the Xixia people who had been
relocated to Dadu. As the date of the pillar’s completion is considered to

XIXIA LANGUAGE STUDIES AND THE LOTUS SUTRA (II)225

be the 15th year of Hongzhi(1502), by that time 275 years had
passed since the fall of the Xixia state. In the Xixia text on this pillar,
the prefix series A appears, but the text does not include the B-stems ofverbs. In this regard, no view sentences appear at all. The Xixia characters are used to enumerate proper nouns such the names of offices andpeople. One gets the impression that the characters are now little morethan the empty hulls of the language. It is also possible that the characters had been handed down while the language had fallen out of use andbeen almost forgotten by then. In any case, it appears that the complete
demise of the Xixia language was then imminent. The written language
is considered to have lived for a little more than 450 years following its
birth in 1036.10
I believe the extinction of a written language and that of a natural,
spoken language should be treated as different matters.
2. Analysis of the Character System and the Restoration of the
Linguistic System
Since I began studying the Xixia language and Xixia characters in the
1950s, I have always taken heed of treating the two tasks of (1) analyzing the character system and (2) restoring the linguistic system on different levels, and giving consideration to a balance between these twoconcerns. It is a cardinal rule that level of development of the charactersand that of the language itself should not be confused when one carries
out linguistic studies. It is, however, true that development in the understanding of one area accelerates development in the other. Since one can
explore the Xixia language only through Xixia characters, the two, in
particular, are closely connected and limitlessly intertwined. A difference in one character reflects a certain morphological difference in thelanguage.11
The concepts of twin characters and double twin characters that I conceived has had a substantial effect in this field of discipline.12 Pairs oftwin characters with similar forms represent various correspondence andcontrast on the morphological level. I do not however, discuss this further herein.
Difference in character form reflects a difference of meaning unit, i.e.,phonological difference. To put it simply, when one reads a character
form, there arises the question of which of the meaning units the character form refers to. In this regard, the research on the difference of character form is closely connected with the restoration of the phonologicalsystem of the Xixia language and, consequently, it is deeply concerned

226

XIXIA LANGUAGE STUDIES AND THE LOTUS SUTRA (II)with the genealogical study of this language.
At an early stage of my study in the 1960s, I attempted to restore thephonological system mainly based on the system from the lexicon
Tongyin «»13. In the 1980s I published a revised version of my ideas
after a major reexamination. For this I made reference to systems formulated in the rhyme table Wuyin qieyun «», and the rhyme lexicons Wenhai (Baoyun) «()» and Wenhai zalei «».14
Since then, I have continued to revise this version for my personaluse, but there remain a fair number of matters that require further examination. The main points among them are: (1) To consider the correspondence between the subgroup of level tones
and the subgroupof rising tones; this is concerned with the restoration of rising-tone initial consonants. (2) To reconsider initial consonants
and rhymes
from the perspective of morphology; e.g.,
the reconstruction of vowels based on contrasts between (a) the voiced
sounds of intransitive verbs and the voiceless unaspirated sounds oftransitive verbs, and (b) between relaxed vowels of non-causative verbs
and tightened vowels of causative verbs.15 I hope to extensively discussthese problems in articles in the near future. Here I will consider somebasic points concerning the meanings of each particular characters,
making reference to the Lotus Sutra and related texts. Books like Sancai
zazi «», Tongyi yilei «» and Fanhanyu yaoji «», which are works the Xixia people at the time left as the products of
their studies,16 are, needless to say, very important material for analyzing
the meanings of Xixia characters. However, I put these works out of myconsideration here.
3. The Analysis of Meanings
Lexicons, vocabulary books and phonological works all help provide
important evidence in verifying the meanings of Xixia words.17 However, the final determination is made through a correspondence between
the Xixia word and its counterpart from a known language, such as Chinese or Tibetan. Let us take the basic example of verifying the meaningof the word “Buddha” .
The meaning
as “Buddha” is one of several characters known at
the very beginning stage of early 20th century semantic research on theideographs, when M. G. Morisse made public his studies.18 It wouldn’t
be accurate to say that Morisse deciphered the meaning; the Chinesecharacter had been written by an anonymous Chinese beside the originaltext in the Xixia Lotus Sutra that Morisse obtained.

XIXIA LANGUAGE STUDIES AND THE LOTUS SUTRA (II)227

At the present time, I can say the following about this character : It
belongs to the 17th rhym (yun ) in Wenhai (Baoyun) and is pronounced thɑ. It was originally used as the two-syllable word
fw thɑ. Later thɑ by itself came to represent “Buddha.” It is not an
original Xixia word but a loanword. The word fw thɑ is a Xixia
transliteration of the Chinese word Fotuo, which, in turn, is a Chinese transliteration of the Sanskrit “Buddha.” I assume that, while thefirst syllable of the Chinese Fo (copying “bud”) came to represent themeaning of “Buddha” in Chinese, the second syllable dhɑ (copying“dha”) was used to represent “Buddha” in Xixia.19
Translators of the Xixia Buddhist scriptures were able to rely on the
Buddhist terms established in Chinese and Tibetan. They did not translate directly from Sanskrit but created many transliterated Xixia words
from the equivalents in Chinese. Some terms in the original were
accepted as established, commonly-used Buddhist terms. That is to say,they were foreign words phonetically copied with vernacular characters.
Besides the examples of transliteration such asthon lɔiandthɑ mɔ, there are many words which were created through semantic translation.20 The correspondence of names ofthings, in particular, can be made with relative ease. Among familiar
examples are the Seven Treasures (). In chapter 18 (The Benefits of
Responding with Joy), juan 6:9kĕ ŋɔnaw y(L66)(R42) (R20)(L69)ləw n̆ enikn(R38)(L39) (R60)(L32)s̆kh
(L28)(L28)l ts̆˘əw(L29)(R40)

In chapter 11 (The Emergence of the Treasure Tower), juan 4,(pearl) and(carnelian) appear in place of(coral) and(amber), respectively. In chapter 1 (Introduction), the transliteratedwords(mani jewels) and(crystal) are used follows:ni y̆ε(R60)(L34)l̆υ nɔ(R6)(R42)mɔ i(R42)(L10)phɔ li(L49)(R9)The Lotus Sutra, of course, contains a wealth of Buddhist terms. Mostof them are semantic translations from Chinese words. The following is
the example of the six påramitås (
):

228

XIXIA LANGUAGE STUDIES AND THE LOTUS SUTRA (II)i m
(L11)(L14)kĕ iep˘ɔ ˘ew(L9)(L39) (L51)(R41)

khu dε(L1)(L35)˘an nd˘en(L26)(R37)

sε ?
(R54)

