Compiled by Institute of Archaeology and Cultural Relics of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region

 

 

       The Shanzuigou Grottoes Temple, an ancient grottoes temple built in Xixia times, is located at the recesses of the Shanzuigou Valley in the Mount Helan, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. The Institute of Archaeology and Cultural Relics of Ningxia, from August to October, 2005, discovered a great amount of Xixia cultural relics in the temple. Among these cultural relics are documents, Buddhist paintings, Tangkha, clay Buddha statues, Tsha – tshas, porcelain, pottery, wooden wares, iron wares, building materials, coins etc. The most valuable finding, however, is over 100 different kinds of Xixia documents. Except the documents unearthed in the Square Pagoda in the Baisigou Valley in 1991, this excavation is another significant discovery in Xixia archaeology after the founding of the People’s Republic of China.

       The book consists of two parts:

       Part One (Chapters Ⅰ to Ⅴ) is a report of the archaeological investigation and excavation.     In Shanzuigou Valley, there are 6 Grottoes Temple. We investigated 4 Grottoes numbered 1 to 4. On the wall of Grottoes No.1 to 3, there are a large number of wall – paintings (frescos), including Explaining Buddhist sutra, Avalokitesvara with eight arms, Lama, Panca – Buddha (五方佛), Buddha of Sammasamadhi, Fuhuluohan (伏虎罗汉), Xianglongluohan (降龙罗汉), bodhisattvas, Raudraksa (劳度叉斗圣变) detail, Vajra (金刚), worshippers, Buddhist Saint Arhat (Luohan), Preaching scene, Usnīsavijaya (顶髻尊胜佛母), Samvara (上乐金刚) etc.

       A total of over 700 pages or pieces of Xixia documents have been unearthed here, they are extremely rich in contents and roughly belong to over 100 different kinds of materials, but none of them is complete. The majority of these documents are Buddhist sutra in the Xixia language, and the rest are Buddhist sutra and incantations in Chinese and Tibetan. Some of the documents were handwritten, while the others were printed. The printed materials were printed with both block printing and typographic printing. Styles of the writings varied, including formal script, semi – cursive script, and script.

       The first part of the report is the naming and then description, translation and annotation of the documents. In these documents, Buddhist sutra include Dafang Guangyuan Juexiu Duoluo Liaoyi jing (大方广圆觉修多罗了义经), Zhancha Shane Yebao jing (占察善恶业报经), Yuanjue Zhuzhi Lueshu (圆觉注之略疏), Miaofa Lianhua Jingji Yaoyi Jingzhu (妙法莲花经集要义镜注), Shengmiao Jixiang Zhenshi Mingjing (圣妙吉祥真实名经), Jingang Banruo Jingji (金刚般若经集), Jixiang Rushi Shusheng Jinyuan Cianle (吉祥如是殊胜今愿此安乐), Kewen (科文), Changshou Gongde Song (Benevolence Gatha For Prolonged Life), Qiyuanji (Gatha of Wish), Tibetan tantric texts, and incomplete pages of other Buddhist sutra. In addition, the documents unearthed here also include Tongyin, Tongyi, Tongyin Wenhai Baoyun Huibian, and the Xixia language dictionaries, etc.

       Part Two (Chapter Ⅵ) is focused on the academic values of the materials excavated in Shanzuigou. Firstly, the author defines the times of the Shanzuigou Grottoes Temples and the Cultural relics excavated in it, and attempts to find out the Chinese or Tibetan originals of the Xixia Buddhist sutra, compare the original texts with the Xixia translation and find out the omissions in the Xixia scriptures. The author also makes comparisons between these documents and the literature found in Khara Khoto and studies their similarities and differences in form and contents.

       Jingangjing (金刚经), an important textbook of the early Mahayana in ancient India, it had been worshipped in all Buddhist sects after its entry into China. Especially since the Tang dynasty, a lot of Buddhists and laymen have regarded it as a magic weapon for prolonging life, avoiding evils, healing diseases and ridding calamities. Under the influence of the folk belief of the repentant, lots of book containing stories of people benefiting by chanting Jingangjing appeared. Jingang Banruojing Ji perhaps was written at that time. This sutra was not included in the Chinese Tripitakas of the previous ages, but the same sutra in Xixia language unearthed in khara khoto. We find that the jingang Banruojing Ji unearthed in Khara Khoto and in Shanzuigou valley are exactly the same in format and script and obvious belong to the same version. There are some documents related to Jingang Banruojing Ji in lost books of Donghuang, such as Foshuo Jingang Jingzuan (佛说金刚经纂), Xuanzang Fashi Shieryue Lifori (the day of service Buddha in twelvemonth of Xuanzang Fashi, 玄奘法师十二月礼佛日), Shieryue Lifoming (the name of service Buddha in twelvemonth, 十二月礼佛名) etc. To compare them, we will find the documents of Donghuang should be either a part or an abridged version of the Xixia documents. Among them, Foshuo Jingangjingzuan is comparatively similar to the Xixia document. The excavation of these sutra proved worship and confession was common practice in the Xixia Kingdoms, it also reflected an Buddhists’ emphasis on practice in Xixia.

       Of the documents unearthed in Shanzuigou valley, more than 60 pages (pieces) are from Miaofa Lianhuajing Jiyaoyi Jingzhu, including contents of volumes 1, 5, 8 and 12. In other words, the original manuscript of this sutra in Xixia language consists of at least 12 volumes. Up to now, it is the only edition extant in Xixia language Tripitakas all over the world, and isn’t included in the Chinese Tripitakas of past ages. It was very likely compiled by people of Xixia. Thus, it also show that Nāgarjuna’s Madhyamika thoughts had significant influence in Xixia.

       Shengmiao Jixiang Zhengshi Mingjing had been discovered for a certain number in Xixia sites. According to Qisha Tripitakas and Dazheng Tripitakas, it was translated from Tibetan by a monk named Zhihui in Yuan Dynasty. But the Chinese document and Xixia documents are entirely the same, including the length of the sentences in the Gatha. This shows that the statement in Chinese Tripitakas that Shengmiao jixiang Zhenshi Mingjing was translated by Zhihui of Yuan Dynasty contradicts historical facts.

       Half of the documents unearthed in Shanzuigou valley were translated from Tibetan, and the majority of them were handwritten. From them, we could tell that contents are focused on not on theory, but on sgrub thabs (修法) and cho ga (仪轨) of Tibetan tantric Buddhist texts. They were mostly sgrub thabs, cho ga, sngags (密咒), bstod pa (礼赞), and vdebs gsol (祝祷) etc,  and this fact proves that Tibetan Buddhism in Xixia had a preference for the practices, not the theories. The existing materials make known that Tibetan Lamas who introduced Tibetan Buddhism into the Xixia Kingdom belonged to two different sects: Bkav brgyud pa (噶举派) and Sa skya pa (萨迦派). The titles of the majority of the Tibetan Buddhism texts in Shanzuigou valley are missing, the contents of them are intermittently and incomplete. Through these texts, it seems that its Tibetan tantric fall into two different categories: lam vbras bu dang bcas pa (道果法), and phyag rgya chen po (大手印法), which may make out that lam vbras bu dang bcas pa and phyag rgya chen po of Tibetan tantric Buddhist had already spread extensively in Xixia, furthermore, had rather a great influence at the around capital of Xixia Kingdom.

       In the documents unearthed in Shanzuigou valley, more significant is that the names of proofreaders, printers, type choosers and type makers were all listed in the final pages of the Miaofu Lianhua Jingji Yaoyi Jingzhu in Xixia language. Type making and type choosing are the two steps only in type printing, but they were missing in the present Xixia literature.