天眼

Chinese

		day; sky; heaven	eye
simp. and trad. (天眼)		天	眼

Etymology

Calque of Sanskrit दिव्यचक्षुस् (divyacakṣus) or Pali dibbacakkhu.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): tiānyǎn

  (Zhuyin): ㄊㄧㄢ ㄧㄢˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): tin¹ ngaan⁵

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: tiānyǎn
    • Zhuyin: ㄊㄧㄢ ㄧㄢˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: tianyǎn
    • Wade–Giles: tʻien¹-yen³
    • Yale: tyān-yǎn
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: tianyean
    • Palladius: тяньянь (tjanʹjanʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰi̯ɛn⁵⁵ jɛn²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
    • Jyutping: tin¹ ngaan⁵
    • Yale: tīn ngáahn
    • Cantonese Pinyin: tin¹ ngaan⁵
    • Guangdong Romanization: tin¹ ngan⁵
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰiːn⁵⁵ ŋaːn¹³/
    • Homophones:

      edit edit 天目 天眼

Noun

天眼

1. (Buddhism) divine eye
2. (colloquial) closed-circuit television; surveillance camera
   • 2019 November 7, Headline Daily, 澳門明年選取100支「天眼」展開人臉識別測試 (Macau will Choose 100 CCTVs to Test Facial Recognition System)‎^[1]:

     澳門警察總局強調，在展開人臉識別技術應用測試前，會向個人資料保護辦公室徵詢意見，確保「天眼」快速有效輔助警方打擊犯罪同時，亦能讓市民私隱得到有效的保障。 [MSC, trad.]
     澳门警察总局强调，在展开人脸识别技术应用测试前，会向个人资料保护办公室征询意见，确保「天眼」快速有效辅助警方打击犯罪同时，亦能让市民私隐得到有效的保障。 [MSC, simp.]

     Àomén jǐngchá zǒngjú qiángdiào, zài zhǎnkāi rénliǎn shíbié jìshù yìngyòng cèshì qián, huì xiàng gèrén zīliào bǎohù bàngōngshì zhēngxún yìjiàn, quèbǎo “tiānyǎn” kuàisù yǒuxiào fǔzhù jǐngfāng dǎjī fànzuì tóngshí, yì néng ràng shìmín sīyǐn dédào yǒuxiào de bǎozhàng. [Pinyin]

     The Unitary Police Service stressed that before facial recognition technology testing, they will consult opinions from the Office for Personal Data Protection, such that while CCTVs' can be used to quickly and effectively help the police to fight crimes, privacy of citizens will be effectively respected.

Synonyms

• 天目 (tiānmù)

Derived terms

• 天眼通

 

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (天眼):

• → Japanese: 天眼(てんげん) (tengen); 天眼(てんがん) (tengan)
• → Korean: 천안(天眼) (cheonan)

Further reading

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

Japanese

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
天	眼
てん Grade: 1	げん Grade: 5
on’yomi

From Middle Chinese 天眼 (MC then ngeanX).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) てんげん [tèńgéń] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [tẽ̞ŋɡẽ̞ɴ]

Noun

天(てん)眼(げん) • (tengen) 

1. (esoteric Buddhism) heavenly sight by heavenly beings
2. (esoteric Buddhism) short for 天眼通 (tengentsū): knowledge of others' karma: one of the six kinds of abhijñā or “direct knowledge”

Derived terms

Derived terms

• 天(てん)眼(げん)通(つう) (tengentsū, “knowledge of others' karma: one of the six kinds of abhijñā or “direct knowledge””)

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
天	眼
てん Grade: 1	がん Grade: 5
on’yomi

The literal eye sense and sight sense are likely a coinage within Japanese based on Middle Chinese-derived elements 天 (ten, “heaven, heavenly”, also used in reference to the emperor) + 眼 (gan, “eye”).

The Buddhist sense is likely a sound shift from tengen above, adopting the kan'on reading of gan for the 眼 character.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) てんがん [tèńgáń] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [tẽ̞ŋɡã̠ɴ]

Noun

天(てん)眼(がん) • (tengan) 

1. the eye of the emperor or imperial prince
2. (in compounds) sight of something not usually visible to the naked eye
3. (esoteric Buddhism) see the tengen reading above for additional senses

Derived terms

Derived terms

• 天(てん)眼(がん)鏡(きょう) (tengankyō, “a magnifying glass; (archaic) a telescope”)
• 天(てん)眼(がん)通(つう) (tengantsū, “knowledge of others' karma: one of the six kinds of abhijñā or “direct knowledge””)

References

• Matsumura, Akira (1995) 大辞泉 (in Japanese), First edition, Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN