前世

Chinese

		front, forepart; in front; past front, forepart; in front; past; former; previous; last; before; preceding; earlier; ago; future; time ahead; first; top; battlefront; to move forward	life; age; generation life; age; generation; era; world; lifetime
trad. (前世)		前	世
simp. #(前世)		前	世

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): qiánshì

  (Zhuyin): ㄑㄧㄢˊ ㄕˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): cin⁴ sai³
• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): chhièn-se / chhièn-sṳ
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): chêng-sì / chûiⁿ--sì / chiân-sì / chân-sì / chiân-sè / chêng-sè

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)
    • Hanyu Pinyin: qiánshì
    • Zhuyin: ㄑㄧㄢˊ ㄕˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: ciánshìh
    • Wade–Giles: chʻien²-shih⁴
    • Yale: chyán-shr̀
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: chyanshyh
    • Palladius: цяньши (cjanʹši)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡ɕʰi̯ɛn³⁵ ʂʐ̩⁵¹/
    • Homophones:

      [Show/Hide]
      edit edit 前世 前事

• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: cin⁴ sai³
    • Yale: chìhn sai
    • Cantonese Pinyin: tsin⁴ sai³
    • Guangdong Romanization: qin⁴ sei³
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰiːn²¹ sɐi̯³³/
• Hakka
  • (Northern Sixian, incl. Miaoli)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: chhièn-se
    • Hakka Romanization System: qienˇ se
    • Hagfa Pinyim: qian² se⁴
    • Sinological IPA: /t͡sʰi̯en¹¹ se⁵⁵/
  • (Southern Sixian, incl. Meinong)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: chhièn-sṳ
    • Hakka Romanization System: qienˇ sii
    • Hagfa Pinyim: qian² si⁴
    • Sinological IPA: /t͡sʰi̯en¹¹ sɨ⁵⁵/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Zhangzhou, General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chêng-sì
    • Tâi-lô: tsîng-sì
    • Phofsit Daibuun: zengsix
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /t͡siɪŋ²³⁻³³ si²¹/
    • IPA (Taipei): /t͡siɪŋ²⁴⁻¹¹ si¹¹/
    • IPA (Xiamen): /t͡siɪŋ²⁴⁻²² si²¹/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /t͡siɪŋ¹³⁻²² si²¹/
  • (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chûiⁿ--sì
    • Tâi-lô: tsuînn--sì
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Zhangzhou, variant in Taiwan)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chiân-sì
    • Tâi-lô: tsiân-sì
    • Phofsit Daibuun: ciensix
    • IPA (Xiamen): /t͡siɛn²⁴⁻²² si²¹/
    • IPA (Taipei): /t͡siɛn²⁴⁻¹¹ si¹¹/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /t͡siɛn²³⁻³³ si²¹/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /t͡siɛn¹³⁻²² si²¹/
  • (Hokkien: Zhangzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chân-sì
    • Tâi-lô: tsân-sì
    • Phofsit Daibuun: zansix
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /t͡san¹³⁻²² si²¹/
  • (Hokkien: Zhangzhou-like accent in Taiwan)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chiân-sè
    • Tâi-lô: tsiân-sè
    • Phofsit Daibuun: ciensex
  • (Hokkien: variant in Taiwan)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chêng-sè
    • Tâi-lô: tsîng-sè
    • Phofsit Daibuun: zengsex
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /t͡siɪŋ²³⁻³³ se²¹/
    • IPA (Taipei): /t͡siɪŋ²⁴⁻¹¹ se¹¹/

---

• Middle Chinese: dzen syejH

Rime
Character	前	世
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	從 (15)	書 (26)
Final (韻)	先 (85)	祭 (35)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Departing (H)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open
Division (等)	IV	III
Fanqie	昨先切	舒制切
Baxter	dzen	syejH
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/d͡zen/	/ɕiᴇiH/
Pan Wuyun	/d͡zen/	/ɕiɛiH/
Shao Rongfen	/d͡zɛn/	/ɕjæiH/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/d͡zɛn/	/ɕiajH/
Li Rong	/d͡zen/	/ɕiɛiH/
Wang Li	/d͡zien/	/ɕĭɛiH/
Bernard Karlgren	/d͡zʱien/	/ɕi̯ɛiH/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	qián	shì
Expected Cantonese Reflex	cin4	sai3