On the other hand, the word påramitå itself takes a fixed form in Xixia,pɔ lɔ m, a transliteration of the Chinese term.
Rulai(Thus Come One, tathågata) is always renderedm˘or (L90) "ε (L61), which may be literally translated into Chinese as
shilai(Truly Come One). The Xixia word is thought to have beentranslated not from Chinese but from Tibetan yang-dag-par gshegs-pa,
which is assumed to be an older translated term.
Shizun(World-Honored One, bhagavat) is rendered in various
ways including with the compound ofr˘ur (L76) p˘u (L59),
meaning “world” and “respect”;( ), meaning “[one] triumph[ed over] possessing and passed [over],” a replacement of Tibetanbcom-ldan-˙das; andphɔ khɑ xan andmbɑ ɑ
mbɑ, replacements of bojiafan, a Chinese transliteration of Sanskrit bhagavat. The latter transliteration, mbɑ ɑ mbɑ, which isfound in Molitianmu zongchi, is assumed to be a new term
closer to the Sanskrit original.
The termdan (R23) th˘u (R2) is used for translating
zhongsheng(living beings, sattva) throughout each volume of the
Lotus Sutra. This form is equivalent to youqing, the term adopted
by Xuanzang, meaning “[those] having sentience.” Some Buddhist
scriptures adoptse (R33) nd˘u (L3) (qing-you, sentience-having). This is similar to the manner of translating pusa
(bodhisattva)
dan-tse (R33) “those perceiving sentience.” (Cf.
WrT. sems-can, byang-chub sems-dpah.)
These Buddhist terms were used in translating Chinese classics. For
example, the passage from the second chapter, Yingxu, of Liutao«», “” (prohibiting evil and falsehood by moral standards…) is rendered in Xixia as “”(
, breaking and subduing evil and falsehood by honest and uprightintent).
Zhishi, xieweiand cuifu
are terms used in the Lotus
Sutra:th˘a (R16) tu (L58),dzəw (R38) lo (L94),kn (L32) ˘ew (R41). In Zhenshi miao jing
, zhenyaisequivalent to cuifu.
The terms in Liutao appear to have been devised in a fairly elaborate

XIXIA LANGUAGE STUDIES AND THE LOTUS SUTRA (II)229

manner. Three different equivalents are allocated to the character shouin liushou, shoutu
and shouguo, respectively:xint˘ew (L46) ˘e (L39) (six kinds of shou : ren , yi , zhong, yong , mou )lu (R1) ˘ε 2 (L34)(defense of the national territory)hle (R?) on (R47)(maintenance of the state),

Though one can understand that these three characters,˘e,
˘ε2,
on, i.e., equivalents for shou , are interrelated, it is difficult to concretely determine the differences among them. In the Lotus Sutra appear
examples such asandon ε (L61).
4. The Systematic Classification of the Xixia Vocabulary
The task of systematically classifying Xixia vocabulary has not yet been
completed. There are several major issues to resolve. The Xixia poems,
Yueyue leshi «» and Dashi «» contain two conspicuous layers of vocabulary.21 This reflects the heterogeneous composition of Xixia
society—the royal family, the nobility, and the Mi and the Minyak ethnic groups. At present, I classify the two layers as layers I and II. The
vocabulary of layer I, which is assumed to be the layer of the elegant
vocabulary, cannot be identified yet. Layer II is that vocabulary usuallyregarded as the Xixia language.
This layer consists of Buddhist terminology as well as vocabulary inday-to-day use, as represented by the words from Fanhan heshi
zhangzhong zhu «», a collection of Xixia-Chinese words
and phrase examples.
Loanwords (transliterated words) from Chinese and Tibetan are easy
to distinguish. Numerals and pronouns are also distinguishable, as is theterminology of sets such as shi gan(the ten calendar signs), shi’erzhi(the twelve zodiac signs), shi’er zhi(twelve fortune
signs), shi’er yuansheng(the twelve-linked chain of dependentarising), shi’er xinggong(the twelve constellation signs) andershi ba xiu(the twenty-eight constellations).
The identification of these sets of words requires meticulous comparison between various documents. From an investigation of several Buddhist scriptures, including Shi’er yuansheng xiangrui jing «» (Twelve-linked Chain of Dependent Arising Good Omen Sutra),shi’er yuansheng appears as:22

230

XIXIA LANGUAGE STUDIES AND THE LOTUS SUTRA (II)mb˘u me(L2) (L36)

d
(?)

se m˘e tsth˘ew ndɔ(R33) (R35) (R68) (L46) (R42)ts˘u
(L59)

?

dzu
(L1)

hli nd˘u wĕtɑr(?) s
(L11) (L3)
(L12)(R73) (L30)(This term appears in the Xixia Lotus Sutra, but is unfortunately missing in the St.
Petersburg text.)

I have been able to extract the set shi’erzhi(twelve fortune signs)
from Xinyi Tongren zhenjiu dian «» (A New Translationof the Bronze Figure Standard for Acupuncture and Moxibustion).23 It
has proved more difficult than expected to find examples of numerals.
Numbers greater than one hundred million rarely appear. Unfortunately,
neither(one hundred billion)m˘e (R68)24 nor a special synonymous form of one thousand,rɑr (L80) -nɑw (R19),25 is found in
the Xixia Lotus Sutra. However, fractional numbers appear in chapter 15(Emerging from the Earth), juan 5, as follows:26"r mbaw khɑ ɑ mbaw
rir kh mbaw khɑ ləw(L92) (R20) (L17) (?) (R20)(R72) (R28) (R20) (L17) (L43)
one portion of four separated portions one of yi (100,000,000) wan (10,000) portions
one quarter (1/4)
one trillionth (1/1,000,000,000,000)

The combination and ordering of the cardinal directions (east, west,
north, south) is a topic of interest.
w (R61) le (?) ʁzr2 (L86)la (L64) in the Xixia Lotus Sutra are literal translations from the Chinese counterparts, and the order follows that of the Chinese text. The
proper order of directions in Xixia is thought to have been clockwise
starting from east as in Fanhan heshi zhangzhong zhu «»:, east, south, west, north. The intermediate (ordinal) directions
between the four cardinal points are also translated clockwise fromsoutheast in the Lotus Sutra in accordance with the Tibetan. Incidentally, Huayan jing «» (AvataµsakasËtra) adopts a literal translationfrom the Chinese based on the axis of east and west.27
Chinese(east-south)(west-south)(west-north)(east-north)XIXIA LANGUAGE STUDIES AND THE LOTUS SUTRA (II)Lotus Sutra
Huayan jing
Tibetanshar-lho(east-south)( (south-west)
lho-nub(south-west)

231(north-east)
nub-byang(west-north)byang-shar(north-east)

Although many personal pronouns appear in the Lotus Sutra, including
the first person ŋɑ (R14), m˘ɔ (R44), it is difficult to determine
how mutual level relationships among them are really set up by examining of the usages in text. However, I note the following:
ŋ&a (R17) “to me”
ŋ&a-mi (R10) “we two” andŋ& (R28) -mi “we two”na (R17) “you” andna-mi “you two”28

It should be said that these above-mentioned forms are specific examples, rarely found in texts other than the Lotus Sutra, as are the following examples of the personal pronoun, genitive, first person:ŋ(R25) “my,”“my son” and“my stature.”
Not a few examples of such specific grammatical features appear in
the Xixia Lotus Sutra.

Inserted Notes in Buddhist Scriptures
A small fragment titled…
Nianguan men(the beginning
portion is lost) is included among the Khara-Khoto documents in the
Aurel Stein collection. In the text the wordt˘a (L19) dzυ (R5)appears with an inserted note explaining that it means(toput the left leg on the right leg). It is equivalent to the Chinese, jiezuo, jiejia fuzuo“cross-legged sitting,” probably meaning ban
jiezuo“half-cross-legged sitting” (jixiang zuo“auspicious
sitting”). Such explanations in inserted notes are not rare, enabling thereaders to understand the text’s meaning correctly.

