Vocabulary · 词汇 cíhuì

人间

rénjiān the human world; the mortal realm

The human world — where things bloom and fade, where relationships form and dissolve, and where, according to Buddhist teaching, the only beings capable of achieving enlightenment happen to live.

字源 zìyuán Etymology & Compound Structure

字源洞见 zìyuán dòngjiàn · Etymological Insight

人 rén (person; pictograph of a standing figure, legs apart) + 间 jiān (between; space; interval; gap — originally a pictograph of moonlight through a gate, later: any space between things). 人间 = literally "the space between/among people" or "the realm in which people dwell." The spatial metaphor is deliberate: 间 (jiān) names a gap, a middle zone, and so 人间 is the middle realm — between heaven above and the underworld below.

间 does heavy work in Mandarin as a locational suffix: 房间 fángjiān (room, lit. "room-space"), 时间 shíjiān (time, lit. "time-interval"), 空间 kōngjiān (space, volume, room to move), 民间 mínjiān (folk; among the people). In all these, 间 signals a zone defined by what surrounds it. 人间 follows the same logic: the zone defined by the presence of human beings.

三界 sānjìe The Three Realms — Where 人间 Sits

文化洞见 wénhuà dòngjiàn · Cultural Note

In the cosmological framework shared across Daoist, Buddhist, and Chinese folk-religion traditions, existence is divided into three stacked realms: 天界 tiānjiè (the celestial realm, where gods and immortals dwell), 人间 rénjiān (the human world, the middle realm), and 地府 dìfǔ or 冥界 míngjiè (the underworld, ruled by the Jade Emperor's counterpart 阎王 Yánwáng, the king of the dead). This vertical cosmology underlies the logic of Chinese opera, folk tales, and religious ritual: gods descend into 人间, ghosts rise from 地府, and humans — caught in the middle — are the audience and protagonists of both.

The folk-religion usage is especially vivid in drama and fiction. In countless traditional tales, a celestial being (仙 xiān) is banished to 人间 as punishment for some transgression, stripped of immortality and forced to live as a mortal. The drama is precisely about the weight of 人间 — its grief, its beauty, its attachments. The celestial realm is safe and long but cold; 人间 is dangerous and brief but full of feeling.

人间 rénjiān the human world; the mortal realm; this life on earth

N 名词 míngcí

The world as experienced by living human beings — distinct from the divine realm above and the realm of the dead below. Carries a strong connotation of transience: 人间 is where things are precious precisely because they do not last. The word can be used in a purely cosmological sense (human realm vs. celestial or underworld realm) or as an emotionally charged term for the full texture of human life.

他在人间只活了三十七年，却写了无数传世的诗篇。

Tā zài rénjiān zhǐ huó le sānshíqī nián, què xiě le wúshù chuánshì de shīpiān.

He lived in this world for only thirty-seven years, yet wrote countless poems that have lasted through the ages.

人间的悲欢离合，在这首诗里都写尽了。

Rénjiān de bēihuān líhé, zài zhè shǒu shī lǐ dōu xiě jìn le.

The joys and sorrows, the partings and reunions of the human world — this poem has captured all of it.

她下凡到人间，爱上了一个普通的书生。

Tā xiàfán dào rénjiān, ài shàng le yī gè pǔtōng de shūsheng.

She descended from the heavens into the mortal world and fell in love with an ordinary scholar.

天界 tiānjiè the celestial realm; heaven; the realm of gods and immortals

N 名词 míngcí

天 (heaven; sky) + 界 (boundary; realm; world). The realm above 人间, populated by gods (神 shén), immortals (仙 xiān), and celestial officials. In folk-religion cosmology it mirrors the imperial bureaucracy below, with the Jade Emperor (玉皇大帝 Yù Huáng Dàdì) at its head. Beings born here enjoy long lives free from the suffering of 人间, but in Buddhist teaching this is considered less fortunate than human birth because they have no motivation to seek liberation.

据说天界的仙人不懂人间的悲苦。

Jùshuō tiānjiè de xiānrén bù dǒng rénjiān de bēikǔ.

It is said that the immortals of the celestial realm do not understand the sorrow and suffering of the human world.

