Wéimó yìjì 維摩義記
Notes on the Meaning of the Vimalakīrti Sūtra by 淨影慧遠 Jìngyǐng Huìyuǎn (撰)
About the work
The Wéimó yìjì (T1776) is a four-fascicle commentary on Kumārajīva’s KR6i0076 Vimalakīrti by the great Sui scholastic 淨影慧遠 Jìngyǐng Huìyuǎn (523–592 CE) — so styled to distinguish him from the earlier 慧遠 Lúshān Huìyuǎn (334–416). He was one of the leading exegetes of the Dìlùn 地論 (Daśabhūmika) school in the Northern Qí and Sui, and his commentaries on the Vimalakīrti, Niepan, Wúliángshòu, Shèlùn, and other texts are foundational scholastic works.
Prefaces
The surviving text opens directly with the commentary; the original preface (if any) is not preserved in Taishō. The colophon notes that this is the yìjì (notes on meaning) genre — distinguishing it from the more comprehensive yìshū 義疏 (commentary on meaning) format.
Abstract
Huìyuǎn’s Wéimó yìjì is a major scholastic commentary on the Vimalakīrti by one of the foremost Northern Chinese exegetes of the late sixth century. Huìyuǎn was the disciple of 法上 Fǎshàng of the Dìlùn lineage and was active at Yèchéng 鄴 under the Northern Qí and at Cháng’ān under the Sui. He survived the Northern Zhōu anti-Buddhist persecution and emerged after 581 CE as the dominant Yogācāra/Dìlùn-tradition scholastic. He died in 592 CE.
The Yìjì organizes the commentary by chapter (品) and integrates Dìlùn-Yogācāra technical apparatus with the prevailing Chinese Madhyamaka reading of the text. It was widely cited in Tang exegesis (especially 吉藏 Jízàng and 窺基 Kuījī) and continued to be authoritative through the Sòng. Huìyuǎn’s distinctive contribution is his integration of vijñaptimātra (consciousness-only) categories into the Vimalakīrti exegesis, prefiguring the later Cí’ēn-school approach.
Translations and research
- Hirakawa Akira 平川彰. Hokku Shū, Yuima-gyō no kenkyū 北俱舍, 維摩経の研究. Tokyo: Shunjūsha, 1987.
- Tang Yongtong 湯用彤. Sui Tang Fojiao shi gao 隋唐佛教史稿. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1982 — Huìyuǎn’s biography and works.
- Liu Ming-Wood. Madhyamaka Thought in China. Brill, 1994.