Wéishí sānshí lùn zhíjiě 唯識三十論直解
Direct Exposition of the Thirty Verses on Consciousness-Only by 智旭 (Zhìxù, 解)
About the work
A single-fascicle running commentary by the late-Míng Buddhist polymath 智旭 (Ǒuyì Zhìxù, 1599–1655) on Vasubandhu’s Triṃśikā — the verse text preserved in Chinese as KR6n0022 Wéishí sānshí lùn sòng 唯識三十論頌 (T31n1586). The “zhíjiě” 直解 (“direct exposition”) title indicates Zhìxù’s preferred commentarial mode: lemma-by-lemma paraphrase in plain prose, without the apparatus of citation that characterises the Cí’ēn tradition. Preserved in the Xuzangjing (X51n0828).
Structural Division
CANWWW does not assign internal structure for X51n0828. Internally the text follows the standard Cí’ēn five-stage division of the Triṃśikā (the five stages of practice, wǔ wèi 五位: zīliáng wèi, jiāxíng wèi, tōngdá wèi, xiūxí wèi, jiūjìng wèi) inherited from KR6n0016 Chéng wéishí lùn.
Abstract
The opening of the work explicitly cites the Cí’ēn account (“護法等菩薩。約此三十頌造成唯識”) of the genesis of the Chéng wéishí lùn, then proceeds verse by verse through Vasubandhu’s thirty kārikā. Zhìxù’s exegesis is markedly less polemical than the Cí’ēn tradition — he does not pursue the doctrinal disputes between Dharmapāla, Sthiramati, and the other “ten masters” that animate KR6n0016 — but rather presents a clear pedagogical paraphrase, drawing on his syncretic position that integrates Tiāntái, Chán, Pure Land, and Yogācāra perspectives.
The zhíjiě is one of three Yogācāra commentaries by Zhìxù alongside his works on the Bǎifǎ míngmén lùn and his short Yogācāra lexicons. Together with KR6n0050 Wéishí sānshí lùn yuēyì 唯識三十論約意 by Míngyù 明昱 and the Cí’ēn-revival commentaries of Zhēnjiè 真界 and Wáng Kěntáng 王肯堂, it constitutes the late-Míng Triṃśikā commentarial corpus, marking a distinctive moment in Chinese Yogācāra scholarship after centuries of relative neglect.
The dating bracket adopted (1632–1655) covers the period from Zhìxù’s first systematic doctrinal works to his death. The colophon does not give a precise date.
Translations and research
- Shèng-yán 聖嚴. Míng mò Zhōngguó Fójiào zhī yánjiū 明末中國佛教之研究. Taipei: Dōng-chū chū-bǎn-shè, 1987.
- Lin Chen-kuo 林鎮國. Kōng-xìng yǔ xiàndài-xìng 空性與現代性. Taipei: Lìxù wénhuà, 1999.
- Yoshimura Makoto 吉村誠. Chūgoku Yuishiki shisōshi kenkyū. Tokyo: Daizō shuppan, 2013.