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*[dz]ˤen  l̥ap-s/

  (Zhengzhang): /*zleːn  hljebs/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	前	世
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	qián	shì
Middle Chinese	‹ dzen ›	‹ syejH ›
Old Chinese	/*[dz]ˁen/ (~ *m-dzˁen)	/*l̥ap-s/
English	before	generation
Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system: * Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence; * Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. *[t] as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p; * Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix; * Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary; * Period "." indicates syllable boundary.

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	前	世
Reading #	1/1	1/1
No.	10256	11537
Phonetic component	前	世
Rime group	元	蓋
Rime subdivision	2	2
Corresponding MC rime	前	丗
Old Chinese	/*zleːn/	/*hljebs/
Notes		本枼葉初文（文源）

Noun

前世

1. (literary) previous era
2. previous life; past life; past existence; previous incarnation

Synonyms

• (previous era): 前代 (qiándài), 先世 (xiānshì)
• (previous life):

• 上輩子／上辈子 (shàngbèizi)
• 前生 (qiánshēng)

 

Dialectal synonyms of 前世 (“previous life; previous existence; previous incarnation”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		前生, 前世
Mandarin	Taiwan	上輩子, 前世
	Xuzhou	前世年
Cantonese	Hong Kong	前世
Gan	Lichuan	前世
Hakka	Meixian	前生人
	Dongguan (Qingxi)	前世
	Heyuan (Bendihua)	前世
	Wengyuan	前世
	Liannan	前世
	Jiexi	前世
	Zhao'an (Xiuzhuan)	前世
	Changting	前世
	Wuping	前世
	Ninghua	前世
	Ningdu	前世
	Tonggu (Sandu)	頭世
	Ganzhou (Panlong)	前世
	Dayu	前生世
	Miaoli (N. Sixian)	前生, 前世
	Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian)	前生, 前生人, 前世
	Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu)	前生, 前世
	Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu)	前生, 前世
	Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping)	前生, 前世
	Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an)	前世
	Hong Kong	前世
	Yangxi (Tangkou)	前世
	Yangchun (Sanjia)	前世
	Xinyi (Sihe)	前世
	Xinyi (Qianpai)	前世
	Gaozhou (Xindong)	前世
	Maoming (Shalang, Dianbai)	前世
	Huazhou (Xin'an)	前世
	Lianjiang (Shijiao)	前世
	Lianjiang (Qingping)	前世
	Mengshan (Xihe)	前世
	Luchuan	前世
Huizhou	Jixi	前世
Southern Min	Xiamen	頂世, 頂世儂, 前世, 前世儂
	Quanzhou	頂世, 頂世儂, 前世
	Zhangzhou	頂世, 頂世儂, 前世, 前世儂
	Tainan	頂世儂, 前世儂, 前世 GT
	Manila (Hokkien)	頂世儂
	Haikou	前世
Wu	Suzhou	前世
	Hangzhou	前世
	Wenzhou	前世
Xiang	Changsha	前世
Note	GT - General Taiwanese (no specific region identified)

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (前世):

• → Japanese: 前(ぜん)世(せ) (zense)

Japanese

Kanji in this term
前	世
ぜん Grade: 2	せ Grade: 3
on’yomi

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) ぜ​んせ [zéꜜǹsè] (Atamadaka – [1])
• IPA^(key): [d͡zẽ̞ɰ̃se̞]

Noun

前(ぜん)世(せ) • (zense) 

1. previous life; past life; past existence

Korean

Hanja in this term
前	世

Noun

前世 • (jeonse) (hangeul 전세)

1. Hanja form^? of 전세 (“previous eras”).