法海

Fǎhǎi

proper noun

Meanings

1 Fahai, the monk of Jinshan Temple in the Legend of the White Snake who parts Lady White from her husband Xu Xian
2 someone who breaks up a couple

Characters

dharma; the Buddhist teaching

Examples

HSK 6

他们俩感情很好，你别当法海拆散他们。

Tāmen liǎ gǎnqíng hěn hǎo, nǐ bié dāng Fǎhǎi chāisàn tāmen.

The two of them are happy together, so don't be a Fahai and split them up.

HSK 7-9

在《白蛇传》里，法海是金山寺的和尚。

Zài 《 Báishézhuàn 》 lǐ, Fǎhǎi shì Jīnshān Sì de héshang.

In the Legend of the White Snake, Fahai is a monk of Jinshan Temple.

Tips

culture

In the story he sees that Lady White (白娘子) is a snake spirit and keeps her husband 许仙 in his temple. She floods 金山 to get him back, and Fahai finally shuts her under the 雷峰塔 by West Lake. Early versions take his side; later ones, and most audiences today, take hers.

register

As a joke, anyone who breaks up a couple or stands in the way of a romance gets called 法海: a strict parent, a jealous friend, a teacher who bans dating.

In Pop Culture

法海你不懂爱 Fǎhǎi nǐ bù dǒng ài

Fahai, You Don't Understand Love

A 2012 internet hit by the singer 龚琳娜 that scolds Fahai, over and over, for not understanding love.

Stroke Order

法 fǎ

海 hǎi