她犯了天规，被贬下天界，投胎为凡人。

Tā fàn le tiān guī, bèi biǎn xià tiānjiè, tóutāi wéi fánrén.

She violated the laws of heaven and was cast down from the celestial realm, reincarnated as a mortal.

地府 dìfǔ the underworld; the realm of the dead

N 名词 míngcí

地 (earth; ground) + 府 (government office; official residence). The underground realm of the dead, governed by 阎王 Yánwáng (Yama, the king of the underworld) and his bureaucracy. Souls of the dead travel here after death to be judged, assigned their next rebirth, and — after drinking the soup of forgetfulness on the Bridge of Helplessness (奈何桥 Nàihéqiáo) — sent back to 人间 for another life. Also called 冥界 míngjiè or 阴间 yīnjiān.

在民间传说中，死后灵魂会被带到地府接受审判。

Zài mínjiān chuánshuō zhōng, sǐ hòu línghún huì bèi dài dào dìfǔ jiēshòu shěnpàn.

In folk belief, the soul is taken to the underworld after death to be judged.

他下地府寻找已故的妻子，历经种种磨难。

Tā xià dìfǔ xúnzhǎo yǐgù de qīzi, lìjīng zhǒngzhǒng mónàn.

He descended to the underworld to search for his deceased wife, enduring countless hardships.

人间道 rénjiān dào The Buddhist Human Realm — A Precious Birth

佛教洞见 fójiào dòngjiàn · Buddhist Note

Buddhist cosmology posits six realms of rebirth (六道 liù dào): gods (天 tiān), asuras (修罗 xiūluó), humans (人 rén), animals (畜生 chùsheng), hungry ghosts (饿鬼 èguǐ), and hell beings (地狱 dìyù). Among all six, birth in 人间 is the most conducive to awakening. The god realm lasts longer, but gods are too comfortable to feel the urgency of the Dharma. The lower realms are too painful for systematic practice. Only in 人间, with its mixture of pleasure and suffering, clarity and confusion, do beings have both the motivation and the capacity to hear the teaching and act on it.

The technical term is 人身难得 rén shēn nán dé — "human birth is difficult to obtain." A traditional analogy: imagine a blind turtle surfacing from the ocean's depths once every hundred years. The chance of that turtle surfacing with its neck through a wooden ring floating on the surface is how rare it is to be born human, according to the Majjhima Nikāya. 人间, in this framing, is not a fallen realm to be escaped but a rare opportunity to be used well.

This view was the philosophical foundation of 人间佛教 rénjiān fójiào (humanistic Buddhism), articulated by Master Taixu (太虚, 1890–1947) and carried forward by Hsing Yun (星云) of Fo Guang Shan and Shengyen (圣严) of Dharma Drum Mountain. Their argument: practice should transform this world, not withdraw from it. Liberation is not escape from 人间 but the full awakening of a human being living in it.

六道 liù dào the six realms of rebirth

N 名词 míngcí

六 (six) + 道 (path; way; realm). The six realms through which beings cycle in Buddhist cosmology: gods, asuras, humans, animals, hungry ghosts, and hell beings. The human realm (人道 rén dào or 人间道 rénjiān dào) occupies the middle tier. Beings move between realms through karma generated in each life.

佛教认为，众生在六道中轮回，直到解脱为止。

Fójiào rènwéi, zhòngshēng zài liù dào zhōng lúnhuí, zhídào jiětuō wéizhǐ.

Buddhism holds that sentient beings cycle through the six realms until they attain liberation.

能投生人间，在六道中是极为难得的福报。

Néng tóushēng rénjiān, zài liù dào zhōng shì jí wéi nán dé de fúbào.

To be reborn in the human realm is, among the six paths, an exceptionally rare and fortunate karma.

他修行多年，希望能出离六道，不再受苦。

Tā xiūxíng duō nián, xīwàng néng chūlí liù dào, bù zài shòu kǔ.

He practiced for many years, hoping to exit the cycle of the six realms and be free of suffering.

人间佛教 rénjiān fójiào humanistic Buddhism; Buddhism for the human world

N 名词 míngcí

The 20th-century reformist movement, associated above all with Master Taixu (太虚, 1890–1947), that repositioned Buddhist practice away from funeral rites and other-worldly concerns toward engagement with society, education, and the relief of present suffering. 人间佛教 insists that the Buddha was himself a human being — not a supernatural deity — and that his path was designed to be walked by humans in this world, not after death.

