/ bān / pán
phrase #1,746

Meanings

  1. 1 used only in 般若

Examples

心经著名般若经典
《 Xīnjīng zhùmíng bōrě jīngdiǎn.
The Heart Sutra is a famous prajñā scripture.
般若洞察实相智慧
Bōrě zhǐ de shì dòngchá shíxiàng de zhìhuì.
Prajñā means wisdom that sees the true nature of reality.

Tips

register
The bō reading is locked to one word: 般若, a phonetic transliteration of Sanskrit prajñā ('wisdom') used across Buddhist scripture. Outside that compound the reading never appears.
culture
般若 names a whole genre of Buddhist sutras, the Prajñāpāramitā texts — the Heart Sutra and Diamond Sutra are the two most-chanted in Chinese Buddhism. The odd readings (bō for , rě for ) preserve a Tang-era attempt at Sanskrit pronunciation.

Components

radical
zhōu
boat
Left indexing radical (boat) — pictograph of a hull with planks. Original meant to turn or convey by boat, which is why (to move/transport) added the hand radical. Same boat radical drives , , .
semantic
shū
halberd; pole-weapon
Right side depicts a hand wielding a long pole. In it pictures the punting pole that turns the boat — boat + pole originally meant 'rotate, convey'. The abstract senses ('this kind, that kind') developed later via 'one rotation = one round = one type'.

Stroke Order