五失本三不易

Chinese

		five	to lose; to miss; to fail	roots or stems of plants; origin; source roots or stems of plants; origin; source; this; the current; root; foundation; basis; (a measure word)	three	not; no	change; easy; simple
simp. and trad. (五失本三不易)		五	失	本	三	不	易

Etymology

First advanced by Dao'an 道安 in the fourth century.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): wǔ shī běn sān bù yì

  (Zhuyin): ㄨˇ ㄕ ㄅㄣˇ ㄙㄢ ㄅㄨˋ ㄧˋ

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: wǔ shī běn sān bù yì
    • Zhuyin: ㄨˇ ㄕ ㄅㄣˇ ㄙㄢ ㄅㄨˋ ㄧˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: wǔ shih běn san bù yì
    • Wade–Giles: wu³ shih¹ pên³ san¹ pu⁴ i⁴
    • Yale: wǔ shr̄ běn sān bù yì
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: wuu shy been san bu yih
    • Palladius: у ши бэнь сань бу и (u ši bɛnʹ sanʹ bu i)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /u²¹⁴⁻²¹ ʂʐ̩⁵⁵ pən²¹⁴⁻²¹ sän⁵⁵ pu⁵¹⁻⁵³ i⁵¹/

Proper noun

五失本三不易

1. (Buddhism) Five ways the meanings of the source material are lost and the three difficulties of translation.

Further reading

• Ding, Fubao (丁福保) (1922), “五失本三不易” in 佛學大辭典 [A Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms].