小乘

Chinese

		small; tiny; few small; tiny; few; young	ride; mount; make use of ride; mount; make use of; take advantage of; multiply; to avail of; to ride
trad. (小乘)		小	乘
simp. #(小乘)		小	乘
Literally: “small vehicle”.

Etymology

Calque of Sanskrit हीनयान (hīnayāna, “lesser vehicle”).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): xiǎochéng, xiǎoshèng

  (Zhuyin): ㄒㄧㄠˇ ㄔㄥˊ, ㄒㄧㄠˇ ㄕㄥˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): siu² sing⁶

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese, standard in Mainland)
    • Hanyu Pinyin: xiǎochéng
    • Zhuyin: ㄒㄧㄠˇ ㄔㄥˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: siǎochéng
    • Wade–Giles: hsiao³-chʻêng²
    • Yale: syǎu-chéng
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: sheaucherng
    • Palladius: сяочэн (sjaočɛn)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɕi̯ɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ ʈ͡ʂʰɤŋ³⁵/
    • Homophones:

      [Show/Hide]
      edit edit 小乘 小城

      
      
  • (Standard Chinese, standard in Taiwan; variant in Mainland)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: xiǎoshèng
    • Zhuyin: ㄒㄧㄠˇ ㄕㄥˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: siǎoshèng
    • Wade–Giles: hsiao³-shêng⁴
    • Yale: syǎu-shèng
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: sheaushenq
    • Palladius: сяошэн (sjaošɛn)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɕi̯ɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ ʂɤŋ⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: siu² sing⁶
    • Yale: síu sihng
    • Cantonese Pinyin: siu² sing⁶
    • Guangdong Romanization: xiu² xing⁶
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /siːu̯³⁵ sɪŋ²²/

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• Middle Chinese: sjewX zyingH

Rime
Character	小	乘
Reading #	1/1	2/2
Initial (聲)	心 (16)	船 (27)
Final (韻)	宵 (91)	蒸 (133)
Tone (調)	Rising (X)	Departing (H)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open
Division (等)	III	III
Fanqie	私兆切	實證切
Baxter	sjewX	zyingH
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/siᴇuX/	/ʑɨŋH/
Pan Wuyun	/siɛuX/	/ʑɨŋH/
Shao Rongfen	/sjæuX/	/ʑieŋH/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/siawX/	/ʑiŋH/
Li Rong	/siɛuX/	/d͡ʑiəŋH/
Wang Li	/sĭɛuX/	/d͡ʑĭəŋH/
Bernhard Karlgren	/si̯ɛuX/	/d͡ʑʰi̯əŋH/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	xiǎo	shèng
Expected Cantonese Reflex	siu2	sing6

Noun

小乘

1. (Buddhism, originally derogatory, now usually neutral) Hinayana (early Buddhism; Theravada Buddhism)

Usage notes

• This term is applied by some Mahayana Buddhists, but is not accepted as proper by Theravada Buddhists.
• In 1950 the World Fellowship of Buddhists declared that this term should not be used when referring to any form of Buddhism existing today.

Synonyms

• 南傳／南传 (nánchuán)

Coordinate terms

• 大乘 (Dàchéng, “Mahayana”)

Derived terms

• 小乘佛教 (Xiǎochéngfójiào)

 

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (小乘):

• → Japanese: 小(しょう)乗(じょう) (shōjō)
• → Korean: 소승(小乘) (soseung)
• → Vietnamese: Tiểu thừa (小乘)

See also

• 上座部 (Shàngzuòbù)
• 二乘
• 聲聞乘／声闻乘

References

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

Further reading

• 小乘佛教 on the Chinese Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^zh
• Hinayana on Wikipedia.Wikipedia