人间佛教强调佛法要落实在日常生活中。

Rénjiān fójiào qiángdiào fófǎ yào luòshí zài rìcháng shēnghuó zhōng.

Humanistic Buddhism emphasizes bringing the Dharma into practice in everyday life.

星云大师毕生推广人间佛教，创建了遍布全球的道场。

Xīngyún dàshī bìshēng tuīguǎng rénjiān fójiào, chuàngjiàn le biànbù quánqiú de dàochǎng.

Master Hsing Yun devoted his life to promoting humanistic Buddhism and established practice centers worldwide.

诗词 shīcí 人间 in Classical Poetry

文学洞见 wénxué dòngjiàn · Literary Note

No other word concentrates the emotional charge of Chinese lyric poetry quite like 人间. The reason is structural: poetry in the Tang and Song traditions was saturated with a contrast between the elevated realm (mountain temples, celestial spheres, immortal groves) and the human world below. Whenever a poet writes 人间, they are writing the word against its opposite. The moon is in the sky; the viewer is in 人间. The peach blossoms at the mountain temple are just opening; the flowers of 人间 have already gone.

Bai Juyi (白居易, 772–846) uses this contrast in one of his most anthologized lines: 人间四月芳菲尽，山寺桃花始盛开 (Rénjiān sìyuè fāngfēi jìn, shānsì táohuā shǐ shèng kāi) — "The flowers of the human world have all faded in the fourth month; the peach blossoms at the mountain temple are just now coming into full bloom." The temple sits higher in elevation, where spring arrives later. But the poem is not about altitude; it is about 人间 as the place where things end before they end elsewhere. The word carries the season's loss.

Su Shi (苏轼, 1037–1101), writing his most famous Mid-Autumn Festival poem to his brother Su Zhe after years of separation, addresses the moon: 但愿人长久，千里共婵娟 (Dàn yuàn rén cháng jiǔ, qiānlǐ gòng chánjuān) — "May people live long; across a thousand li, may we share this moon's beauty together." The moon is constant; 人间 is where people age, separate, and lose each other. The wish is directed against what 人间 does to people.

Li Yu (李煜, 937–978), the last ruler of the Southern Tang dynasty and arguably the finest lyric poet in the Chinese tradition, wrote 人间 from inside catastrophe. Captured by the Song emperor, stripped of his throne, placed under house arrest in Kaifeng, he wrote: 问君能有几多愁？恰似一江春水向东流 (Wèn jūn néng yǒu jǐ duō chóu? Qià sì yī jiāng chūn shuǐ xiàng dōng liú) — "Ask how much sorrow can a person hold? As much as a river of spring water flowing east." His entire late body of work treats 人间 as the site of grief that admits no resolution.

人间四月芳菲尽，山寺桃花始盛开 Rénjiān sìyuè fāngfēi jìn, shānsì táohuā shǐ shèng kāi Bai Juyi · 大林寺桃花

The flowers of the human world have all faded in the fourth month; the peach blossoms at the mountain temple are just now coming into full bloom. Written during an excursion to Dalin Temple on Lushan (庐山), where Bai Juyi discovered that spring had not yet ended at altitude. The famous first line treats 人间 as the realm of seasonal mortality — where things run their course and end.

人间四月芳菲尽，山寺桃花始盛开。长恨春归无觅处，不知转入此中来。

Rénjiān sìyuè fāngfēi jìn, shānsì táohuā shǐ shèng kāi. Cháng hèn chūn guī wú mì chù, bù zhī zhuǎn rù cǐ zhōng lái.

The flowers of the human world have all faded in the fourth month; the peach blossoms at the mountain temple are just now coming into full bloom. I long lamented spring's retreat with nowhere to find it — unaware it had turned and come in here.

但愿人长久，千里共婵娟 Dàn yuàn rén cháng jiǔ, qiānlǐ gòng chánjuān Su Shi · 水调歌头 · Mid-Autumn 1076

May people live long; across a thousand li, may we share this moon's beauty together. Written in 1076, when Su Shi had not seen his brother Su Zhe for seven years. 婵娟 (chánjuān) was a classical term for the beautiful full moon. The wish — that people might simply live long enough to see the same sky — is the wish made by someone in 人间, where distance and time separate people the moon cannot.

