三世

Chinese

		three	life; age; generation life; age; generation; era; world; lifetime
simp. and trad. (三世)		三	世

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): sānshì

  (Zhuyin): ㄙㄢ ㄕˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): saam¹ sai³

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: sānshì
    • Zhuyin: ㄙㄢ ㄕˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: sanshìh
    • Wade–Giles: san¹-shih⁴
    • Yale: sān-shr̀
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: sanshyh
    • Palladius: саньши (sanʹši)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /sän⁵⁵ ʂʐ̩⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: saam¹ sai³
    • Yale: sāam sai
    • Cantonese Pinyin: saam¹ sai³
    • Guangdong Romanization: sam¹ sei³
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /saːm⁵⁵ sɐi̯³³/

Noun

三世

1. (Buddhism) the three periods of time: the past, present, and future.

   • 如三世諸佛，說法之儀式，我今亦如是，說無分別法。 [MSC, trad.]
     如三世诸佛，说法之仪式，我今亦如是，说无分别法。 [MSC, simp.]

     From: The Lotus Sutra

     Rú sānshì zhūfó, shuōfǎ zhī yíshì, wǒ jīn yì rúshì, shuō wúfēnbiéfǎ. [Pinyin]

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

Derived terms

• 三世佛
• 三世因果
• 第三世界 (Dì-sān Shìjiè)

 

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (三世):

• → Japanese: 三(さん)世(ぜ) (sanze); 三(さん)世(せい) (sansei)
• → Korean: 삼세(三世) (samse)
• → Vietnamese: tam thế (三世)

See also

• 過去／过去 (guòqù)
• 現在／现在 (xiànzài)
• 未來／未来 (wèilái)

See also

• 十世

Further reading

• Ding, Fubao (丁福保) (1922), “三世” in 佛學大辭典 [A Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms].

Japanese

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
三	世
さん Grade: 1	せ > ぜ Grade: 3
goon

From Middle Chinese 三世.

Noun

三(さん)世(ぜ) • (sanze) 

1. (Buddhism) the "three lives", namely 前世 (zense, “previous life”), 現世 (gense, “current life”) and 来世 (raise)/後世 (gose, “next life”)
2. three generations, as in parents, children and grandchildren

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
三	世
さん Grade: 1	せい Grade: 3
kan’on

Noun

三(さん)世(せい) • (sansei) 

1. three generations
2. the third generation

   ヘンリー三(さん)世(せい)

   Henrī Sansei

   Henry III; Henry the Third

See also

• 三(さん)世(せ)間(けん) (sanseken)
• 三(さん)世(せ)代(だい) (sansedai)

Etymology 3

Kanji in this term
三	世
み Grade: 1	よ Grade: 3
kun’yomi

For pronunciation and definitions of 三世 – see the following entry.

【みよ】 [noun] (obsolete) past, present and future existences

(This term, 三世, is an alternative spelling of the above term.)