Explanations of extant phonological works
Explanations in the rhyme lexicon Wenhai (Baoyun) «()» provide many suggestions for verifying the meaning of the words. For
example,təw “egg” belonging to level-tone rhyme 43 is given thefollowing explanation:

232

XIXIA LANGUAGE STUDIES AND THE LOTUS SUTRA (II)“təw is equivalent to dan. What has been laid by a bird and has not hatched is an
egg. What has hatched out is called ŋɑi.”It says that təw means dan, and if an egg hatches, it becomes a chick.
The word dan is probably a loanword from the Chinese luƒn “egg,”
and a ŋɑi means “egg’s child,” namely “chick.” The word ŋɑshares a same origin with the Tibetan sgo-nga.
dan andŋɑare Xixia-Chinese twin characters.
There are examples“[those] born from the egg” in the
Lotus Sutra and Jingang jing «» (Vajracchedikåprajñåpåramitå).
5. Collation of the Chinese and Tangut Buddhist Scriptures
One reliable way to analyze the meanings of Xixia characters is to collate translated Xixia Buddhist scriptures with their Chinese originals ona text-by-text basis as mentioned above. Collation is one of the mostbasic and effective ways to produce sets of bilingual texts and manyscholars have yielded good results. Nevertheless, if experts rely solely
on this method of comparison, they will encounter unexpected pitfalls.
The Xixia Lotus Sutra is a particularly difficult text and one must
abandon the expectation of being able to clarify the meaning of Xixia
characters by simply collating the texts with its Chinese counterparts.
Xixia translators rendered the texts nonliterally or with discretionary
interpretation and some portions of text are not easily understood. As
such, there are plentiful possibilities for misunderstanding and mistranslation.

A. Examples of Simple Collation
How were Chinese texts translated into the Xixia language? I would liketo discuss here the practicalities of this process citing examples from theLotus Sutra in a larger context. First, I will consider examples of simple
collation.

I. Reverse Expressions of the Same Meaning(1) Chinese……
(At that time the bodhisattva Maitreya rose from his seat, bared [only]
his right shoulder and, pressing his palms together and facing the Buddha,…) Watson 235

XIXIA LANGUAGE STUDIES AND THE LOTUS SUTRA (II)

233

Xixia
……

This passage often appears in Buddhist scriptures. The Xixia text is rendered in 18 characters which accords with the number of characters in
the Chinese original. There is a good concordance in the way in which
the four four-character phrases follow ershi(at that time).
and present no problems. Mileis transliterated in Xixia asmi (L11) -" (R7); and pusa
is translated nonliterally as “(onewho) realizes sentiment.” The literal meaning of Xixia
is “rising(from) his seat.” The prefix a- “upward” is attached to the verb wɔr(L89), and at the same time it indicates the action has been perfected.
Xixia
means “facing the Buddha, to press [his] palms together,”
which is not very much different from the Chinese.
Xixia , however, reveals a complexity. This seems to be a faithfultranslation of the Chinese text. In actuality, the Xixia text includes neither you(right) nor tan(to bare). Instead, it has the expressions“left” and “to wear.” The Xixia text renders the phrase as “wore one side
[only] his left shoulder” vis-à-vis the Chinese “bared [only] his rightshoulder.”phɑ (L17) means “one side” andŋ&i (R10) “towear.” If one did not know the correct meanings of these Xixia characters, one might misunderstand them in completely opposite senses:“left” as “right” and “to wear” as “to bare.”

II. Nonliteral and Free Translation
It is not rare to find examples where Xixia translators have rendered thetext according to their own discretion, re-expressing the meaning of theoriginal text. In translations of Chinese classical literature, for example,
there are examples of translators giving plainer expression in Xixia toabstruse passages.
For instance, a passage from Liutao «», juan 1, Wentao,
reads “” (Finally, [King Wen of Zhou] sees Tai Gonghimself sit in a thatched [cottage] and fishing). In the Xixia version, it
rendered as “
” ( Atthe time Taigong himself beside a thatched cottage throw [a linewith] fishhook and catch fish [King Wen] sees = At the time [KingWen] sees Tai Gong himself throw [a line with] fishhook and catch
fish beside a thatched cottage). The Xixia version describes the actionof King Wen of Zhou who views Tai Gong, clearly recognizing that theposition of Tai Gong, who holds a line and is fishing, is “beside athatched cottage.”

234

XIXIA LANGUAGE STUDIES AND THE LOTUS SUTRA (II)To cite another example, Huangshi Gong Sanlüe «» reads,“” ([When] sagacious emperors control
the world, [they] observe [its] rise [and] fall, [and] consider [its] advantages [and] disadvantages, thus making its rules). The Xixia version renders this portion as(sagacious emperors to observe rise and fall to consider its advantages and disadvantages
namelyis emperors’ duties =[For]sagacious emperors,
to observe rise and fall, [and]to consider
advantages and disadvantages, namely, are emperor’s duties). The
Xixia version appears to be more readily comprehensible than the original.29

B. Examination of Chapter 16, “Life Span of the Thus Come
One”
Next, let me examine passages from chapter 16, “Life Span of the Thus
Come One,” that have varying degrees of complication.
(2) Chinese(I have spoken about the
Buddha Burning Torch and others, and described how they enterednirvana.) Watson 226
Xixia(I consider that the Buddha
Burning Torch and others entered nirvana, too.)
The two sentences (14 characters) in Chinese are translated into one
sentence (10 characters) in Xixia, which makes the meaning rather more
obsure. It is certain that the subject of the verb y “consider” (the last
character), is “I” (the first character). The words, te (L36) n (R61)thɑ (L17) (the Buddha Burning TorchD¥paµkara tathågata)and n̆ e (R35) -pɑn (L24) (nirvåˆa), are fixed terms.
(3) Chinese(All this I employed as an expedientmeans to make distinctions.) Watson 226
Xixia(I am who have preached all inaccordance with an expedient means.)
This is an example of translation of a Chinese verbal sentence into a
Xixia nominal sentence, utilizing the equational type of sentence: “…
… ” (…is …). The Xixia version has no verb corresponding to themain verb fenbie
in the Chinese original.
ʁi (R10) means “all,”“everything.” In Xixia the verb rr²-tsh̆ e “to preach” with prefix A

XIXIA LANGUAGE STUDIES AND THE LOTUS SUTRA (II)attached is used. The translation of fangbianof L78) -y˘u (R2), is a fixed term.

235tĕr (rising tone form

(4) Chinese(If there are living beings who come to me, I employ my Buddha
eye to observe their faith and to see if their other faculties are keenor dull, and then depending upon how receptive they are to salvation, I appear in different places and preach to them under different
names, and describe the length of time during which my teachings
will be effective. Sometimes when I make my appearance I say that
I am about to enter nirvana.…) Watson 226
Xixia(If living beings appear in my place, I employ my Buddha eye toobserve their faith and to see if their other faculties are keen or dull,
and liberate them [from suffering] appropriately responding [to their
receptivity]. I [appear] in different places and preach [them] different names, and describe the length of the teachings’ time span (). Afterward, I sometimes say that I am about to enter nirvana.)
In general, the Xixia version appears to be a verbatim translation fromthe Chinese, using four-character phrases (with an exception of one sixcharacter phrase). Closely examined, however, in Xixia there is noequivalent for xian of(sometimes when I make myappearance I say that I am about to enter nirvana). As the verb “to enter”
has a correspondent form with first pronoun, one can understand that
this sentence is an agent’s view sentence. Its pronoun ŋɑ “I” corresponds with the subject (agent) ŋɑ, which appears earlier as the fifthcharacter (both of ŋɑ are underlined).
The order of arrangement is standard: verbal stem, pronoun andfuture tense postposition. The equivalents of(under different
names) and(the length of time) have the same
meanings in both versions. But(depending upon how receptive
they are) is translated in Xixia as “liberate them [from suffering] appropriately responding [to their receptivity].”(living beings) is a fixed
term. Both(liberate ~ [from suffering]) and(preach) are listedin Tongyin «
».

236

XIXIA LANGUAGE STUDIES AND THE LOTUS SUTRA (II)(5) Chinese(The Thus Come One observes how among living beings there arethose who delight in a little Law, meager in virtue and heavy withdefilement. For such persons I describe how in my youth I left myhousehold and attained anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. But in truth thetime since I attained Buddhahood is extremely long, as I have toldyou.) Watson 226
Xixia(The Thus Come One observes how among living beings there arethose who love and enjoy a little Law, meager in virtue and heavy
with defilement. For this reason, I said, I immediately left myhousehold and attained anuttara-samyak-sambodhi, but in truth
since I attained Buddhahood, I have spent these [long] times.)
In the Xixia version, one finds no nominative and accusative indications,and hardly any case postpositions with the exception of the locativeablative postposition, ɑ (R14), in “since I attained Buddhahood.”
The Xixia version has no equivalent of the Chinese (in my youth)of(in my youth I left my household). Instead of it, the version
reads m (L30) -rur (L75) (for this reason … immediately), which is aword with a note for mutual use in Tongyin «», and is annotated as“means ‘newly,’ ‘immediately,’ ‘from this’” in Wenhai «». Thisword is fairly often used in the Lotus Sutra. The phrase m-nde (R33)
means “though ~, nevertheless.”(delight in a little Law) istranslated as “ dzu (L1) -ŋ (L8) (love and enjoy) a little Law.”
The last phrase(… is extremely long, as I have told you) istranslated as “I have spent these [long] times.” The equivalent of “these”
is rendered here not astha-n but astha-ŋ˘ər (R78).
The Xixia ŋ˘ər “number” shares the same etymology with written
Tibetan grangs “number” and written Burmese plural suffix -kra. ŋ˘ər<*ŋg˘ər(6) The portion concerning the parable of the skilled physician is rendered as follows:
Chinese(After he has gone, the children drink some kind of poison thatmakes them distraught with pain and they fall writhing to theground.) Watson 228

XIXIA LANGUAGE STUDIES AND THE LOTUS SUTRA (II)

237

Xixia
(The children drank poison. The poison worked to make them distraught with pain and they fell writhing to the ground.)
The Chinese(after [he has gone]) and(some) of(some[kind of] poison) are omitted in the Xixia version.
the poison
makes) is rendered as “the poison worked” in Xixia. The Xixia wordndɔ “poison” has two kind of tones, i.e., level and rising tones. Though
it is not clear what kind of actual difference exists between the two, thelatter is used here.
ndɔ (R42) poisonous herb (food poison) composed of a left
hand radical “grass”ndɔ (L49) snake venom; to concernph˘ow (R43) “snake”
In any case, the word shares the same etymology with Chinese du(poison), written in Tibetan as dug (poison) and in Burmese ɑ-tɔk (poison).30 The syllable ti of ndɔ-ti (poisonous matter) (L67) means“food.” In addition, I refer tondon (R63) “to give poison” (Xiaozi
zhuan «»). The word m (R25) -m˘e (L39) (distraught
with pain) is listed in Tongyin. The Xixia characters m ( ) and hli( ) appear to be similar, but they are different characters, respectively.
m (R25) “to be distraught” (2B7)hli (R10) “to bury” (47A2)(R?) - d˘ε ( 31) “to fall writhing to the ground” is also registered as an entry in Tongyin.
(7) Chinese(At that time the father returns to his home and finds that his children have drunk poison. Some are completely out of their minds,
while others are not. Seeing their father from far off, all are overjoyed and kneel down and entreat him, saying: “How fine that you
have returned safely. We were stupid and by mistake drank somepoison. We beg you to cure us and let us live out our lives!”) Watson
228
Xixia

238

XIXIA LANGUAGE STUDIES AND THE LOTUS SUTRA (II)(At that time the father returned and came to his home. His children
had drunk poison. For this reason, some had lost their sanity, whileothers had not lost their sanity. Seeing their father from far off andbeing overjoyed, all kneeled down with respect and asked him, saying: “You have safely returned, haven’t you? Because of stupidity,
we have drunk poison.” When they said: “We only hope that you
will help and cure us, letting us be bestowed our lives, …)
Most of this part of the Xixia version is rendered in four-characterphrases with the exception of the portions equivalent to shishi
,
zhusi
, huo
ts̆h˘o (L57) and huo . The verbs lo (L48)“toreturn,” "e (R54) “to come,” thi (L11) “to drink,” dz˘u (R52)“to lose” and ʁz˘or² “to bestow” have prefix A, and are expressed in
the perfect aspect. Nominatives and accusatives are not accompanied bypostpositions. Only the locative is concomitant with the postpositionndɔ (R42). The morpheme k of k (L69) mb˘υ (L7) “to kneel
down with respect” is probably a loanword from Chinese gui . The
portion “You have safely nɔ (R42) -ndε (R30)] returned, haven’tyou?” is an agent’s view sentence, but the subject expressed by a noun
(i.e., “the father”) corresponding to “you” of “haven’t you” doesn’t exist
nearby.
The first syllable ləw “only” of the portion ləw (L43) -ti (L67)“only hope” has the same form as ləw “one”; they probably share thesame morpheme. The syllable ŋg˘υ (R6)
“to cure” is a loanword
from Chinese jiu . It is similar to the Xixia equivalent of jing“torespect,” but it has a different form.
ŋ&˘υ (R6) “to save” (from Chinese, etc.) [above says
‘cure’]re (R66) “to respect” (cf. WrT. zhe-sa “honorific,” “salute”;
WrB. rou- “to respect”)
The verb ʁz˘or² “to bestow” takes causative form as ʁz˘or² -wi.
(8) Chinese(“The father, seeing his children suffering like this, follows various
prescriptions. Gathering fine medicinal herbs that meet all therequirements of color, fragrance and flavor, he grinds, sifts andmixes them together. Giving a dose of these to his children,…)Watson 228

XIXIA LANGUAGE STUDIES AND THE LOTUS SUTRA (II)

239

Xixia
(The father saw his children undergoing suffering like this. Then,following various prescriptions, he gathered fine medicinal herbs
that meet all the requirements of good color, fragrance and flavor,
and ground, sifted and mixed them together, giving a dose to hischildren.)In these Xixia sentences, nominative and accusative are not accompanied by postpositions, but only the last phrase includes the dative postposition ye.
The portion ndε of hle (?) -ndε (R33) “undergoing suffering”
expresses the progressive aspect, cf. WrB. -V-nei; ts (L68)“medicine” cf. Lolo (): () 'ɿ⁵⁵ () 'ɿ³³; li (R9) “fragrance”;wi (L67) “flavor” loanword from Chinese wei ; ŋɑ (R56) “fine”
cf. WrB: kɔng-, Naxi (): kɑ³³, Qiang ( ): nɑ. Each form enables
the supposition of etymological derivatives or loanwords.
The word tɔ (R42) -i (R10)“all” is probably a derivative
sharing a common etymological origin with WrT. thams-cad. The verbtəw (L47) -wi “to pound,” “to grind” is a loanword from Chinese dao. The verbs thu (L1)“to sift” and hlu² (L58) “to mix” exhibit acausative form by tightened vowel, as well as ti (L67) “to dose.” Theverb thu “to sift” is probably a derivative sharing a common etymological origin with WrB. ti² “to sift.”ti (L67) “to cause to drink” “to dose.”
hlu² (L58) “to mix”
thi (L11) “to drink”
lu² (L1) “to be mixed together”