明月几时有，把酒问青天。不知天上宫阙，今夕是何年。……但愿人长久，千里共婵娟。

Míng yuè jǐ shí yǒu, bǎ jiǔ wèn qīngtiān. Bù zhī tiānshàng gōngquè, jīn xī shì hé nián. … Dàn yuàn rén cháng jiǔ, qiānlǐ gòng chánjuān.

Since when has the bright moon existed? I raise my cup and ask the blue sky. I do not know what year it is tonight in the heavenly palace above. … May people live long; across a thousand li, may we share this moon's beauty together.

问君能有几多愁？恰似一江春水向东流 Wèn jūn néng yǒu jǐ duō chóu? Qià sì yī jiāng chūn shuǐ xiàng dōng liú Li Yu · 虞美人 · c. 978

Ask how much sorrow can a person hold? As much as a river of spring water flowing east. Written under house arrest after the fall of his kingdom. Li Yu's late poems treat 人间 not as the middle realm between heaven and the underworld but as the place where loss accumulates beyond measure. This couplet is among the most quoted in the Chinese tradition — the river of sorrow endless, directional, unstoppable.

春花秋月何时了，往事知多少。小楼昨夜又东风，故国不堪回首月明中。……问君能有几多愁？恰似一江春水向东流。

Chūn huā qiū yuè hé shí liǎo, wǎngshì zhī duōshǎo. Xiǎo lóu zuóyè yòu dōngfēng, gùguó bù kān huí shǒu yuè míng zhōng. … Wèn jūn néng yǒu jǐ duō chóu? Qià sì yī jiāng chūn shuǐ xiàng dōng liú.

When will the spring flowers and autumn moon finally end? How much of the past do I know. Last night the east wind came again to my little tower — I cannot bear to look back at my old kingdom in the moonlight. … Ask how much sorrow can a person hold? As much as a river of spring water flowing east.

词组 cízǔ Compounds and Phrases

人间烟火 rénjiān yānhuǒ the smoke and fire of human life; the warmth of ordinary domestic existence

N phrase 名词短语

烟火 (yānhuǒ) = smoke and fire — specifically the smoke of cooking fires and the warmth of a hearth. 人间烟火 refers to the sights, smells, and sounds of ordinary human life: street food stalls, the smell of garlic in a wok, a neighborhood at dusk. To say a place or person has 烟火气 (yānhuǒ qì, a sense of human warmth) is high praise in contemporary Chinese. Its opposite is 不食人间烟火 — "not eating the smoke and fire of 人间," meaning someone too ethereal or aloof to be of this world.

这条小巷充满了人间烟火，每天早上都飘着豆浆和油条的香味。

Zhè tiáo xiǎo xiàng chōngmǎn le rénjiān yānhuǒ, měi tiān zǎoshang dōu piāo zhe dòujiāng hé yóutiáo de xiāngwèi.

This alley is full of the smoke and fire of human life — every morning it smells of soy milk and fried dough sticks.

她身上有一种难得的人间烟火气，和她聊天总是让人感到踏实。

Tā shēnshàng yǒu yī zhǒng nán dé de rénjiān yānhuǒ qì, hé tā liáotiān zǒng shì ràng rén gǎndào tāshí.

There's a rare warmth of ordinary humanity about her — talking with her always feels grounding.

旅行最大的乐趣，就是在异乡感受当地的人间烟火。

Lǚxíng zuìdà de lèqù, jiùshì zài yìxiāng gǎnshòu dāngdì de rénjiān yānhuǒ.

The greatest pleasure of travel is experiencing the domestic warmth of ordinary life in a place far from home.

不食人间烟火 bù shí rénjiān yānhuǒ "not eating the smoke and fire of the human world" — otherworldly; too aloof to be of this world

Adj phrase 形容词短语

Literally: "does not eat the smoke and fire of 人间." Originally said of immortals (仙 xiān) and deities, who subsist on pure air rather than cooked food and are therefore free of the desires and needs that tie mortals to this world. Now used — sometimes as a compliment, more often as mild criticism — of people who seem too refined, too abstract, or too detached from practical reality. A brilliant but impractical scholar might be described this way.

