GREETINGSIn January of 1994 the Soka Gakkai set up a research and editorial committee for thepurpose of preparing volumes for its Lotus Sutra Manuscript Series. The aim of theseries was to publish facsimile editions of texts of the Lotus Sutra that were deemed to
be of outstanding academic value, along with romanized transcriptions of the texts, inthe hope that, by making such texts available to scholars of Buddhism throughout theworld, the Soka Gakkai could thus contribute to the advancement of their researches.
The committee proposed to focus its attention initially on Nepalese manuscripts ofthe Lotus Sutra since, among Sanskrit texts of the sutra, these are noted for therelatively defect-free condition in which they have come down to us. The plan was thento proceed to the study and publication of Lotus Sutra manuscripts in other languages
such as Tangut.
In May, 1997, the first volume in the Lotus Sutra Manuscript Series appeared,entit1ed Sanskrit Lotus Sutra Fragments from the Lüshun Museum Collection, throughthe joint efforts of the Lüshun Museum of China and the Soka Gakkai. November of thefol1owing year, 1998, saw the completion of the second volume in the series, Sanskrit
Lotus Sutra Manuscripts from the National Archives of Nepal (No. 4-21), Facsimile
Edition. The Lüshun Museum presented a copy of the first volume to President Jiang
Zemin of China, and a copy of the second volume was presented to H.M. King Birendra
Bir Bikram Shah Dev of Nepal. Copies of the two volumes were also presented tospecialists in Indology and Buddhist studies and other concerned scholars in Japan andabroad, where they were greeted with acclaim.
The present work, Fragments of a Manuscript of the Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtrafrom Khādaliq, constitutes the third volume in the series. The idea for such a volume
came about when, in November of 1997, members of the Soka Gakkai International andthe Institute of Oriental Phi1osophy (IOP) of Tokyo visited the Seminar für Indologie
und Buddhismuskunde of the University of Göttingen. At that time the director of theSeminar, Professor Heinz Bechert, informed the group that Dr. Klaus Wille hadgathered together copies of fragments of a Sanskrit Lotus Sutra manuscript discoveredin Central Asia that are presently preserved in four different collections in Germany andEngland, and had produced a romanized transcription of the text. Professor Bechertinquired whether it would be possible for the Soka Gakkai to publish the results of theseresearches in a work similar to the Lüshun volume. The group suggested that Dr.
Wille’s work be submitted to Professor Hirofumi Toda of the University of Tokushima
and other specialists in Lotus Sutra manuscript studies, and a decision as to publication

be made on the basis of their opinion.
Early in 1998 Professor Bechert accordingly forwarded a copy of Dr. Wille’s workto Professor Toda. After examining the romanized transcription, along with theIntroduction and Concordances that accompanied it, Professor Toda concluded that thework would constitute a valuable contribution to the study of Central Asia texts of theLotus Sutra, and recommended publication.
In March of the same year, the Soka Gakkai publication committee formallyapproved the publication of Dr. Wille’ s work as the third volume in its Lotus Sutra
Manuscript Series, and it was turned over to the Institute of Oriental Philosophy forediting and management.
At the same time, a researcher of the Institute of Oriental Philosophy visited
Professor Bechert at the University of Göttingen to discuss details of the process ofpublication, and these discussions resulted in a memorandum concerning publication
drawn up on February 8, 1999.
Meanwhile, Dr. Wille set about making an English translation of his text, theoriginal of which was in German. Professor Ronald E. Emmerick of the University ofHamburg, who, along with Professor Bechert, was acting as co-director of the Lotus
Sutra studies project of the University of Göttingen, undertook to supervise the editingof the English version.
Final publication of the volume thus came about through the efforts of a number ofindividuals and groups. I would like here to extend my sincere thanks to Professors
Bechert and Emmerick and to Dr. Wille, the author and compiler of the work, for all
their labours, and to the members of the various research institutes and all others who
contributed to the successful completion of the project.
Einosuke Akiya
President
Soka Gakkai
November 18, 1999