法身

Chinese

		law; method; way law; method; way; Buddhist teaching; Legalist; France (abbrev.)	body; torso; person body; torso; person; life; status; pregnancy; (a measure word used for clothes) suit
trad. (法身)		法	身
simp. #(法身)		法	身
anagram		身法

Etymology

Calque of Sanskrit धर्मकाय (dharmakāya, “law body”) or Pali dhammakāya. The Tibetan equivalent is ཆོས་སྐུ (chos sku).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): fǎshēn

  (Zhuyin): ㄈㄚˇ ㄕㄣ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): faat³ san¹
• Eastern Min (BUC): huák-sĭng
• Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): ⁷faq-sen

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: fǎshēn
    • Zhuyin: ㄈㄚˇ ㄕㄣ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: fǎshen
    • Wade–Giles: fa³-shên¹
    • Yale: fǎ-shēn
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: faashen
    • Palladius: фашэнь (fašɛnʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /fä²¹⁴⁻²¹ ʂən⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: faat³ san¹
    • Yale: faat sān
    • Cantonese Pinyin: faat⁸ san¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: fad³ sen¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /faːt̚³ sɐn⁵⁵/
• Eastern Min
  • (Fuzhou)
    • Bàng-uâ-cê: huák-sĭng
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /huaʔ²⁴⁻²¹ siŋ⁵⁵/
• Wu
  • (Northern: Shanghai)
    • Wugniu: ⁷faq-sen
    • MiniDict: fah^入 sen
    • Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ⁴faq-sen
    • Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /faʔ³³ sən⁴⁴/

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• Middle Chinese: pjop syin

Rime
Character	法	身
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	幫 (1)	書 (26)
Final (韻)	乏 (148)	眞 (43)
Tone (調)	Checked (Ø)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Closed	Open
Division (等)	III	III
Fanqie	方乏切	失人切
Baxter	pjop	syin
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/pɨɐp̚/	/ɕiɪn/
Pan Wuyun	/piɐp̚/	/ɕin/
Shao Rongfen	/piɐp̚/	/ɕjen/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/puap̚/	/ɕin/
Li Rong	/piɐp̚/	/ɕiĕn/
Wang Li	/pĭwɐp̚/	/ɕĭĕn/
Bernhard Karlgren	/pi̯wɐp̚/	/ɕi̯ĕn/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	fa	shēn
Expected Cantonese Reflex	faat3	san1

Noun

法身

1. (Buddhism) dharmakaya

Related terms

• 三身 (sānshēn)
• 報身 / 报身 (bàoshēn)
• 應身 / 应身 (yìngshēn)

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (法身):

• → Japanese: 法身(ほっしん) (hosshin); 法身(ほうしん) (hōshin)
• → Korean: 법신(法身) (beopsin)
• → Vietnamese: pháp thân (法身)

Further reading

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