她的气质超凡脱俗，不食人间烟火，仿佛不属于这个世界。

Tā de qìzhì chāofán tuōsú, bù shí rénjiān yānhuǒ, fǎngfú bù shǔyú zhège shìjiè.

Her manner is otherworldly and refined — she seems not to eat the smoke and fire of the human world, as though she doesn't quite belong here.

他讲起理论来头头是道，但一到实际操作就不食人间烟火了。

Tā jiǎng qǐ lǐlùn lái tóutóushìdào, dàn yī dào shíjì cāozuò jiù bù shí rénjiān yānhuǒ le.

He talks theory fluently, but when it comes to actual practice he's suddenly too ethereal to be of this world.

人间天堂 rénjiān tiāntáng paradise on earth; heaven in the human world

N phrase 名词短语

天堂 (tiāntáng) = paradise; heaven. 人间天堂 collapses the cosmological distance between 人间 and 天界: a place so beautiful it brings the celestial into the human world. The phrase is used in the proverb 上有天堂，下有苏杭 (shàng yǒu tiāntáng, xià yǒu Sū Háng) — "Above there is heaven; below there are Suzhou and Hangzhou" — making both cities synonymous with 人间天堂.

上有天堂，下有苏杭。苏州和杭州自古就被称为人间天堂。

Shàng yǒu tiāntáng, xià yǒu Sū Háng. Sūzhōu hé Hángzhōu zìgǔ jiù bèi chēng wéi rénjiān tiāntáng.

"Above there is heaven; below there are Suzhou and Hangzhou." Suzhou and Hangzhou have been called paradise on earth since ancient times.

在旅行者眼中，这座小镇简直就是人间天堂。

Zài lǚxíng zhě yǎn zhōng, zhè zuò xiǎo zhèn jiǎnzhí jiùshì rénjiān tiāntáng.

In the eyes of travelers, this small town is simply paradise on earth.

这里绿树成荫、湖光山色，真是人间天堂。

Zhèlǐ lǜshù chéngyīn, húguāng shānsè, zhēn shì rénjiān tiāntáng.

With green trees casting shade and the reflections of lakes and mountains, this is truly paradise on earth.

人间蒸发 rénjiān zhēngfā "to evaporate from the human world" — to vanish; to go completely off the grid

V phrase 动词短语

蒸发 (zhēngfā) = to evaporate; to vaporize. A colorful colloquial expression for someone who has completely disappeared from contact — not answering calls, not posting online, impossible to locate. The humor is cosmological: they have not merely left town, they have vacated 人间 entirely. Used lightly for anyone who has been unreachable for a while.

他从上周起就没联系了，完全人间蒸发了。

Tā cóng shàng zhōu qǐ jiù méi liánxì le, wánquán rénjiān zhēngfā le.

He's been out of contact since last week — completely evaporated from the human world.

明明说好要来，结果他人间蒸发，电话也不接。

Míngmíng shuō hǎo yào lái, jiéguǒ tā rénjiān zhēngfā, diànhuà yě bù jiē.

He clearly agreed to come, and then he vanished from the face of the earth — not even answering his phone.

辨析 biànxī 人间 vs. Near-Synonyms

辨析洞见 biànxī dòngjiàn · Contrast Note

Four words occupy overlapping territory around the concept of "this world": 人间, 世界, 世间, and 凡间. They are not interchangeable.

世界 shìjiè is the general, everyday word for "world" or "the world." Buddhist in origin (世 shì = time; 界 jiè = space/realm), it combines the temporal and spatial dimensions of existence into a single concept. 世界 is the default word for "the world" in modern Chinese — neutral, geographical, without emotional loading. 世界地图 = a world map; 世界杯 = the World Cup. When you want to say "the whole world," you say 世界.

世间 shìjiān is more literary, appearing primarily in Buddhist texts and classical prose. It is close to 人间 in meaning — the world of sentient beings, as opposed to the transcendent — but cooler in register. 世间 appears in formulas like 世间万物 (all things in the world) and 出世间 (transcending this world, i.e. nirvana). 世间 does not carry the warmth or transience-charged weight that 人间 does.

