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天命

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

Chinese

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day; sky; heaven life; fate
simp. and trad.
(天命) 		天 命
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Etymology

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Attested in Western Zhou bronze inscriptions, where 命 (mìng) was not yet differentiated from 令 (lìng) by the addition of 口 (kǒu).

The concept first appears in separated form in the early Western Zhou:

丕顯文王，受天有大令。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, trad.]
丕显文王，受天有大令。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, simp.]
From: Early Western Zhou, Da Yu ding inscription
Pī xiǎn Wénwáng, shòu tiān yǒu dà mìng. [Pinyin]
The greatly illustrious King Wen received Heaven's great mandate.

The compound 天令 is attested from the mid-Western Zhou:

天令禹敷土，墮山濬川。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, trad.]
天令禹敷土，堕山濬川。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, simp.]
From: Mid-Western Zhou, 豳公盨 inscription
Tiān mìng Yǔ fū tǔ, duò shān jùn chuān. [Pinyin]
Heaven commanded Yu to set the land in order, he cast down mountains and dredged the waterways.
唯民亡造哉，彝昧天令，故亡。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, trad. and simp.]
From: Mid-Western Zhou, 班簋 inscription
Wéi mín wáng zào zāi, yí mèi tiānmìng, gù wáng. [Pinyin]
The people were wholly without [proper] conduct; they perpetually obscured the Mandate of Heaven, and therefore perished.

Goldin (2017)[1] links Zhou's concept 天命 (tiānmìng) to Shang's concept 帝令 (dìlìng) "the Deity's command" attested in the Shang's oracle bones.

For the era name, see also Manchu ᠠᠪᡴᠠᡳ
ᡶᡠᠯᡳᠩᡤᠠ (abkai fulingga).

Pronunciation

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Rime
Character 天 命
Reading # 1/1 1/1
Initial (聲) 透 (6) 明 (4)
Final (韻) 先 (85) 庚 (111)
Tone (調) Level (Ø) Departing (H)
Openness (開合) Open Open
Division (等) IV III
Fanqie 他前切 眉病切
Baxter then mjaengH
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang 		/tʰen/ /mˠiæŋH/
Pan
Wuyun 		/tʰen/ /mᵚiaŋH/
Shao
Rongfen 		/tʰɛn/ /miaŋH/
Edwin
Pulleyblank 		/tʰɛn/ /miajŋH/
Li
Rong 		/tʰen/ /miɐŋH/
Wang
Li 		/tʰien/ /mĭɐŋH/
Bernhard
Karlgren 		/tʰien/ /mi̯ɐŋH/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex 		tiān mìng
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex 		tin1 ming6
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 天 天 命
Reading # 1/2 2/2 1/1
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin) 		tiān xiān mìng
Middle
Chinese 		‹ then › ‹ xen › ‹ mjængH ›
Old
Chinese 		/*l̥ˁi[n]/ /*l̥ˁi[n]/ (W dialect: l̥ˁ- > Hàn-time *xˁ- > MC x-) /*m-riŋ-s/ (dialect: *m-r- > *mr-, *-iŋ> *-eŋ)
English heaven heaven command (n.)

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 天 命
Reading # 1/1 1/1
No. 12387 8275
Phonetic
component 		天 令
Rime
group 		眞 耕
Rime
subdivision 		1 0
Corresponding
MC rime 		天 命
Old
Chinese 		/*qʰl'iːn/ /*mreŋs/
Notes 令轉註字

Noun

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天命

  1. the myriad of things in nature which make up the law of nature or natural law
  2. the will of heaven
  3. the Mandate of Heaven
  4. one's fate or destiny
    盡人事而聽天命／尽人事而听天命  ―  jìn rénshì ér tīng tiānmìng  ―  to do one's best and leave the rest to fate
  5. one's nature or natural instincts
  6. one's innate skills or gifts
  7. one's life span or life expectancy

Synonyms

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  • (way of nature or the cosmos; will of Heaven or the gods): 道 (dào), 法 (fǎ)
  • (the Mandate of Heaven): (literary) 大命 (dàmìng), (literary) 景命 (jǐngmìng)
  • (the emperor as the son of Heaven): 天子 (tiānzǐ)

Descendants

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Sino-Xenic (天命):

Proper noun

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天命

  1. (historical) the Tianming era (a Chinese era name; the era of Nurhaci as khan of the Later Jin, from the proclamation of the dynasty in 1616 until 1627)

Coordinate terms

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References

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  1. ^ Goldin, Paul Rakita (2017), “Some Shang Antecedents of Later Chinese Ideology and Culture”, in Journal of the American Oriental Society‎[1], volume 137, number 1
  2. ^ Shim, Jae-hong (2012), “An Ever-contested Poem: The "Classic of Poetry"'s "Hanyi" and the Sino-Korean History Debate”, in The Journal of Asian Studies‎[2], volume 71, number 2, pages 475-497
  3. ^ Grundmann, Joern Peter, transl. (2022), “Moral Speculation and the Conception of a Sky God”, in Space, Time, Myth, and Morals: A Selection of Jao Tsung-i’s Studies on Cosmological Thought in Early China and Beyond (Collected Works of Jao Tsung-i, Volume: 3), pages 220-277

Japanese

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Japanese Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia ja

Pronunciation 1

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Kanji in this term
天 命
てん
Grade: 1 		めい
Grade: 3
on'yomi

Noun

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天(てん)命(めい) • (tenmei) 

  1. mandate of heaven, will of heaven; divine decree;
  2. fate, destiny
    Synonyms: 宿命 (shukumei), 天運 (ten'un)
  3. natural lifespan, longevity
    Synonym: 天寿 (tenju)
Derived terms
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Pronunciation 2

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Kanji in this term
天 命
いのちなり
Grade: 1 Grade: 3
irregular
  • IPA(key): [ino̞t͡ɕina̠ɾʲi]

Noun

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天命(いのちなり) • (inochinari) 

  1. (archaic) fate, destiny

References

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  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Yamada, Tadao et al., editors (2011), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Seventh edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 “天命Paid subscription required”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎[3] (in Japanese), 2nd edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2000-2002, released online 2007, →ISBN, concise edition entry available here

Korean

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Hanja in this term
天命

Noun

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天命 • (cheonmyeong) (hangeul 천명)

  1. hanja form? of 천명

Vietnamese

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chữ Hán Nôm in this term
天命

Noun

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天命

  1. chữ Hán form of thiên mệnh
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