An Investigation of Problems Related to Inserts from the Vimalakirtinirdesa in the Weimonjing wenshu

Abstract

The 28 scrolls that comprise the Weimojing wenshu _??__??__??__??__??_ are one of the most important commentaries on the Vimalakirtinirdesa _??__??__??__??__??__??_ as translated b Kumarajiva _??__??__??__??_ Tiantai Zhiyi _??__??__??__??_ completed his commentary of the sutra's first eight chapters as far as the 25th scroll before his death, and the remaining three scrolls were subsequently completed by his disciple Guanding _??__??_. In these subsequent commentaries, sentences from the original sutra are inserted.
According to the notes, the first 25 scrolls had been accurately preserved with the sura inserts intact. I can surmise with a reasonable certainty that they preserve Zhiyi's sutra inserts very closely.
Problems do remain, however. There are many small differences between the Weimonjing wenshu's sutra inserts and the sutra itself as it appears in the Taisho Canon vol. 14. Therefore, in this paper I have researched the Vimalakirtinirdesa text dated close to the time of Zhiyi, as far as the eighth chapter. On the basis of this research, I was able to point out areas with particular relevance to Zhiyi.