人生

人生

Chinese

		man; person; people	to be born; to give birth; life to be born; to give birth; life; to grow; student; raw
simp. and trad. (人生)		人	生
anagram		生人

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): rénshēng

  (Zhuyin): ㄖㄣˊ ㄕㄥ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): jan⁴ sang¹
• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): ngìn-sên
• Min Nan

  (Hokkien, POJ): lîn-seng / lîn-sng / jîn-seng

  (Teochew, Peng'im): ring⁵ sêng¹

• Wu (Wiktionary): zen sen (T3)

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)
    • Pinyin: rénshēng
    • Zhuyin: ㄖㄣˊ ㄕㄥ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: rensheng
    • IPA ^(key): /ʐən³⁵ ʂɤŋ⁵⁵/
    • Homophones:

      [Show/Hide]
      edit edit 人生 人聲／人声

• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: jan⁴ sang¹
    • Yale: yàhn sāng
    • Cantonese Pinyin: jan⁴ sang¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: yen⁴ seng¹
    • IPA ^(key): /jɐn²¹ sɐŋ⁵⁵/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: ngìn-sên
    • Hakka Romanization System: nginˇ sen´
    • Hagfa Pinyim: ngin² sen¹
    • IPA: /ɲin¹¹ sen²⁴/
• Min Nan
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Taipei, Kinmen)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: lîn-seng
    • Tâi-lô: lîn-sing
    • Phofsit Daibuun: linsefng
    • IPA (Kinmen): /lin²⁴⁻¹² ɕiɪŋ⁴⁴/
    • IPA (Taipei): /lin²⁴⁻¹¹ ɕiɪŋ⁴⁴/
    • IPA (Xiamen): /lin²⁴⁻²² ɕiɪŋ⁴⁴/
  • (Hokkien: Quanzhou, Jinjiang, Philippines)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: lîn-sng
    • Tâi-lô: lîn-sng
    • Phofsit Daibuun: linsngf
    • IPA (Quanzhou, Jinjiang, Philippines): /lin²⁴⁻²² sŋ̍³³/
  • (Hokkien: Zhangzhou, Kaohsiung)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: jîn-seng
    • Tâi-lô: jîn-sing
    • Phofsit Daibuun: jinsefng
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /ʑin²³⁻³³ ɕiɪŋ⁴⁴/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /d͡ʑin¹³⁻²² ɕiɪŋ⁴⁴/
  • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: ring⁵ sêng¹
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: jîng seng
    • IPA ^(key): /d͡ziŋ⁵⁵⁻¹¹ seŋ³³/
• Wu
  • (Shanghainese)
    • Wiktionary: zen sen (T3)
    • IPA ^(key): /z̻əɲ²² səɲ⁴⁴/

---

• Middle Chinese: /ȵiɪn  ʃˠæŋ|ʃˠæŋ^H/▼

Rime
Character	人	生	生
Reading #	1/1	1/2	2/2
Initial (聲)	日 (38)	生 (21)	生 (21)
Final (韻)	眞 (43)	庚 (109)	庚 (109)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Level (Ø)	Departing (H)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open	Open
Division (等)	III	II	II
Fanqie	如鄰切	所庚切	所敬切
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/ȵiɪn/	/ʃˠæŋ/	/ʃˠæŋH/
Pan Wuyun	/ȵin/	/ʃᵚaŋ/	/ʃᵚaŋH/
Shao Rongfen	/ȵʑjen/	/ʃaŋ/	/ʃaŋH/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/ȵin/	/ʂaɨjŋ/	/ʂaɨjŋH/
Li Rong	/ȵiĕn/	/ʃɐŋ/	/ʃɐŋH/
Wang Li	/ȵʑĭĕn/	/ʃɐŋ/	/ʃɐŋH/
Bernard Karlgren	/ȵʑi̯ĕn/	/ʂɐŋ/	/ʂɐŋH/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	rén	shēng	shèng

Noun

人生

1. life (i.e. human life) (Classifier: 段 m)

   人生的真諦 / 人生的真谛  ―  rénshēng de zhēndì  ―  the true meaning of life

   璀璨人生  ―  cuǐcàn rénshēng  ―  splendid life

   人生道理  ―  rénshēng dàolǐ  ―  philosophies of life

   人生嘅真諦 / 人生嘅真谛 [Cantonese]  ―  jan⁴ sang¹ ge³ zan¹ dai³ [Jyutping]  ―  the true meaning of life

   人生永遠沒有太晚的開始。 [MSC, trad.]
   人生永远没有太晚的开始。 [MSC, simp.]