C. Examination of Chapter 8, “Prophecy of Enlightenment
for Five Hundred Disciples”
Let me continue examining slightly longer passages from the parable ofthe jewel sewn in the poor man’s robe, which is related in chapter 8,“Prophecy of Enlightenment for Five Hundred Disciples.”(9) Chinese(Although we were capable of attaining the wisdom of the Thus
Come One, we were willing to content ourselves with petty wisdom.) Watson 150

240

XIXIA LANGUAGE STUDIES AND THE LOTUS SUTRA (II)Xixia
( For us of the Thus Come One the wisdom to obtain was
reasonable. And also, ourselves petty wisdom by obtaining substitutable for the great [wisdom] [we] regarded [it] as =For us, to obtain the wisdom of the Thus Come One was reasonable.
And also, ourselves by obtaining petty wisdom [we] regarded [it] as
substitutable for the great [wisdom].)Though the Chinese and Xixia versions convey almost the same content,
their styles of expression are fairly different from each other. While,andare unproblematic,is translated in Xixia as“to obtain [was] reasonable”.
,
andare translated in
Xixia as “ And also, ourselves by obtaining petty wisdom.”“Obtain” in these two instances is described in twin characters containing the same morpheme. These are written asrir (L79) andrir (R72), level-tone and rising-tone characters, respectively. This may
be an alteration caused by the situation. (L/R-R/
R/L-L/) The Xixia
character rir “to obtain,” originally a level tone, changed into a rising
tone under the situation of L-L. The altered-tone form is written with arising tone character. (See additional note 1.)of the Chinese version is translated as “ [we] regarded [it] as
substitutable for the great [wisdom]” in Xixia.
ni (R10) is a terminal postposition whose function is not yet fully understood. In Xixia,
there are examples of the usage ofu-tu (L58) “instead of,” aderivative fromu (L4) “to substitute”; Combined withsε (L33)“to count,” it changes into u-sε (L58), which is equivalent to“toconsider” in Chinese. This usage often appears in scriptures, including
Chang ahan jing.
The next portion is written as follows:(10) Chinese(World-Honored One, it was like the case of a man who went to
the house of a close friend and, having become drunk on wine, lay
down to sleep.) Watson 150
Xixia[it was] like[the case of] a man( World-Honored One,[who]at the house of a close friend
became drunk and lay
down to sleep. = World-Honored One, [it was] like [the case of] aman [who] became drunk at the house of a close friend and lay
down to sleep.)XIXIA LANGUAGE STUDIES AND THE LOTUS SUTRA (II)241

of the Chinese version is translated in Xixia as“[it was] like [the case of] a man [who]became drunk at the house of a close friend and lay down to sleep”
without equivalents of “went to” and “[on] wine.” In Xixia the portionis rendered as “became drunk and lay down”; both andtake perfect aspect prefixes without taking adverbal form of the verb .
ndɔ (R42) indicates location.
nda (R17) andna (L20) areverb prefixes A.
(11) Chinese(At that time the friend had to go out on official business.) Watson
150
Xixia:( At that time the close friend on official business to otherplace desired to go … and set out / when = At that time when theclose friend desired to go to other place on official business and setout.)ne (R33) -wi (L67) “close friend”; kon (R47) -na (R56) “official
business”;
dze (R33) -l˘e (R68) “other place”;
 (L29) -k˘ε(R53) “to desire to go”; k˘ε is an auxiliary verb of desire. Cf. WrB. khyang-.
Bothdze (R42) andmbe (R33) are used with little
distinction for denoting “time.” In this portion, 8 Chinese characters aretranslated into 13 Xixia characters.
(12) Chinese(He took a priceless jewel, sewed it in the lining of the man’s robe,and left it with him when he went out.) Watson 150
Xixia( priceless one piece of jewel the drunk man’s in … pocket [he] made … be kept = [He] made a priceless jewel be held in
the drunk man’s pocket.)p˘ (L59) -me (L36) “priceless”; ʁz² (L69) -i (R60) “jewel”;
ŋ& (R28) “one certain,” unmarked accusative; tha (L20) “that,”la (R15) -m˘e (R68) “drunk man”; ye (L36) “’s” is a genitive postposition; phon (L54) “pocket” u (R1) “in”; th˘u (L2) -wi (L10) “tomake ~ hold [or be held],” “to make ~ be had [or have]”; -wi is acausative postposition. The portion in Chinese “” is rendered in
Xixia as “to make ~ hold,” and the place of holding is “in the pocket.”

242

XIXIA LANGUAGE STUDIES AND THE LOTUS SUTRA (II)The Xixia word equivalent to the Chinese “” does not exist in thetranslation. The Chinese portion with 13 characters is rendered in Xixia
with 14 characters.
(13) Chinese(The man was asleep drunk and knew nothing about it. When hegot up, he set out on a journey to other countries.) Watson 150–151
Xixia( The drunken man knew nothing. [He] got up afterward,
various countries
traveled, [and] = The drunk man knew nothing. [He] got up, [and] afterward, traveled various countries, [and])la (R15) - dz˘ɔ (R44) “drunk man”; m (L30) - dz (L27) “toknow nothing”;
a (R?) -m (R7) -ti (R60) “get up and”;n˘o(L57) “afterward,” r˘ur (L76) hle (R?) “various countries”(unmarked); thɑw (R19) - dzε (L35) “travel”31(14) Chinese(In order to provide himself with food and clothing he had tosearch with all his energy and diligence, encountering very great
hardship) Watson 151
Xixia( food and clothing because of looking for in various places
extended efforts
very great
hardshipendured, [and] =because of looking for food and clothing, [he] extended efforts invarious places and endured very great hardship, [and])dzi (R10) -ŋ&i (R10) “food and clothing”; ˘u (R2) “to lookfor,” n˘o (L57) “therefore,” “for”;r˘ur (L76) - r˘ur “various”; cf.
WrT. re-re; ĕ (L9) tsr (L77) “to sell ability,” “to be employed andwork,” “to lend power” (Xiaozi chuan «»); ŋĕ (L9) -x˘e (L74)“difficult undertaking”;dε (L35) “very great”;
la (R15) “toendure.”(15) Chinese(making do with what little he could come by.) Watson 151
Xixia( a very little [he] obtained fortune regarded [it] as enough= [he] obtained a very small amount of fortune and regarded it asenough.)XIXIA LANGUAGE STUDIES AND THE LOTUS SUTRA (II)243ʁzr (L92) -ε (L61) “very little”; wɑr (R73) “fortune,” “goods”;
rir (L72) “to obtain”; w-hl (?) “enough”; u (L4) “to substitute,”sε (L33) “to count”; u-sε “regard.”(16) Chinese(Later, the close friend happened to meet him by chance. The
friend said,) Watson 151
Xixia( Laterwith the close friend[he] met ~ by chance[thefriend] scolded and said, = Later, [he] met with the close friendby chance. [The friend] scolded and said,)ku (L58) - dze (R33) “later”; rir (R72) “with,” a particle within asentence;
a-mbr (R71) “to meet by chance”
hmn² (R29) -ŋu(R1), an adverbal form of “to scold”;nɑ (R56) -y (R28) “to tell,saying.” Both versions have 12 characters, but in Xixia the word “toscold,” which does not exist in Chinese, is added.
(17) Chinese(How absurd, old fellow! Why should you have to do all this forthe sake of food and clothing?) Watson 151
Xixia
( You
now
why,
for seeking after food and clothingsuch hardships suffer, —you = Now, why do you suffer such
hardships, for seeking after food and clothing? Do you?)ni (R10) “you”;se (L36) “now”;
the (R33) -s˘ɔ (R44)“why”; “for seeking after food and clothing”; th (R28) -s˘u (R3)“such”; t (L67) dε (L35) “great hardships”; hli (R60) B-stemof “to suffer from.” This is an agent’s view sentence attached with theaffix pronoun na (R17), which corresponds with the subject ni. The
Xixia version consists of 14 characters while Chinese 12 characters.
(18) Chinese(In the past I wanted to make certain you would be able to live inease and satisfy the five desires, and so) Watson 151
Xixia
( I
in the past [hoped to] make you live in ease andthefive desires freely [I] wished you would enjoy and so = In
the past I hoped to make you live in ease, and I wished you would
enjoy freely the five desires, and so)

