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天台

tiāntái
noun #84,863

Meanings

  1. 1 rooftop (of a building); flat roof terrace
  2. 2 (read Tiāntāi) Mount Tiantai / Tiantai County in Zhejiang; Tiantai school of Buddhism

Examples

我们晚上去天台看星星。
Wǒmen wǎnshang qù tiāntái kàn xīngxing.
Let's go to the rooftop tonight to look at the stars.
天台宗是中国佛教的重要宗派。
Tiāntāi zōng shì Zhōngguó Fójiào de zhòngyào zōngpài.
The Tiantai school is a major Chinese Buddhist sect.

Tips

usage
Two readings, two meanings. Everyday 天台 = tiāntái = rooftop/terrace (apartment roofs, hotel decks, the cliché spot for teen drama scenes). Tiāntāi = the Zhejiang mountain and the Buddhist school — the tone difference is real, but many modern speakers don't bother, context carries it.
history
The Tiantai school (天台宗), founded by 智顗 (Zhiyi, 538-597) on Mount Tiantai, was the first distinctively Chinese school of Buddhism, centered on the Lotus Sutra. It later transmitted to Japan as Tendai, Korea as Cheontae, and Vietnam as Thiên Thai.

Stroke Order

天 tiān
台 tái