Shuō wúgòuchēng jīng shū 說無垢稱經疏
Commentary on the Sūtra Spoken by Vimalakīrti (Spotless Renown) by 窺基 Kuījī (撰)
About the work
The Shuō wúgòuchēng jīng shū (T1782) is 窺基 Kuījī’s (632–682 CE) six-fascicle commentary on 玄奘 Xuánzàng’s translation of the Vimalakīrti (KR6i0077 = T476). Unlike the Tiantai (Zhīyǐ, Zhànrán) and Sānlùn (Jízàng) commentaries which take Kumārajīva’s KR6i0076 as base, Kuījī’s commentary uses Xuánzàng’s literal Yogācāra-friendly translation. The Taishō header cross-references No. 476.
Prefaces
The text opens directly with the commentary’s analytical framework. The colophon attributes the work to Kuījī, often given his honorific title Cí’ēn dàshī 慈恩大師.
Abstract
Kuījī (632–682 CE) was Xuánzàng’s principal Chinese disciple and the systematic founder of the Cí’ēn 慈恩 school of Chinese Yogācāra. After Xuánzàng’s death in 664 CE, Kuījī took over the Dàcí’ēn sì 大慈恩寺 translation institute and produced commentaries on the major Yogācāra texts (the Chéngyùshí lùn 成唯識論 [T1830, T1831], the Yùqié shīdì lùn 瑜伽師地論 [T1829], and many sūtras translated by Xuánzàng).
The Shuō wúgòuchēng jīng shū is the principal Yogācāra commentary on the Vimalakīrti. Kuījī systematically reads the Vimalakīrti’s discourse on non-duality through the vijñaptimātra (consciousness-only) framework, showing how the bodhisattva’s teaching of emptiness can be reconciled with the trisvabhāva (three-natures) doctrine. The result is a Yogācāra hermeneutic that became authoritative in the Cí’ēn school.
The commentary’s working dates fall within Kuījī’s mature productivity (ca. 660–682 CE). It complements 太賢 Tàixián’s Korean Yogācāra commentaries on the Yakuṣī cycle (KR6i0053) — together these texts constitute the consolidated Tang Yogācāra commentarial corpus on the major Mahāyāna sūtras.
Translations and research
- Wei Tat. Cheng Wei-Shih Lun: The Doctrine of Mere-Consciousness by Hsüan Tsang. Hong Kong: Ch’eng Wei-Shih Lun Publication Committee, 1973 — Yogācāra context for Kuījī.
- Lusthaus, Dan. Buddhist Phenomenology. London: Routledge, 2002 — Cí’ēn school.
- Aoki Takashi 青木隆. Yuishiki shisō no kenkyū 唯識思想の研究. Studies of Cí’ēn thought.