天命

Chinese

		day; sky; heaven	life; fate
simp. and trad. (天命)		天	命

Etymology

Attested earliest on Zhou dynasty's bronze inscriptions,^[1] though during the Western Zhou period, the concept was not exactly worded as 天命 (tiānmìng) but 大令 (dàlìng), 大命 (dàmìng), 魯令 (lǔlìng) & 天令 (tiānlìng) (however, 令 (lìng) and 命 (mìng) were indeed used interchangeably).^[2] Goldin (2017)^[3] links Zhou's concept 天命 (tiānmìng) to Shang's concept 帝令 (dìlìng) "the Deity's command" attested in the Shang's oracle bones.

For the era name, see also Manchu ᠠᠪᡴᠠᡳ
ᡶᡠᠯᡳᠩᡤᠠ (abkai fulingga).

Pronunciation

Rime
Character	天	命
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	透 (6)	明 (4)
Final (韻)	先 (85)	庚 (111)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Departing (H)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open
Division (等)	IV	III
Fanqie	他前切	眉病切
Baxter	then	mjaengH
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/tʰen/	/mˠiæŋH/
Pan Wuyun	/tʰen/	/mᵚiaŋH/
Shao Rongfen	/tʰɛn/	/miaŋH/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/tʰɛn/	/miajŋH/
Li Rong	/tʰen/	/miɐŋH/
Wang Li	/tʰien/	/mĭɐŋH/
Bernhard Karlgren	/tʰien/	/mi̯ɐŋH/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	tiān	mìng
Expected Cantonese Reflex	tin1	ming6

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	天	天	命
Reading #	1/2	2/2	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	tiān	xiān	mìng
Middle Chinese	‹ then ›	‹ xen ›	‹ mjængH ›
Old Chinese	/*l̥ˁi[n]/	/*l̥ˁi[n]/ (W dialect: l̥ˁ- > Hàn-time *xˁ- > MC x-)	/*m-riŋ-s/ (dialect: *m-r- > *mr-, *-iŋ> *-eŋ)
English	heaven	heaven	command (n.)
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	天	命
Reading #	1/1	1/1
No.	12387	8275
Phonetic component	天	令
Rime group	眞	耕
Rime subdivision	1	0
Corresponding MC rime	天	命
Old Chinese	/*qʰl'iːn/	/*mreŋs/
Notes		令轉註字

• Mandarin

  (Standard)

  (Pinyin): tiānmìng

  (Zhuyin): ㄊㄧㄢ ㄇㄧㄥˋ

  (Dungan, Cyrillic and Wiktionary): тянмин (ti͡anmin, I-III)

• Cantonese (Jyutping): tin¹ ming⁶
• Hakka

  (Sixian, PFS): thiên-min

  (Hailu, HRS): tien^ˋ min^˖

• Jin (Wiktionary): tie¹ ming³
• Puxian Min (Pouseng Ping'ing): teng¹ ming⁵
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): thian-bēng
• Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): ¹thi-min

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: tiānmìng
    • Zhuyin: ㄊㄧㄢ ㄇㄧㄥˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: tianmìng
    • Wade–Giles: tʻien¹-ming⁴
    • Yale: tyān-mìng
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: tianminq
    • Palladius: тяньмин (tjanʹmin)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰi̯ɛn⁵⁵ miŋ⁵¹/
  • (Dungan)
    • Cyrillic and Wiktionary: тянмин (ti͡anmin, I-III)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰiæ̃²⁴ miŋ⁴⁴/

    (Note: Dungan pronunciation is currently experimental and may be inaccurate.)

• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: tin¹ ming⁶
    • Yale: tīn mihng
    • Cantonese Pinyin: tin¹ ming⁶
    • Guangdong Romanization: tin¹ ming⁶
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰiːn⁵⁵ mɪŋ²²/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: thiên-min
    • Hakka Romanization System: tien^ˊ min
    • Hagfa Pinyim: tian¹ min⁴
    • Sinological IPA: /tʰi̯en²⁴⁻¹¹ min⁵⁵/
  • (Hailu, incl. Zhudong)
    • Hakka Romanization System: tien^ˋ min^˖
    • Sinological IPA: /tʰien⁵³ min³³/
• Jin
  • (Taiyuan)⁺
    • Wiktionary: tie¹ ming³
    • Sinological IPA (old-style): /tʰie¹¹ miŋ⁴⁵/
• Puxian Min
  • (Putian, Xianyou)
    • Pouseng Ping'ing: teng¹ ming⁵ [Phonetic: teng² ming⁵]
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰɛŋ⁵³³⁻¹³ miŋ²¹/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: thian-bēng
    • Tâi-lô: thian-bīng
    • Phofsit Daibuun: tienbeng
    • IPA (Xiamen): /tʰiɛn⁴⁴⁻²² biɪŋ²²/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /tʰiɛn³³ biɪŋ⁴¹/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /tʰiɛn⁴⁴⁻²² biɪŋ²²/
    • IPA (Taipei): /tʰiɛn⁴⁴⁻³³ biɪŋ³³/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /tʰiɛn⁴⁴⁻³³ biɪŋ³³/
• Wu
  • (Northern: Shanghai)
    • Wugniu: ¹thi-min
    • MiniDict: thi^平 min
    • Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ¹thi-min
    • Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /tʰi⁵⁵ min²¹/

---

• Middle Chinese: then mjaengH

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*l̥ˤi[n]|l̥ˤi[n]  m-riŋ-s/

  (Zhengzhang): /*qʰl'iːn  mreŋs/

Noun

天命

1. the myriad of things in nature which make up the law of nature or natural law
2. the will of heaven
3. the Mandate of Heaven

   • 佑闢四方，惠弘天命。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, trad.]
     佑辟四方，惠弘天命。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Late Western Zhou, 彔伯冬簋 "Lubo Dong gui" inscription, translated based on Shim (2012)^[4] and Grundmann (2022)^[5]

     Yòu pì sìfāng, huì hóng tiānmìng. [Pinyin]

     Assisting in expanding the four directions and helping to broaden the Mandate of Heaven.

