A vivid chronicle of events in the feudal states of China between 722 and 468 B.C. the "Tso Chuan" has longbeen consideredboth a major historical document and and an influential literary model. Covering over 250 years, these historical narratives focus not only on the political, diplomatic, and military affairs of ancient China, but also on its economic and cultural developments during the turbulent era when warring feudal states were gradually working towards unification. ending shortly after Confucius' death in 479 B.C., the Two Chuan provides a background to the life and thought of Confucius and his followers that is available in no other work.

The "Platform Sutra" records the teachings of Hui-neng, the Sixth Patriarch, who is revered as one of the two great figures in the founding of Ch'an (Zen) Buddhism. This translation is the definitive English version of the eighth-century Ch'an classic.

Phillip B. Yampolsky has based his translation on the Tun-huang manuscript, the earliest extant version of the work. A critical edition of the Chinese text is given at the end of the volume.

Dr. Yampolsky also furnishes a lengthy and detailed historical introduction which contains much information hitherto unavailable even to scholars, and provides the context essential to an understanding of Hui-neng's work. He gives an account of the history and legends of Ch'an Buddhism, with particular attention to the traditions associated with Hui-neng, quoting or summarizing the most important narratives. He then discusses the various texts of the "Platform Sutra," and analyzes its contents.

Dating back to the eighth century C.E., the " Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch" is a foundational text of Chan/Zen Buddhism that reveals much about the early evolution of Chinese Chan and the ideological origins of Japanese Zen and Korean Son. Purported to be the recorded words of the famed Huineng, who was understood to be the Sixth Patriarch of Chan and the father of all later Chan/Zen Buddhism, the "Platform Sutra" illuminates fundamental Chan Buddhist principles in an expressive sermon that describes how Huineng overcame great personal and ideological challenges to uphold the exalted lineage of the enlightened Chan patriarchs while realizing the ultimate Buddhist truth of the original, pure nature of all sentient beings.

Huineng seems to reject meditation, the value of good karma, and the worship of the buddhas, conferring instead a set of "formless precepts" on his audience, marked by embedded notes in the text. In his central message, an inherent, perfect buddha nature stands as the original true condition of all sentient beings, which people of all backgrounds can experience for themselves. Philip Yampolsky's masterful translation contains extensive explanatory notes and an edited, amended version of the Chinese text. His introduction critically considers the background and historical setting of the work and locates Huineng's place within the history and legends of Chan Buddhism. This new edition features a foreword by Morten Schl?tter further situating the "Platform Sutra" within recent historical research and textual evidence, and an updated glossary that includes the modern pinyin system of transcription.

-- "Tricycle: The Buddhist Review"