Wéimó jīng lüè shū 維摩經略疏
Abridged Commentary on the Vimalakīrti Sūtra expounded by 智顗 Zhīyǐ (說), abridged by 湛然 Zhànrán (略)
About the work
The Wéimó jīng lüè shū (T1778) is a ten-fascicle line-by-line exegetical commentary on Kumārajīva’s translation of the Vimalakīrti (KR6i0076 = T475). It is the verse-by-verse counterpart to the Wéimó jīng xuán shū (KR6i0080 = T1777). Originally based on 智顗 Zhīyǐ’s lecture-records (lectures delivered at Yùquán sì 玉泉寺 in 593 CE in 28 fascicles, surviving as the Wéimó jīng wén shū 維摩經文疏 KR6i0099 = X0338), the present lüè shū is the abridged 10-fascicle digest produced by the sixth Tiantai patriarch 湛然 Zhànrán (711–782 CE) in the mid- to late-eighth century. The Taishō header cross-references No. 475 (the sūtra), 1777 (the xuán shū), and 1779 (智圓 Zhìyuán’s Chuíyù jì sub-commentary).
Prefaces
The text opens with the Wéimó jīng lüè shū xù 維摩經略疏序, in which Zhànrán explains the abridgment process: Zhīyǐ’s original 28-fascicle lecture-record was too prolix for general use, so Zhànrán condensed it to ten fascicles preserving the essential exegetical points.
Abstract
This text represents the consolidation of Tiantai Vimalakīrti exegesis into a usable scholastic format. Zhànrán was the sixth Tiantai patriarch (in the standard reckoning) and the chief restorer of the Tiantai tradition after the post-Huichang persecution period. His work consisted largely of commentaries on Zhīyǐ’s yízào 遺造 (literary remains) — the Făhuá xuányì shìqiān 法華玄義釋籤 (T1717), the Făhuá wén jù jì 法華文句記 (T1719), and others — and his selective abridgment of Zhīyǐ’s Vimalakīrti lecture-record into the present form.
The Lüè shū preserves Zhīyǐ’s chapter-by-chapter exegesis of the Vimalakīrti, organized by the standard Tiantai hermeneutic apparatus. It is one of the two canonical Tiantai Vimalakīrti commentaries (with KR6i0080) and the basis for all subsequent Tiantai Vimalakīrti studies. Zhànrán’s compositional dates are 711–782 CE; the Lüè shū is bracketed by his mature productivity period of 765–782 CE.
Translations and research
- Penkower, Linda. “T’ien-t’ai during the T’ang Dynasty: Chan-jan and the Sinification of Buddhism.” PhD dissertation, Columbia University, 1993.
- Hurvitz, Leon. Chih-i. Bruxelles, 1962.
- Pi Chu-Lan, work on Zhīyǐ’s Vimalakīrti commentaries.