天尊

Chinese

		day; sky; heaven	to honour
trad. (天尊)		天	尊
simp. #(天尊)		天	尊

Etymology

“Bhagavan”

Calque of Sanskrit भगवान् (bhagavān, “[he who is] honored by the gods”), with भग (bhaga) used in the sense of "gods". Displaced by 世尊 (Shìzūn) in later translations.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): tiānzūn

  (Zhuyin): ㄊㄧㄢ ㄗㄨㄣ

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: tiānzūn
    • Zhuyin: ㄊㄧㄢ ㄗㄨㄣ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: tianzun
    • Wade–Giles: tʻien¹-tsun¹
    • Yale: tyān-dzwūn
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: tiantzuen
    • Palladius: тяньцзунь (tjanʹczunʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰi̯ɛn⁵⁵ t͡su̯ən⁵⁵/

Noun

天尊

1. (archaic) Heaven.
2. (Taoism) deity.

Proper noun

天尊

1. (Buddhism, archaic) Bhagavan; Lord; Honoured One (title of the Buddha)

   Synonyms: 世尊 (Shìzūn), 天中天

   • 如今天尊，救護世間；願我後世，得道如佛。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     如今天尊，救护世间；愿我后世，得道如佛。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: 佛本行經

     Rújīn Tiānzūn, jiùhù shìjiān; yuàn wǒ hòu shì, dé dào rú fó. [Pinyin]

     "The One Honored by the Gods is saving the world at present; may I in later lives attain the Way like the Buddha."

2. (Church of the East, historical) God the Father.

Further reading

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