This article is a preliminary study of eight commentaries on the Vimalakīrti Sūtra composed during the Song, Ming, and Qing dynasties. In chronological order, the eight commentaries are as follows: 1. Weimojing lüeshu chuiyuji 維摩經略疏垂裕記 by Zhiyuan 智圓 (Song); 2. Weimojie suoshuojing tonglun 維摩詰所說經通論 by Cheng Ju 程俱 (Song); 3. Weimojing pingzhu 維摩經評註 by Yang Qiyuan 楊起元 (Ming); 4. Weimojing wuwoshu 維摩經無我疏 by Chuandeng 傳燈 (Ming); 5. Weimojing shuke 維摩經疏科 by an anonymous author; 6. Weimojie suoshuojing zhishu 維摩詰所說經直疏 by Tongrun 通潤 (Ming); 7. Weimojie jing zhezhongshu 維摩詰經折衷疏 by Daxian 大賢 (Ming); 8. “Weimo raoshe 維摩饒舌 ” by Jingting 瀞艇 (Qing). The present article compiles basic information about each of the commentaries, including relevant scholarship, the author’s biography, and the commentary’s structure. This article further examines how each commentary deals with four concepts from the Sūtra that were important to pre-Song commentators: the idea that “when the mind is purified, the buddha-land is purified,” skillful means, inconceivability, and the Dharma gate of nonduality. The analysis of these concepts demonstrates the continuities of Song, Ming, and Qing commentaries with earlier periods.
