凡夫

Chinese

		ordinary; every; all ordinary; every; all; whatever; worldly	husband; man
simp. and trad. (凡夫)		凡	夫

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): fánfū

  (Zhuyin): ㄈㄢˊ ㄈㄨ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): faan⁴ fu¹
• Southern Min (Teochew, Peng'im): huam⁵ hu¹

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: fánfū
    • Zhuyin: ㄈㄢˊ ㄈㄨ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: fánfu
    • Wade–Giles: fan²-fu¹
    • Yale: fán-fū
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: farnfu
    • Palladius: фаньфу (fanʹfu)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /fän³⁵ fu⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: faan⁴ fu¹
    • Yale: fàahn fū
    • Cantonese Pinyin: faan⁴ fu¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: fan⁴ fu¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /faːn²¹ fuː⁵⁵/
• Southern Min
  • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: huam⁵ hu¹
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: huâm hu
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /huam⁵⁵⁻¹¹ hu³³/

---

• Middle Chinese: bjom pju

Rime
Character	凡	夫
Reading #	1/1	2/2
Initial (聲)	並 (3)	幫 (1)
Final (韻)	凡 (146)	虞 (24)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Closed	Closed
Division (等)	III	III
Fanqie	符咸切	甫無切
Baxter	bjom	pju
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/bɨɐm/	/pɨo/
Pan Wuyun	/biɐm/	/pio/
Shao Rongfen	/biɐm/	/pio/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/buam/	/puə̆/
Li Rong	/biɐm/	/pio/
Wang Li	/bĭwɐm/	/pĭu/
Bernard Karlgren	/bʱi̯wɐm/	/pi̯u/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	fán	fū
Expected Cantonese Reflex	faan4	fu1

Noun

凡夫

1. (literary) ordinary person; mortal person

   • 自古道：「遣泰山輕如芥子，攜凡夫難脫紅塵。」 [Written Vernacular Chinese, trad.]
     自古道：「遣泰山轻如芥子，携凡夫难脱红尘。」 [Written Vernacular Chinese, simp.]

     From: Wu Cheng'en, Journey to the West, 16^th century CE

     Zìgǔ dào: “Qiǎn tàishān qīng rú jièzǐ, xié fánfū nán tuō hóngchén.” [Pinyin]

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

2. (Buddhism) unenlightened person

Synonyms

• (ordinary person):

• 一般人 (yībānrén)
• 世人 (shìrén)
• 世間人／世间人 (Hokkien)
• 人士 (rénshì) (literary)
• 人民 (rénmín)
• 人群 (rénqún)
• 人萌 (rénméng) (literary)
• 俗人 (súrén)
• 俗子 (súzǐ) (literary)
• 𫣆人 (Hakka)
• 兆民 (zhàomín) (archaic)
• 公眾／公众 (gōngzhòng)
• 凡人 (fánrén)
• 匹夫 (pǐfū) (literary)
• 四眾人／四众人 (Teochew)
• 士人 (shìrén) (archaic)
• 大眾／大众 (dàzhòng)
• 子民 (zǐmín) (historical)
• 家人 (jiārén) (archaic)
• 布衣 (bùyī) (historical)
• 常人 (chángrén)
• 平人 (píngrén) (literary)
• 平常人 (píngchángrén)
• 平民 (píngmín)
• 庶人 (shùrén) (literary)
• 庶民 (shùmín) (literary)
• 斯人 (sīrén) (Classical Chinese)
• 普通人 (pǔtōngrén)
• 民人 (mínrén) (literary)
• 民眾／民众 (mínzhòng)
• 烝民 (zhēngmín) (literary)
• 白衣 (báiyī) (historical)
• 白衣人 (báiyīrén) (historical)
• 白身 (báishēn) (archaic)
• 白身人 (báishēnrén) (archaic)
• 百姓
• 眾人／众人 (zhòngrén) (literary)
• 萬姓／万姓 (wànxìng) (archaic)
• 群眾／群众 (qúnzhòng)
• 老百姓 (lǎobǎixìng)
• 良人 (liángrén) (literary)
• 草民 (cǎomín) (the worthless ordinary people)
• 草菅 (cǎojiān) (Classical Chinese, figurative)
• 草野 (cǎoyě) (literary, figurative)
• 萌 (literary)
• 野人 (yěrén) (archaic)
• 黎庶 (líshù) (literary)
• 黎民 (límín) (literary)
• 黎首 (líshǒu) (archaic)
• 黔首 (qiánshǒu) (archaic)

 

Derived terms

• 凡夫俗子 (fánfūsúzǐ)
• 凡夫性
• 肉眼凡夫

 

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (凡夫):

• → Japanese: 凡(ぼん)夫(ぷ) (bonpu)
• → Korean: 범부(凡夫) (beombu)
• → Vietnamese: phàm phu (凡夫)

Further reading

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

Japanese

Kanji in this term
凡	夫
ぼん Grade: S	ふ > ぷ Grade: 4
on’yomi

Etymology

Probably from Middle Chinese 凡夫 (MC bjom pju, literally “ordinary, common; worldly, mortal + man, person, fellow”).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) ぼ​んぷ [bóꜜǹpù] (Atamadaka – [1])
• IPA^(key): [bõ̞mpɯ̟ᵝ]

Noun

凡(ぼん)夫(ぷ) • (bonpu) 

1. ordinary person; mortal person
2. (Buddhism) unenlightened person

Usage notes

May be found in some dialects or historical contexts with the reading bonbu.

References

• Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN

Korean

Hanja in this term
凡	夫

Noun

凡夫 • (beombu) (hangeul 범부)

1. Hanja form^? of 범부 (“ordinary person, mortal person; (Buddhism) an unenlightened person”).

Vietnamese

chữ Hán Nôm in this term
凡	夫

Noun

凡夫

1. chữ Hán form of phàm phu (“ordinary person, mortal person; (Buddhism) an unenlightened person”).