Philip B. Yampolsky's translation of The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch, published by Columbia University Press in 1967, is the standard scholarly English edition of the Dunhuang manuscript versions of this foundational Chan Buddhist text, copied between roughly 830 and 860. Its authority rests on Yampolsky's direct philological work from the earliest surviving manuscripts rather than from later, more elaborated versions of the text, and on the edition's introduction situating the text's composite and evolving history. Cite it as the translation of the earliest recoverable form of the sutra; later, longer versions of the Platform Sutra differ from this one and should not be conflated with it.
Facts
Citation
AuthorPhilip B. Yampolsky (trans.)
PublisherColumbia University Press
Publisher of Philip B. Yampolsky's scholarly translation (the edition cited here), not a claim about the underlying text's own disputed composition date. Confirmed via the Journal of Asian Studies' own review citation, Columbia University Press's current listing, and independent bookseller records. Publication Year1967
Year of Yampolsky's translation (Columbia University Press), not the underlying Dunhuang manuscript's copying date (already noted here as circa 830 to 860 CE) and not the disputed composition date of the original Chinese text. Source TypeCritical translation with scholarly introduction
Assessment
Reliability Tier1
Philip Yampolsky's translation of The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch, published by Columbia University Press in 1967, the top tier reflecting Yampolsky's direct philological work from the earliest surviving Dunhuang manuscripts, copied between roughly 830 and 860, rather than later, more elaborated versions of the text, notwithstanding that later, longer versions of the Platform Sutra differ from this one and should not be conflated with it. NotesNo year given pending verification of the edition. The translation is of the Dunhuang manuscripts, copied between about 830 and 860.
Cross-Tradition Connections
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This source names Huineng directly: "Yampolsky's translation of The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch, published by Columbia University Press in 1967, is the standard scholarly English edition of the Dunhuang manuscript versions of..."
Claims Backed By This Source (16 claims)
This source backs 16 claims across the atlas. As facts: 10 well-attested. As cited relationships: 3 holds. Plus 3 entities citing it as a general reference with no single fact or relationship attached.
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- Sources, 8 claims: 7 well-attested, 1 holds.
- Figures, 7 claims: 3 well-attested, 2 holds, 2 general references.
- Denominations, 1 claims: 1 general references.
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