凡间 fánjiān is the word used in folk religion and traditional drama for the mortal realm as seen from above or below. 凡 fán means "ordinary, mortal, earthly" — its antonym is 仙 xiān (immortal). When a god descends from the heavens in a folk tale, they descend into 凡间; when an immortal visits the human world, they enter 凡间. 凡间 emphasizes the distinction between the immortal and the mortal, rather than the intrinsic value of human life. 人间 can be used with tenderness; 凡间 tends to signal the heavenly or underworld perspective looking down.

世界 shìjiè the world; the earth; the global sphere

N 名词 míngcí

The general, modern, neutral word for "world." Neither poetically charged nor cosmologically specific. Appropriate in any register for geography, politics, sports, science, and everyday speech. Does not carry the emotional weight of 人间 and is not used in Buddhist cosmological or poetic contexts the way 人间 is.

他梦想着有一天能走遍整个世界。

Tā mèngxiǎng zhe yǒu yītiān néng zǒubiàn zhěnggè shìjiè.

He dreams of one day traveling the entire world.

在这个世界上，没有什么事是理所当然的。

Zài zhège shìjiè shàng, méiyǒu shénme shì shì lǐsuǒdāngrán de.

In this world, nothing can be taken for granted.

世界各地的文化都有自己独特的传统。

Shìjiè gèdì de wénhuà dōu yǒu zìjǐ dútè de chuántǒng.

Cultures around the world each have their own unique traditions.

辨析 biànxī — 世界 vs. 人间 Use 世界 for geography, international affairs, general reference to "the world." Use 人间 when the emotional register is elevated — in poetry, in Buddhist or cosmological contexts, or when the transience of human life is part of the meaning. 世界上最美的风景 (the most beautiful scenery in the world) is normal speech. 人间最美的风景 shifts the claim into lyric register, implying the beauty is bound up with the brevity of human life.

世间 shìjiān the world of sentient beings; this life; among the world

N 名词 míngcí

More literary than 世界, similar in range to 人间, but cooler and more doctrinally precise in Buddhist usage. Appears in classical compounds: 出世间 (transcending this world), 世间法 (the dharmas of this world, as opposed to transcendent dharma), 世间万象 (the ten thousand phenomena of this world). Lacks the emotional warmth of 人间; appropriate for Buddhist philosophical prose but less so for lyric poetry.

出离世间，是佛教修行的最终目标之一。

Chūlí shìjiān, shì fójiào xiūxíng de zuìzhōng mùbiāo zhī yī.

Liberation from this world is one of the ultimate goals of Buddhist practice.

世间万物皆无常，执着只会徒增烦恼。

Shìjiān wànwù jiē wúcháng, zhízhuó zhǐ huì tú zēng fánnǎo.

All things in the world are impermanent; attachment only adds to suffering.

凡间 fánjiān the mortal realm; the ordinary world (as seen from above)

N 名词 míngcí

凡 fán (mortal; ordinary; not immortal) + 间 (space; realm). The mortal world as defined by its contrast with the celestial. Where 人间 can be used with affection by someone who lives there, 凡间 more often carries the perspective of someone who stands outside it — a god, an immortal, or a narrator looking down from above. Common in wuxia fiction, historical fantasy, and opera. 凡人 (ordinary mortal) follows the same logic: a being defined by not being 仙.

她在天界犯了错，被贬下凡间，化身为一名普通女子。

Tā zài tiānjiè fàn le cuò, bèi biǎn xià fánjiān, huàshēn wéi yī míng pǔtōng nǚzǐ.

She made a transgression in the celestial realm and was cast down to the mortal world, taking the form of an ordinary woman.

在仙人眼中，凡间的烦恼不过是过眼云烟。

Zài xiānrén yǎn zhōng, fánjiān de fánnǎo bùguò shì guòyǎnyúnyān.

In the eyes of an immortal, the troubles of the mortal realm are nothing but passing clouds.

他修炼多年，早已看破凡间，一心只想得道成仙。

Tā xiūliàn duō nián, zǎoyǐ kànpò fánjiān, yīxīn zhǐ xiǎng dédào chéng xiān.

He has cultivated for many years and long since seen through the mortal realm — his mind set entirely on attaining the Dao and becoming an immortal.