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Editor’s Preface

Tatsuo Nishida

AS is well known, the Xixia state was established in 1032 in China’s
northwestern region—a region that occupied an important positionon the eastern end of the Silk Road—and flourished as a Buddhist state
for about 200 years, until 1227. In 1908, a Russian expedition led byCol. P. K. Kozlov (1863–1935) excavated a great volume of cultural
relics at the ruins of the ancient Xixia city of Khara-Khoto. KharaKhoto is situated approximately 350 kilometers east of Dunhuang,which is famous for its ancient Buddhist grottoes and their relics. Studies by various scholars of documents found in 1900 at cave no. 17 of theMogao Grottoes, Cangjing-dong 藏 經 洞 (the Library Cave), helped
establish the discipline of Dunhuang studies or Dunhuangology (敦煌學).
In the 100 years since that time, the discipline has developed from what
was essentially treasure hunting to what is now an integrated disciplinethat encompasses various fields of Dunhuang research. In 2000, a variety of events, including conferences, took place, memorably celebratingthe centennial of the discovery of the Dunhuang library cave.
Although studies of Xixia relics began considerably later than Dunhuang studies, at some time or other the discipline came to be termed
Xixia-Tangutology (西夏學). In recent years, the number of scholars andstudents of Xixia studies has increased considerably, so that the discipline is now thriving and yielding conspicuous achievements. Nevertheless, the discipline is still in its infancy and it will require time before
the studies are satisfactorily developed into an integrated system.
The relics excavated in Khara-Khoto, including the Stein collection,
are of such quantity and quality that they may be said to represent theXixia culture in themselves. The discovery of the great number of documents in Xixia script made a great impact on the public. From their general shape and the composition of radicals on the left, right and top,etc., these ideograms appeared to be a simple imitation of Chinesecharacters. The Xixia characters, however, are the product of tremendous
ingenuity and creativity and are, in my view, superior to their Chinesecounterparts in terms of construction and function.
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EDITOR’S PREFACE

It should be understood that the promulgation of Xixia characters in1036 was in actuality an enterprise to create a new written (national)
language, one that had been specifically devised for the full expressionof the Xixia language. The creation of a national language to replace
Chinese and Tibetan was an extraordinary feat, deserving of high praise.
This new written language was formulated from the dialects of groups
such as the Mi and Minyak (in the Pingxia region 平夏部 , Dongshan
region 東山部, etc.), the ethnic groups that composed the Xixia state. I
would like to term these dialects, which must have belonged to theTibeto-Burman languages, the Dangxiang (党項) language. Xixia has thebasic linguistic structure common to the Tibeto-Burman languages. The
grammatical construction of the recorded language, however, does notseem to be consistent. It has the quality of a hybrid language that integrates various ethnic dialects. Xixia characters were devised to effectively express these various ethnic speech forms.
The translation of Buddhist scriptures and Chinese classics began
during the period of Li Yuanhao 李元昊 (1003–1048), the first emperorof the Xixia state, who reigned from 1032–1048. Through this translation process, written Xixia gradually improved and developed into a language of rich expression. The Lotus Sutra was translated at a late stageof this development process and the Xixia Lotus Sutra should be considered a first-rate text for Xixia studies. Through my study of the Xixia
Lotus Sutra I have been able to learn a great deal concerning the Xixia
grammar and its ideograms. Nevertheless, there is a vast wealth ofundiscovered treasure in this material.
The Xixia state was a meeting point of Tibetan and Chinese Buddhism. There is a record of a Xixia sutra being recited together withTibetan and Chinese versions at Buddhist services. Though Tibetan
Buddhism is considered to have been established and organized after theYuan dynasty (1260–1368), I assume that high-ranking priests who had
earlier fled from Tufan 吐蕃 (a medieval Chinese name for Tibet) constructed a firm basis for their faith in the Xixia state, as the extant Xixia
canons appear to contain the main sutras representing all of the Tibetan
Buddhist schools.
It is quite by chance that this year, 2004, marks the 100th anniversaryof the publication of Contribution préliminaire à l’étude de l’écriture etde la langue Si-hia by M. G. Morisse, which became the starting pointof Xixia studies. The publication of this volume is thus both highly significant and marvelously coincidental. It is my sincere hope that it might
appreciably contribute to the promotion of further Xixia studies.
In closing, I would like to express my heartfelt appreciation to theJ ̲Orient̲05 06.2.1 4:54 PMページ 169

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successive directors of the St. Petersburg Branch of the Institute ofOriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Dr. Yuri A.
Petrosyan, Dr. Evgenij I. Kychanov and Dr. Irina F. Popova; to Mr.
Daisaku Ikeda, honorary president of the Soka Gakkai; Mr. Einosuke
Akiya, president of the Soka Gakkai; Mr. Yasuo Morita, chairman of theboard of trustees of the Institute of Oriental Philosophy (IOP); and Dr.
Yoichi Kawada, director of the IOP. I am also indebted to Mr. Yoshinori
Miyagawa, Mr. Noriyoshi Mizufune, Mr. Haruaki Kotsuki and Mr.
Yoichi Ichikura of the IOP for their kind cooperation and assistance overmany years. I would like to acknowledge and thank Mr. Shoichi
Matsuoka, photographer for the Seikyo Press, for his superb photographsof the Xixia sutra. Last but not least, I am grateful to Mr. Anthony
George, who was kindly involved in editing and proofreading theEnglish translation.
August 2004
*This article is reprinted from the Xixia Version of the Lotus Sutra
from the Collection of the St. Petersburg Branch of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Tokyo: Soka Gakkai,2005).