聲聞

Chinese

		voice	hearer
trad. (聲聞)		聲	聞
simp. (声闻)		声	闻
Literally: “one who hears the voice [of the Buddha]”.

Etymology

From Sanskrit श्रावक (śrāvaka, “one who hears”). The prefix 聲 (“voice”) refers to the voice of the Buddha.

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): shēngwén

(Zhuyin): ㄕㄥㄨㄣˊ

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: shēngwén
  - Zhuyin: ㄕㄥㄨㄣˊ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: shengwún
  - Wade–Giles: shêng¹-wên²
  - Yale: shēng-wén
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shengwen
  - Palladius: шэнвэнь (šɛnvɛnʹ)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʂɤŋ⁵⁵ wən³⁵/

Noun

聲聞

(Buddhism) śrāvaka (a disciple of the Buddha)
令諸子等，日夜劫數，
常得遊戲，與諸菩薩，
及聲聞眾，乘此寶乘，
直至道場。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
令诸子等，日夜劫数，
常得游戏，与诸菩萨，
及声闻众，乘此宝乘，
直至道场。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
From: The Lotus Sūtra, translated by Kumārajīva circa 5^th century CE
Lìng zhū zǐ děng, rìyè jié shù,
Cháng dé yóuxì, yǔ zhū púsà,
Jí shēngwén zhòng, chéng cǐ bǎo shèng,
Zhí zhì dàochǎng. [Pinyin]
The children day and night for unnumbered kalpas
will find constant enjoyment, will join the bodhisattvas
and the multitude of voice-hearers in mounting this jeweled vehicle
and proceeding directly to the place of enlightenment.