   • 假哉天命！ [Pre-Classical Chinese, trad. and simp.]

     From: The Classic of Poetry, c. 11^th – 7^th centuries BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

     Jiǎ zāi tiānmìng! [Pinyin]

     Great is the appointment of Heaven!

   • 非予罪，時惟天命。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     非予罪，时惟天命。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Book of Documents, circa 7^th – 4^th centuries BCE

     Fēi yǔ zuì, shí wéi tiānmìng. [Pinyin]

     It is not my fault. It is Heaven's just decree.

4. one's fate or destiny

   盡人事而聽天命／尽人事而听天命  ―  jìn rénshì ér tīng tiānmìng  ―  to do one's best and leave the rest to fate

5. one's nature or natural instincts
6. one's innate skills or gifts
7. one's life span or life expectancy

Synonyms

• (the Mandate of Heaven): (literary) 大命 (dàmìng), (literary) 景命 (jǐngmìng)

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (天命):

• → Japanese: 天命(てんめい) (tenmei)
• → Korean: 천명(天命) (cheonmyeong)
• → Vietnamese: thiên mệnh (天命)

Proper noun

天命

1. (historical) the Tianming era (a Chinese era name; the era of Nurhaci as khan of the Later Jin, from the proclamation of the dynasty in 1616 until 1627)

Coordinate terms

• (era names of Qing) 天命 (Later Jin), 天聰 / 天聪 (Tiāncōng) (Later Jin), 崇德 (Chóngdé), 順治 / 顺治 (Shùnzhì), 康熙 (Kāngxī), 雍正 (Yōngzhèng), 乾隆 (Qiánlóng), 嘉慶 / 嘉庆 (Jiāqìng), 道光 (Dàoguāng), 咸豐 (Xiánfēng), 祺祥 (qíxiáng) (cancelled), →同治 (Tóngzhì), 光緒 / 光绪 (Guāngxù), 宣統 / 宣统 (Xuāntǒng) ^{(Category: zh:Chinese era names)}

References

1. Chen, Sanping (2002) “Son of Heaven and Son of God: Interactions among Ancient Asiatic Cultures regarding Sacral Kingship and Theophoric Names”, in Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, volume 12, number 3
2. Valmisa, Mercedes (2018). "Is the ideology of the 'Mandate of Heaven' already present in Western Zhou bronze inscriptions?", presented at International Consortium for Research in the Humanities. Erlagen. 2012 version
3. Goldin, Paul Rakita (2017) “Some Shang Antecedents of Later Chinese Ideology and Culture”, in Journal of the American Oriental Society‎, volume 137, number 1
4. Shim, Jae-hong (2012) “An Ever-contested Poem: The "Classic of Poetry"'s "Hanyi" and the Sino-Korean History Debate”, in The Journal of Asian Studies‎, volume 71, number 2, pages 475-497
5. Grundmann, Joern Peter, transl. (2022), “Moral Speculation and the Conception of a Sky God”, in Space, Time, Myth, and Morals: A Selection of Jao Tsung-i’s Studies on Cosmological Thought in Early China and Beyond (Collected Works of Jao Tsung-i, Volume: 3), pages 220-277

• 天命 on the Chinese Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^zh
• Mandate of Heaven on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Japanese

Japanese Wikipedia has an article on:

天命

Wikipedia ^ja

Pronunciation 1

Kanji in this term
天	命
てん Grade: 1	めい Grade: 3
on'yomi

• (Tokyo) てんめー [tèńméé] (Heiban – [0])^[1][2][3][4]
• (Tokyo) てんめー [téꜜǹmèè] (Atamadaka – [1])^[1][2][3][4]
• IPA^(key): [tẽ̞mːe̞ː]

Noun

天(てん)命(めい) • (tenmei) 

1. mandate of heaven, will of heaven; divine decree; fate, destiny

Derived terms

• 天(てん)命(めい)を知(し)る (tenmei o shiru)
• 天(てん)命(めい)不知(しらず) (tenmei shirazu)
• 天(てん)命(めい)思(し)想(そう) (tenmei shisō)

 

Pronunciation 2

Kanji in this term
天	命
いのちなり
Grade: 1	Grade: 3
irregular

• IPA^(key): [ino̞t͡ɕina̠ɾʲi]

Noun

天命(いのちなり) • (inochinari) 

1. (archaic) fate, destiny

References

1. Yamada, Tadao et al., editors (2011), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Seventh edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
2. Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
3. NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN
4. “天命”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎ (in Japanese), 2nd edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2000-2002, released online 2007, →ISBN, concise edition entry available here

Korean

Hanja in this term
天	命

Noun

天命 • (cheonmyeong) (hangeul 천명)

1. hanja form^? of 천명

Vietnamese

chữ Hán Nôm in this term
天	命

Noun

天命

1. chữ Hán form of thiên mệnh.