天花

Chinese

day; sky; heaven
 
flower; blossom; to spend
flower; blossom; to spend; fancy pattern
trad. (天花)
simp. #(天花)
Literally: “heaven flower”.

Etymology

Originally the Chinese translation of several Sanskrit and Pali words, including Sanskrit खपुष्प (khapuṣpa, flower in the sky), as well as several plant names, such as Sanskrit दिव्यपुष्प (divyapuṣpa, oleander [heaven-flower]) / Pali devapuppha, and Sanskrit शालपुष्प (śālapuṣpa, confederate rose [house-flower]).

The development from “heaven-flower” (or other interpretations of the combination) to “smallpox” is unknown. It may be due to the shape resemblance of smallpox pustules to the divine flowers in Buddhism. Compare Tibetan ལྷ་འབྲུམ (lha 'brum, smallpox [deva-pustule]), མེ་ཏོག (me tog, flower; (dialectal) smallpox), and Mongolian ᠰᠠᠯᠬᠢᠨ
ᠴᠡᠴᠡᠭ
(salkin čečeg) / салхин цэцэг (salxin ceceg, smallpox; chickenpox [wind-flower]).

Pronunciation



Rime
Character
Reading # 1/1 1/1
Initial () (6) (32)
Final () (85) (99)
Tone (調) Level (Ø) Level (Ø)
Openness (開合) Open Closed
Division () IV II
Fanqie
Baxter then xwae
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang
/tʰen/ /hˠua/
Pan
Wuyun
/tʰen/ /hʷᵚa/
Shao
Rongfen
/tʰɛn/ /xua/
Edwin
Pulleyblank
/tʰɛn/ /hwaɨ/
Li
Rong
/tʰen/ /xua/
Wang
Li
/tʰien/ /xwa/
Bernard
Karlgren
/tʰien/ /xwa/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex
tiān huā
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex
tin1 faa1

Noun

天花

  1. (Buddhism) flower of the sky; divine flower, stated in the Lotus Sutra as of four kinds, two white and two red
  2. (literary, poetic) snowflake; snow
  3. (pathology) smallpox; variola
  4. Short for 天花板 (tiānhuābǎn, “ceiling”).

Synonyms

  • (flower of the sky): 天華天华, 空華空华
  • (snowflake): 雪花 (xuěhuā)
  • (smallpox): 天然痘 (tiānrándòu); (TCM) 痘瘡痘疮 (dòuchuāng)

Derived terms

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (天花):
  • Japanese: 天花(てんか) (tenka)
  • Korean: 천화(天花) (cheonhwa)
  • Vietnamese: thiên hoa (天花)

Japanese

Kanji in this term
てん
Grade: 1

Grade: 1
on’yomi

Noun

(てん)() • (tenka) 

  1. snow
  2. a flower that blossoms in the Buddhist heaven by their tale.
  3. lotus-petal-shaped confetti scattering before the mortuary tablet.
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