244

XIXIA LANGUAGE STUDIES AND THE LOTUS SUTRA (II)ŋɑ (R14) “I”;
i (L10) “in the past,” “before”;“you”; ye
accusative postposition, nɔ (R42) -re (R66) “ease,” “happiness”;
ŋ (L27) -k˘ε (R53) “five desires”;
ye (L36) - dz˘u (R3)“independently” = “freely”;wε (R32) -hle (?) “to wish ~ would
enjoy,” taking optative prefixes. hle (?) takes A-stem neutral construction. It is unclear why y (R58) “to say” is inserted here. n˘o (L57)“and so,” “therefore.” The Xixia version consists of 14 characters while
Chinese 12 characters.
(19) Chinese(on such-and-such a day and month and year I took a pricelessjewel and sewed it in the lining of your robe.) Watson 151
Xixia( such-and-such a month and year
at such-and-such a day’s
daytime one piece of priceless jewel / made [you] hold inside ofyour pocket / —to you = at such-and-such a day’s daytime [in]such-and-such a month and year, [I] made [you] hold one piece of
priceless jewel inside of your pocket. To you.)wɑ (R14) “what” interrogative pronoun. Cf. WrB. bha. “”
appearing in Buddhist scriptures is usually translated as
so-andso.” k˘əw (L45) “year,” hli (R60) “month”;
hnn (R29) mb (R7)“broad daylight,” “daytime,” kh˘u (L3) “under,” “in”;
See p. 73,
Portion 12 item
. Here, after -wi (to do) A stem of the verb, secondperson affix pronoun na constitutes a beneficiary-patient’s (dative andaccusative) view sentence, corresponding with the preceding ni ye
“to you,” a ni form attached with the dative-accusative postposition(ye).
(20) Chinese(It must still be there now. But you did not know about it, and fretted and wore yourself out trying to provide a living for yourself.
What nonsense!) Watson 151
Xixia( and yet [it must] now there be. you did not know [aboutit] and suffered from great pain and your back and throat
seek for — you [nominative postposition] truly foolish are— you[affirmative postposition] = And yet, [it must] be there
now. You did not know [about it], suffered from great pain andXIXIA LANGUAGE STUDIES AND THE LOTUS SUTRA (II)245

seek for back and throat (food and clothing). You are truly foolish— you [are].)th (R28) -w (R27) “from now,” “just now”;m˘or² (L90)“presently,” “actually” [there is]; see p. 74, Portion 13 item ; ti(L67) -i (L67) “pain” w˘or2 (L90) -ne² (L36) “back and throat,”
equivalent to Chinese(to live for oneself); this is a peculiar expression in Xixia indicating “clothing and food” (= food and clothing);32k˘u (L59) -y˘ɔ (R44) “to seek for”; y˘ɔ is a B-stem ofy˘u(R2); na is the affix pronoun of an agent’s view sentence corresponding with the subject; ta (L20) is a postposition representing nominative or indicating the topic;  (R25) “foolish,” y˘ε (L34) “truly”;
ŋu2 (R1) is an indeclinable equational verb, meaning “to be,” etc.;na “you” also corresponds with the subject. l (L29) is a terminal
affirmative particle. Cf. WrB. -lei.
(21) Chinese(Now you must take the jewel and exchange it for goods. Then you
can have whatever you wish at all times and never experience
poverty or want.) Watson 151
Xixia(you, now, the jewel sell [if]-you then what [you] need
as desired[you will] have everything[he] says that there isno lacking = Now [if] you sell the jewel, then [you will] haveeverything—what [you] need as desired. [He] says that there is no
lacking.)nda (R17) -iɔ (R44) -na “you sell”; iɔ is a B-stem of(R?); na “you” is the terminal of an agent’s view sentence corresponding with the subject; ku (L1) “then”; o (L48) - o “what [you]need,” which is equivalent to; phi (L11) -mb˘u (L3), which isequivalent to;i (R10) -nd˘u (L3) “[you will] have everything”; mi (L11) -me (L36) “there is no lacking”; The portion of
18 Chinese characters are translated into the equivalent of 17 Xixia
characters.
6. Conclusion
As clarified in the above examples, the Xixia version of the Lotus Sutra
has a fairly established writing form. It is surmised that the Xixia text of

246

XIXIA LANGUAGE STUDIES AND THE LOTUS SUTRA (II)the sutra represents a writing style that had developed beyond the formative stage of the written Xixia language, having improved remarkably
through the process of translating a great amount of Buddhist scriptures.
There are clear and frequent examples in this sutra of the agent’s (subject) view sentence and the patient-beneficiary’s (object) view sentence,
which are determined by the alternative use of two (A and B) stems ofverbs. There are also many clear examples of variance. I regard the
Xixia version of the Lotus Sutra as a material with morphological characteristics—reflecting aspects of tribal dialects—representing the written Xixia language in the golden age of the Tangut dynasty.
Notes
1
In the 11th century, many languages belonging to the Tibetan groupand theYi-Burmese groupwere distributed in the Xixia state and its neighboringareas, but the major tribal groups including Qiang, Jiarongand Pumi
did not create their own written languages. It was probably because the influence of the
Tibetan language that had been sustained by the Tufan
dynasties since the 7th century was so strong. The same is true of the writing system. The Xixia state built by Li
Yuanhao
withdrew from the Tibetan influence and created the Xixia language,i.e., their unique written language. The Dangxiang (or Tangut) dialects(spokenlanguages of Dangxiang (or Tangut) Qiang tribes) provided a grand basis forthe creation of the Xixia language.
Since at least the 8th century, perhaps long before that, the Xixia area had been a multilingual region where Chinese (Northwestern dialects), Tibetan, and other languages
were distributed. It is thought that the Xixia people spoke either Amdo or Khams
Tibetan dialect in addition to Chinese.
2
There is no ethnic group called the Xixia. The Xixia people called themselvesmi- dz˘ɔ [ ], or [Western] Xia people. Just as all China’s nationalities and ethnic groups are today called “the Chinese”(literally Central Nation people), theXixia [ ]referred comprehensively to all the constituent ethnic groups of theirstate including the Mi and Minyak tribes as the “Xiaren”, Xia people. Such correspondence of the self-name, or term of national identity, in these two cases shows acharacteristic of tribal languages [vis-à-vis the common national language], and has asignificant meaning for research into the structure of the Xixia language itself.
3
Besides them,hlε- di (?) andhli (R10) were also used. Both of them
have a left radical derived from the Chinese character , probably because they might
have belonged to the dialects of some other influential tribes.
4
I believe the Lotus Sutra was translated from Chinese into Xixia during the reins of
Hui Zong. See Nishida, Japanese:(On the Tangut Version of the Lotus Sutra),(The Journal of Oriental Studies), 2002, no. 2;
English: “On the Xixia Version of the Lotus Sutra,” The Journal of Oriental Studies,
2004.
5
Nishida,(On the Buddhism in Xixia,)(Buddhism in the Southern Capital, Todaiji, Nara), 1969;(The Lan-XIXIA LANGUAGE STUDIES AND THE LOTUS SUTRA (II)247

