consists of six questions: No. 1, 2, 9, 10,

　　　　　　  12 and 13.

　　　　   II. The religious cultivation of the ordinary

　　　　　　  people--This consists of four questions: No.

　　　　　　  3, 4, 8 and 14.

　　　　  III. The various differences among the three

　　　　　　   `yanas` --This consists of four questions:

　　　　　　  No. 15, 16, 17 and 18.

　　　　   IV. The accomplishments of the Buddha--This

　　　　　　  consists of three questions: No. 5, 6, and 7.

　　　　　　 V. The `dharmakaya` and `nirvana` --This consists

　　　　　　  of three questions: No. 11, 19 and 20.

　　　　   VI. The `alayavijnapa` and perfect wisdom--This

　　　　　　  consists of one question: No.21.

　　　　  VII. The development of Buddhist schools--This

　　　　　　  consists of one question: No.22.

　　　　　　　　　　　　  116页

　　　　　　 The present version was edited and collated  on

　　　　 the  basis   of  three  imperfect   and  fragmentary

　　　　 manuscripts  bearing  No.  S2674  from  the  British

　　　　 Museum, London, and Nos. P2690 and P2674 from the

　　　　 `Bibliotheque` Nationale, Paris.  There are nearly

　　　　 400 footnotes explaining the various readings,

　　　　 errors, omissions, corrections and other aspects of

　　　　 the manuscripts.

　　　　　　 There  is an editorial  'Preface'  featuring  a

　　　　 brief  assessment  of the quality, nature, contents,

　　　　 history  and other  areas  of the text.  It is hoped

　　　　 that  one may be enabled  to better  understand  its

　　　　 importance in Buddhist studies.

　　　　　　 This work was written  by Master T'an-kuang  of

　　　　 the T'ang dynasty, who was fairly active till around

　　　　 785 C.E. However, his definite dates were uncertain.

　　　　　　 It consists  of twenty-two  dialogues  entitled

　　　　 "Ta-  cheng  erh-shih-erh  `wen` 大乘二十二问  ", or

　　　　 "The twenty-two  dialogues on `Mahayana`  Buddhism".

　　　　 The questions  were put to him by a king of Tibet on

　　　　 various  aspects  of both  Theravada  and `Mahayana`