   Rénshēng yǒngyuǎn méiyǒu tài wǎn de kāishǐ. [Pinyin]

   No beginning has ever been proved to be too late.

Synonyms

• (literary) 人世 (rénshì)

Derived terms

Derived terms from 人生

人生一世，草生一秋 人生七十古來稀／人生七十古来稀 人生不滿百，常懷千歲憂／人生不满百，常怀千岁忧 人生伴侶／人生伴侣 (rénshēng bànlǚ) 人生何處不相逢／人生何处不相逢 (rénshēng héchù bù xiāngféng) 人生在世 人生如夢／人生如梦 (rénshēngrúmèng) 人生如寄 人生如戲／人生如戏 人生如朝露 人生如萍

人生如風燈／人生如风灯 人生導師／人生导师 (rénshēng dǎoshī) 人生教練／人生教练 (rénshēng jiàoliàn) 人生朝露 人生無常／人生无常 人生自古誰無死／人生自古谁无死 人生觀／人生观 (rénshēngguān) 人生識字憂患始／人生识字忧患始 人生開口笑難逢／人生开口笑难逢 人生面不熟

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (人生):

• → Japanese: 人 (じん)生 (せい) (jinsei)
• → Korean: 인생 (人生, insaeng)
• → Vietnamese: nhân sinh (人生)

See also

• 生活 (shēnghuó)
• 生命 (shēngmìng)

---

Japanese

Kanji in this term
人	生
じん Grade: 1	せい Grade: 1
on’yomi

Etymology

From Middle Chinese 人生 (ȵiɪn ʃˠæŋ).

Pronunciation

• On’yomi: Kan’on
  • (Tokyo) じ​んせー [jíꜜǹsèè] (Atamadaka – [1])[1][2]
  • IPA^(key): [d͡ʑĩɰ̃se̞ː]

Noun

人生 (hiragana じんせい, rōmaji jinsei)

1. life

   それが人 (じん)生 (せい)

   sore ga jinsei

   such is life

2. Literally, person's past. Used when speaking about the former life of a dead person.

Derived terms

Derived terms

• 芸術 (げいじゅつ)は長 (なが)く人 (じん)生 (せい)は短 (みじか)し (geijutsu wa nagaku jinsei wa mijikashi, “ars longa, vita brevis”)
• 人 (じん)生 (せい)意 (い)気 (き)に感 (かん)ず (jinsei iki ni kanzu)
• 人 (じん)生 (せい)観 (かん) (jinseikan)
• 人 (じん)生 (せい)訓 (くん) (jinseikun)
• 人生劇場 (じんせいげきじょう) (jinsei gekijō)
• 人 (じん)生 (せい)行 (こう)路 (ろ) (jinsei kōro)
• 人生行路難 (じんせいこうろかた)し (jinsei kōro katashi)
• 人生七十古来稀 (じんせいしちじゅうこらいまれ)なり (jinsei shichijū korai marenari)
• 人 (じん)生 (せい)朝 (ちょう)露 (ろ)の如 (ごと)し (jinsei chōro no gotoshi)
• 人生哲学 (じんせいてつがく) (jinsei tetsugaku)
• 人 (じん)生 (せい)のための芸術 (げいじゅつ) (jinsei no tame no geijutsu)
• 人 (じん)生 (せい)派 (は) (jinseiha)
• 人 (じん)生 (せい)模 (も)様 (よう) (jinsei moyō)
• 人 (じん)生 (せい)論 (ろん) (jinseiron)
• 人生僅 (じんせいわず)か五 (ご)十 (じゅう)年 (ねん) (jinsei wazuka gojūnen)
• 自 (し)然 (ぜん)と人 (じん)生 (せい) (shizen to jinsei)
• 実人生 (じつじんせい) (jitsujinsei)

References

1. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
2. 1998, NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK, →ISBN

• 2002, Ineko Kondō; Fumi Takano; Mary E Althaus; et. al., Shogakukan Progressive Japanese-English Dictionary, Third Edition, Tokyo: Shōgakukan, →ISBN.

---

Korean

Hanja in this term
人	生

Noun

人生 • (insaeng) (hangeul 인생)

1. Hanja form^? of 인생 (“life”).

---

Vietnamese

Hán tự in this word
人	生

Noun

人生

1. Hán tự form of nhân sinh (“life”).