guage and Culture of the Kingdom of Xixia) Iwanami Shoten, 1997, p. 403ff.
According to the Yuanshi «» (History of the Yuan Dynasty), the Hexi Dazangjing(Hexi Tripitaka) was published five times from the sixth year of Dadeto the first year of Huangqingof the ruler Ren Zong
(Cheng Zong ji).
6
See Nishida,(The Hsi-Hsia Avataµsaka sËtra) II, Faculty of Letters, Kyoto University, postscript, miscellaneous notes on the Xixia translation of scriptures, 1976.
7
Nishida,(“Xixia Inscriptions in the Large Script” and(“Xixia Inscriptions in the Small Script”),(Juyong-guan), edited by Jiro
Murata, Faculty of Engineering, Kyoto University, 1958.
8
Shi Jinbo
and Bai Bin,‹› (“Notes on a Ming
Dyanasty Printed-Sutra Scroll in the Hsi-Hsia Script and Two Stone Pillars with Hsi
Hsia Buddhist Inscriptions,” «» (Archaeologia Acta), 1977, no. 1.
9
See note 8.
10
Regarding the life of the Xixia language, I hope to explain in detail at anotheropportunity. It will be an onerous job, especially because careful examination of various
documents is required in order to describe the history of the Xixia state during the Hexi
period up to the 13th century. Roughly speaking, there were two lineages in thestyle of the Xixia language.
(1) Simple style: Prefixes of the two series () are used frequently. Each verb
consists of one stem; there is no postpositional pronoun. We do not find the two kinds ofview sentences whose corresponding relations are different from each other.
(2) Complex style: Prefixes of the two series are used. Many verbs consist of twostems. There are two kinds of view sentences whose corresponding relations are different, corresponding to their postpositional personal pronouns.
The former is the pseudo-Chinese style, which developed as a well-refined written language. It was used for inscriptions and official documents and commonly employed forthe translation of Buddhist texts. The latter is considered to have been used for the translation of Buddhist texts, as a writing style that reflects features of tribal languages.
11
In the Xixia language, there are not a few cases where meanings are distinguishedby the difference between two characters which are phonetically identical. For example:
old manma (L 20) u (R51)
aged animalma (L 20) u (R51)
The same morpheme u is written in different ways according to the meaning, i.e.,“human being” and “animal.” Both ma and u mean “aged.” (Cf. WrB. ou-man&² “tobecome aged”)
12
I first proposed this concept in the 1997article(A New Concept of
Xixia Characters). In 1998, I put forward a new term “twin characters”
the article(Characteristics of Xixia Characters) (shen yang article),which was included in Nishida,(New Theory in Xixia Language
Studies) Kyoto, 1998.
13
Nishida,——(A Study of HsiHsia Language: Reconstruction of the Hsi-Hsia Language and Deciphering of the HsiHsia Script), I, Zauho kankokai, The Zauho Press, Tokyo 1964.
14
Nishida,(A Study of the Xixia Phonological
Table, Wuyin qieyun),, (1–3),(Memoirs of the Faculty of Letters, Kyoto University ), 20–22, 1981–83.
15
The existence of repeated forms in the subgroup of level tones

248

XIXIA LANGUAGE STUDIES AND THE LOTUS SUTRA (II)becomes a problem. The reason I mention the morphological perspective here is thatfrom examples such as the correspondence between
mbe (R33) “high” andmbε(L61) “heighten,” I once thought that the latter should be revised as mbe . Later, however, I found that there are the same kind examples of exchange of -e and -ε between
prefix series
A and B, and concluded that in the Xixia language -e and -ε
were able to exchange optionally under certain conditions. I am now reconsidering therevision of the first idea of converting mbe to mbε.
There also remains another research subject of examining the possibility that the system of Wenhai (Baoyun) «()» may have integrated the grammatical systems of
the Xixia tribal languages. Cf. Nishida,(A New Research of theGrammar of the Xixia Language),Ú“Studies on
Sino-Tibetan Languages, Papers in Honor of Professor Hwang-Cherng Gong on his
Seventieth Birthday,” Taipei, 2004.
16
Nishida,(A Study of the Xixia “Monthly Happy
Poems”),(Memoirs of the Faculty of Letters, Kyoto University), 25, 1986; later revised and published in(The Language
and Culture of the Kingdom of Xixia), 1997.
17
There are cases of inconsistency between explanations in Wenhai (Baoyun) «» and actual usages in the documents. For example,hl˘u is used with themeaning of“ten days” in Liutao «» and other literatures, but the entry (L59) inthe Wenhai has no explanation about it. See Nishida,(The
Sixty-four Hexagrams and Manuals on Acupuncture and Moxibustion in Hsi-Hsia
Translation),“Collected Articles and Essays in Honour of
His Imperial Highness Prince Mikasa on the Occasion of His Eighty-Eighth Birthday,”Tokyo, 2004.
18
Morisse, Contribution préliminaire à l’étude de l’écriture et de la langue Si-hia,
Paris, 190419thɑ (L17) ofxɔ (R42) -thɑ (L17)
has the same correspondence
as f thɑ“Buddha.” The Xixia language has synonyms oflɑ-nd andmn-t˘u, but neither of their etymological origins are known at all. It is also considered thatmb-ndu
is also a loan word from Chinese().
20
Nishida,I,
vol. 44, 2005, no. 1; English
translation: “Xixia Language Studies and the Lotus Sutra” (I), The Journal of Oriental
Studies, vol. 15, 2005.
21
For further details, see note 16.
22
The following exampls are teken from the Xixia version of.
23
The concept of the set shi’erzhi(twelve fortune signs) appears to have beentransmitted to Uighur. Yang Fuxue
considers it as the “Jianchuman” calendric
system ‘’, but it is in substance shi’erzhi (twelve fortune signs), which isthought to have been used for divination. See Yang Fuxue, ‹›(Translation of and Annotations to Titles of Uighur Documents from Yulin Caves), «» (Papers on Religion in the Western Region Dunhuang),, 1998, p. 79. See also Nishida,(On the Xixia Documents Unearthed in Khara-khoto),(Transactions of the Japan Academy), vol. 60, no. 1, 2005.
24
This character(hundred billion) appears in(Seven Buddhas
and Eight Bodhisattvas Dhåraˆ¥ SËtra).
. The Chinese version
adopts the left radical “woman” instead of “earth” for this numerical character.

