Wéimó jīng lüè shū 維摩經略疏
Abridged Commentary on the Vimalakīrti Sūtra by 吉藏 Jízàng (撰)
About the work
The Wéimó jīng lüè shū (X0343) is a five-fascicle abridged Vimalakīrti commentary by Jízàng 吉藏 (吉藏; 549–623 CE) — distinct from his eight-fascicle Wéimó jīng yìshū (KR6i0084 = T1781) and his eight-fascicle Jìngmíng xuán lùn (KR6i0083 = T1780). It is the third major Jízàng Vimalakīrti commentary. The catalog meta gives the dynasty as 胡 (likely a typographical slip in the catalog source); Jízàng was active under the Sui (581–618) and early Tang.
Prefaces
The text opens with a Wéimójié suǒshuō jīng shū xùlì 維摩詰所說經疏敘例 (“Example-Preface to the Commentary on the Sūtra Spoken by Vimalakīrti”) — a Japanese editorial preface from the Edo printing tradition that contextualizes the work in the broader landscape of Vimalakīrti commentaries.
Abstract
This Lüè shū is the most concise of Jízàng’s three major Vimalakīrti commentaries, organized for ease of teaching reference. Together with his Jìngmíng xuán lùn (architectural treatise) and Yìshū (verse-by-verse exegesis), it forms a complete tripartite Sānlùn-school commentarial program on the Vimalakīrti. The work was lost in China and preserved in Japanese monastic libraries (presumably brought from China during the Tang or Song); it returned to the Chinese canon via the Xuzangjing.
The catalog meta’s dynasty entry “胡” is likely a typographical error — Jízàng worked at Yángzhōu under the Sui and at Cháng’ān under the early Tang. The composition date (ca. 605–615 CE) is bracketed by Jízàng’s productive Yángzhōu period.
Translations and research
- Liu Ming-Wood. Madhyamaka Thought in China. Brill, 1994.
- Robinson, Richard H. Early Mādhyamika in India and China. Wisconsin, 1967.