Zhang Jiuling. The Preface to the Shiwang Jing: An Early Legend of Revival // Written Monuments of the Orient. 2023. Vol. 9, Supplement (19). P. 150–162.
The main text of the Tangut version of the Scripture on the Ten Kings was based on the Tibetan version, but its preface, translated from Chinese, contains a folk legend about a child who returns alive from Hell after Yama admires his respect for deities and sages. A similar legend is recorded in Chinese Buddhist canon no earlier than the Ming Dynasty, therefore the Tangut preface proves to be the earliest sample of the same work. With the help of Chinese texts, it may be possible to decipher the Tangut version of the cursive handwritten preface in inv. No 819 kept at the IOM, RAS and the version in a xylograph that recently appeared on the Chinese relic market.
The Annual IOM Academic Session “The Written Heritage of the Orient as the Basis for Classical Tradition of Oriental Studies” will be held on December 4–6, 2023.
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