XIXIA LANGUAGE STUDIES AND THE LOTUS SUTRA (II)249

25rɑr -nɑw might be a word form of the layer I .
tu (L58) is certainly aform of the Yi-Burmese linguistic sub-family. Concerning correspondence
between Xixia -u and written Burmese -ɔn&, -ɔk, there are the following examples:tu (L58)“thousand” : WrB. thɔn&;tu (L58)“cage” : WrB. tɔn&²;lu
 (L58)WrB.
WrB.
“stone” :kyɔk<klɔk;lu
 (L58) “maggot” :lɔk.
26
The expression with five Xixia characters is adopted as it appears in a five-character
verse portion. In ordinary prose expressions, the term would be written with two characters. See additional note 2.
27
See Nishida,(The Hsi-Hsia Avataµsaka SËtra) I, II, and III, Faculty of Letters, Kyoto University, 1975–77.
28
In «» (A Story of Expiation by Penance on the Diamond[-like Perfection of Wisdom] Sutra), there are examples in which these two words are used as singular.
29
All the text of the Xixia version of «» (Three Strategies of Huang
Shigong) is a nonliteral translation, so that there are portions that don’t exhibit character-to-character correspondence. The meanings of these are not easy to grasp.
30
In «» (Thousand-armed and Thousand-eyed Bodhisattva Perceiver of the World’s Sounds Dharani Sutra), “the poison of snakes and insects” iswritten with the level-tone character(L49); and “the poison of poisonous weeds”
with the rising-tone character(R42), thus there is distinction between them. In «» (Seven Buddhas and Eight Bodhisattvas Dharani Sutra), there are several instances of “the poison,” all of which are level-tone characters.
31
The character form of this font is wrong. The radical is not of radical 153, section, but the radical of section (the same radical with“seek”). It is included in «» Tongyin, old edition, 19B5, and new edition, 20A6.
32
See Nishida,(“Back and Throat,” The Language and Culture of the Kingdom of Xixia), p. 278ff.

Additional Notes
1. As tone change occurred regularly in the Xixia colloquialism, the Xixia people created particular characters denoting tone-change forms. Besides the above-mentioned
instance,(level-tone character) and(rising-tone character), there is an exampleof“class,” which was originally a compound of consecutive level-tone characters, but changed to another compound of a level-tone character and a rising-tone
character; thus the variant form was in many cases denoted with the variant form,.
An example of this kind of tone-change in colloquialism isdz˘ɔmbimbe se²
“human beings have classes” in Zhangzhong zhu «» andanother in the Lotus Sutra, “In that saha-world, there are [difference between] high andlow and [people are] not equal.” “High and low” in this sentence is described not with
but with(level-tone character and rising-tone character). This is exactly areflection of colloquialism.
By means of distinctions in the characters, the Xixia people devised their own way todescribe some linguistic phenomena that the Chinese characters do not. They identified
the contrast between tones, the tone change, the difference of parts of speech, and conjugations by character forms. This could be said to be a significant revolution in a familyof ideography that had been developed under the influence the Chinese characters,
which was comparable to the creation of Japanese syllabaries, hiragana and katakana.

250

XIXIA LANGUAGE STUDIES AND THE LOTUS SUTRA (II)(Xixia characters are regarded as a pseudo-form of Chinese characters. Cf. Nishida,(Deciphering Asia’s Ancient Scripts, Chuko paper back, B7,
2002, p. 287).
2. The above-mentioned Xixia fractional numbers (referred to in 4. The SystematicClassification of the Xixia Vocabulary) do not accord with the Tibetan counterparts. The
way of expressing “numeral Y per numeral X” appears to be close to the following
examples from dialects of
Qiangyu (Taoping),Pumiyu,Anongyu,Lisuyu andCuona Menbayu:d)ɿ³³
xd*o³³xte³¹
a³¹
xd*o³³
one quater(four) (portions) (aggregate) ( ) (’s) (one) (portion)
Pumiyusãu¹³
by⁵⁵&o⁵⁵γu¹³ nãu¹³ ti¹³ by⁵⁵
one-third(three) (portions) (’s) (aggregate) (’s) (one) (portion)
Anongyusom+⁵³,hɯ⁵⁵.uŋ³¹kha³¹ thi³¹,hɯ⁵⁵+
one-third(three) (portions) (aggregate) (’s) (one) (portion)
Lisuyui³¹
tshɿ⁴⁴
fu⁵⁵+ khua⁴⁴ ŋua³¹ fu⁵⁵
five-twentieth(two) (ten) (portions) (aggregate) (’s) (five) (portion)
Cuona Menbayu
sum⁵³
ko³¹ neŋ³⁵ ki³¹
the⁵³
one-third(three)(pieces) (aggregate) (’s) (one)QiangyuIn the fragments of a scripture related to the large hand mudras (the name of which isunidentified) collected by Aurel Stein, there are the expressions of“one-third” and“two-thirds.” These expressions using the verbphĕ (R18) “to open,” “to solve” are thought to be fractional numbers. They may betranslations from Tibetan.
Written Tibetan
Maqu Amdo dialect
colloquialism

gsum cha cig

one-third
two-thirds

Cf. Haniyuhsəm t/hi i(gsum chahi gnyis)sɔ³¹ bi⁵⁵
t/hi³¹

Jinuoyu

three separated parts’ one partsø⁴⁴ pø⁴⁴ thi⁴⁴
pø⁴⁴

bi⁵⁵

one-third

one-third

three separated parts’ one part
3. Juan 5 [of the Xixia Lotus Sutra published in 2005] was probably printed with movable type xylography since several characters in the text are upside down. It is also very
probable that juan 7 was printed with movable type, as big and small characters are
mixed and the surface of the print has been corrected in places.
Bibliographical Note
The Chinese text of the Lotus Sutra is based on(Yukio Sakamoto) and(Yutaka Iwamoto),(The Lotus Sutra, vols. 1, 2 and 3) (Tokyo:
Iwanami Shoten, 1968); the Xixia text on Tatsuo Nishida (), ed., Xixia Versionof the Lotus Sutra from the St. Petersburg Branch of the Institute of Oriental Studies ofXIXIA LANGUAGE STUDIES AND THE LOTUS SUTRA (II)251

the Russian Academy of Sciences (St. Petersburg and Tokyo: St. Petersburg Branch of
the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Soka
Gakkai, 2005); and the English text on Burton Watson, trans., The Lotus Sutra (NewYork: Columbia University Press, 1993).
The examples of modern Tibetan-Burmese dialects referred to in the notes are citedfrom(edited by Sun Hongkai), «» (Qiangyu jianzhi; A Brief Survey
on the Qiang Language) and(Gezhong yuyan jianzhi; Brief Surveys on
Various Languages) (Beijing: Minzu chubanshe), and(edited and supervisedby Huang Bufan), «» (Zang Meng yuzu yuyan cihui; A Tibeto-Burman
Lexicon) (Beijing: Zhongyang minzu xueyuan chubanshe, 1992). The examples of theAnong language and the Maqu dialect of the Tibetan language are cited fromand
(Liu Guangkun), «» (A Study of the Anong language) (Beijing: Minzu
chubanshe, 2005) and(Zhou Maocao), «» (A Study of the Maqu
Dialect of the Tibetan Language) (Beijing: Minzu chubanshe, 2003), respectively.