善哉

Chinese

		good	(exclamatory or interrog. part.)
trad. (善哉)		善	哉
simp. #(善哉)		善	哉

Etymology

Buddhist interjection

Calque of Pali sādhu.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): shànzāi

  (Zhuyin): ㄕㄢˋ ㄗㄞ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): sin⁶ zoi¹

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: shànzāi
    • Zhuyin: ㄕㄢˋ ㄗㄞ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: shànzai
    • Wade–Giles: shan⁴-tsai¹
    • Yale: shàn-dzāi
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shanntzai
    • Palladius: шаньцзай (šanʹczaj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʂän⁵¹ t͡saɪ̯⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: sin⁶ zoi¹
    • Yale: sihn jōi
    • Cantonese Pinyin: sin⁶ dzoi¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: xin⁶ zoi¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /siːn²² t͡sɔːi̯⁵⁵/

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• Middle Chinese: dzyenX tsoj

Rime
Character	善	哉
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	常 (25)	精 (13)
Final (韻)	仙 (77)	咍 (41)
Tone (調)	Rising (X)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open
Division (等)	III	I
Fanqie	常演切	祖才切
Baxter	dzyenX	tsoj
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/d͡ʑiᴇnX/	/t͡sʌi/
Pan Wuyun	/d͡ʑiɛnX/	/t͡səi/
Shao Rongfen	/d͡ʑjænX/	/t͡sɒi/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/d͡ʑianX/	/t͡səj/
Li Rong	/ʑiɛnX/	/t͡sᴀi/
Wang Li	/ʑĭɛnX/	/t͡sɒi/
Bernard Karlgren	/ʑi̯ɛnX/	/t͡sɑ̆i/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	shàn	zāi
Expected Cantonese Reflex	sin6	zoi1

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*[ɡ]e[n]ʔ  [ts]ˤə/

  (Zhengzhang): /*ɡjenʔ  ʔslɯː/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	善	哉	哉
Reading #	1/1	1/2	2/2
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	shàn	zāi	zāi
Middle Chinese	‹ dzyenX ›	‹ tsoj ›	‹ tsoj ›
Old Chinese	/*[ɡ]e[n]ʔ/	/*[ts]ˁə/	/*[ts]ˁə/
English	good	begin	(particle)
Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system: * Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence; * Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. *[t] as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p; * Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix; * Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary; * Period "." indicates syllable boundary.

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	善	哉
Reading #	1/1	1/1
No.	11084	16490
Phonetic component	善	
Rime group	元	之
Rime subdivision	2	0
Corresponding MC rime	善	烖
Old Chinese	/*ɡjenʔ/	/*ʔslɯː/

Interjection

善哉

1. (literary, Buddhism) good, well, excellent, wonderful

   • 齊景公問政於孔子。孔子對曰：「君君，臣臣，父父，子子。」公曰：「善哉！信如君不君，臣不臣，父不父，子不子，雖有粟，吾得而食諸？」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     齐景公问政于孔子。孔子对曰：「君君，臣臣，父父，子子。」公曰：「善哉！信如君不君，臣不臣，父不父，子不子，虽有粟，吾得而食诸？」 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Analects of Confucius, c. 475 – 221 BCE

     Qí Jǐnggōng wèn zhèng yú Kǒngzǐ. Kǒngzǐ duì yuē: “Jūn jūn, chén chén, fù fù, zǐ zǐ.” Gōng yuē: “Shànzāi! Xìn rú jūn bùjūn, chén bùchén, fù bùfù, zǐ bùzǐ, suī yǒu sù, wú dé ér shí zhū?” [Pinyin]

     The duke Jing, of Qi, asked Confucius about government. Confucius replied, "There is government, when the prince is prince, and the minister is minister; when the father is father, and the son is son." "Good!" said the duke; "if, indeed, the prince be not prince, the minister not minister, the father not father, and the son not son, although I have my revenue, can I enjoy it?"

   • 佛言：「善哉！善哉！須菩提、如汝所說。如來善護念諸菩薩、善付囑諸菩薩。汝今諦聽、當爲汝說。善男子、善女人。發阿耨多羅三藐三菩提心。應如是住如是降伏其心。」 [MSC, trad.]
     佛言：「善哉！善哉！须菩提、如汝所说。如来善护念诸菩萨、善付嘱诸菩萨。汝今谛听、当为汝说。善男子、善女人。发阿耨多罗三藐三菩提心。应如是住如是降伏其心。」 [MSC, simp.]

     From: 《金剛般若波羅蜜經》Diamond Sutra, Chinese translation by Kumārajīva. 2013 English translation by A. Charles Muller

     Fó yán: “Shànzāi! Shànzāi! Xūpútí, rú rǔ suǒshuō. Rúlái shàn hùniàn zhūpúsà, shàn fùzhǔ zhūpúsà. Rǔ jīn dì tīng, dāng wèi rǔ shuō. Shàn nánzǐ, shàn nǚrén. Fā ānòuduōluósānmiǎosānpútí xīn. Yìng rúshì zhù rúshì xiángfú qí xīn.” [Pinyin]

     The Buddha said, “Excellent! Excellent! Subhūti, it is as you have said. The Tathāgata is well mindful of all the bodhisattvas, and is skilful at keeping them in his fold. Now you listen well, and I shall explain it for you. If good sons and good daughters would like to arouse the mind of peerless perfect enlightenment, they should abide like this and subdue their thoughts like this.”

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (善哉):

• → Japanese: 善哉(ぜんざい) (zenzai)
• → Vietnamese: thiện tai (善哉)

Japanese

Kanji in this term
善	哉
ぜん Grade: 6	さい > ざい Jinmeiyō
on’yomi

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) ぜんざ​い [zèńzáꜜì] (Nakadaka – [3])
• (Tokyo) ぜ​んざい [zéꜜǹzàì] (Atamadaka – [1])
• IPA^(key): [d͡zẽ̞nd͡za̠i]

Noun

善(ぜん)哉(ざい) • (zenzai) 

1. red-bean soup

   Synonym: 汁粉

Interjection

善(ぜん)哉(ざい) • (zenzai) 

1. (literary or archaic) excellent; wonderful

Derived terms

• 善哉善哉(ぜんざいぜんざい) (zenzaizenzai)

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
善	哉
よ(き) Grade: 6	かな Jinmeiyō
kun’yomi

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

【よきかな】 [interjection] (literary or archaic) excellent; wonderful Alternative spellings 善き哉, 良き哉

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