Master Venerable Hui-Neng (638 A.D.–713), the sixth patriarch of Zen Buddhism in China, and the most important Buddhist figure in the Tang Dynasty. According to the first chapter of the Altar-Sutra (An Autobiographical Account in Relation to Dharma), Venerable Hui-neng had no education, he lived in the mountains since his childhood and cut firewood to earn money to support his mother. However, he was very gifted in philosophy of life, and was designated as the sixth patriarch by passing the test of the fifth patriarch of Zen in a short time. Whatever the difficult scripts or Zen principles were raised by his disciples, Venerable Hui-Neng may have responded to them simply and clearly .
《壇經》又名《六祖壇經》或《六祖法寶壇經》，是唯一一部由中國人編纂的佛經（其他中文佛經均為從梵文翻譯的譯本）。這部神聖的經典受到高階修行者的高度重視，因為它是慧能和尚開示的精髓，對解釋禪宗的原則很重要。這部經典分為十章，每一章都側重於佛教哲學和原則的不同方面。這些都是慧能法師的教法，由他的一班弟子（主要是法海和尚）整理而成。
The Altar-Sutra, also known as the Platform Sutra Of The Sixth Patriarch, or the D
harmic Treasure Altar-Sutra Of The Sixth Patriarch, is the only Buddhist scripture compiled by Chinese (the other Buddhist scriptures written in Chinese are translated from Sanskrit). This sacred sutra is highly valued by advanced practitioners as it is the essence of Venerable Hui-Neng's speeches, which are important to interpret the principles of Zen. This scripture was divided into ten chapters, each focusing on different aspects of Buddhist philosophy and principles. All of these are the teachings by Venerable Hui-Neng and compiled by his disciples (mainly by Venerable Fa-hai).
《壇經》流傳了一千多年，衍生出不同的版本。儘管每個版本的章節順序可能不同，或某些章節的文字略有增加或減少，或增加了註釋與誦經儀式。這些並不影響各版本經文的一致性，所以無需擔心哪個是正版。另一個好消息是，一些佛教團體已經製作了《壇經》的外文版本（主要是英文版本）。這意味著外國人也可以用他們的語言按照這部經文來學習和修行。
The Altar-Sutra has been circulated for more than a thousand years, and different versions have been derived. Even though the order of the chapters in each version may be different, or the words in certain chapters may slightly increase or decrease, and annotations or chanting ceremony are added. These does not affect the consistency of the scriptures in each version, thus it is no need to worry about which is the authentic version. The other good news is that foreign language versions (mostly in English versions) of The Altar-Sutra have been made by some Buddhist groups. That means foreigners may study and practise by following this scripture in their language.
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