一佛出世，二佛涅槃

Chinese

	one; single; a one; single; a; (before verbs) as soon as, once; (before a noun) entire (family, etc.)	Buddha; Buddhism	to come into the world; to be born; to be introduced to the world to come into the world; to be born; to be introduced to the world; to come out; to be published		two	Buddha; Buddhism	nirvana.
trad. (一佛出世，二佛涅槃)	一	佛	出世	，	二	佛	涅槃
simp. ^#(一佛出世，二佛涅槃)	一	佛	出世	，	二	佛	涅槃
alternative forms	一佛出世，二佛生天一佛出世，二佛升天一佛出世，九族升天
Literally: “one buddha attains liberation from samsara and the second buddha achieves nirvana”.

Etymology

Derived from 死去活來 / 死去活来 (sǐqùhuólái), which literally means “to go to one's death and come to one's life”. In Buddhism, 出世 (chūshì) means “to be born” and 涅槃 (nièpán) means “to be reincarnated” which implies death.

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): yīfóchūshì, èrfónièpán

(Zhuyin): ㄧㄈㄛˊ ㄔㄨㄕˋ , ㄦˋ ㄈㄛˊ ㄋㄧㄝˋ ㄆㄢˊ
Cantonese (Jyutping): jat¹ fat⁶ ceot¹ sai³, ji⁶ fat⁶ nip⁶ pun⁴

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: yīfóchūshì, èrfónièpán [Phonetic: yìfóchūshì, èrfónièpán]
  - Zhuyin: ㄧㄈㄛˊ ㄔㄨㄕˋ , ㄦˋ ㄈㄛˊ ㄋㄧㄝˋ ㄆㄢˊ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: yifóchushìh, èrfónièpán
  - Wade–Giles: i¹-fo²-chʻu¹-shih⁴, êrh⁴-fo²-nieh⁴-pʻan²
  - Yale: yī-fwó-chū-shr̀-, èr-fwó-nyè-pán
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: iforchushyh, ellforniehparn
  - Palladius: ифочуши, эрфонепань (ifočuši, erfonepanʹ)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /i⁵⁵⁻⁵¹ fu̯ɔ³⁵ ʈ͡ʂʰu⁵⁵ ʂʐ̩⁵¹⁻⁵³ ˀɤɻ⁵¹ fu̯ɔ³⁵ ni̯ɛ⁵¹ pʰän³⁵/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: jat¹ fat⁶ ceot¹ sai³, ji⁶ fat⁶ nip⁶ pun⁴
  - Yale: yāt faht chēut sai, yih faht nihp pùhn
  - Cantonese Pinyin: jat⁷ fat⁹ tsoet⁷ sai³, ji⁶ fat⁹ nip⁹ pun⁴
  - Guangdong Romanization: yed¹ fed⁶ cêd¹ sei³, yi⁶ fed⁶ nib⁶ pun⁴
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /jɐt̚⁵ fɐt̚² t͡sʰɵt̚⁵ sɐi̯³³ jiː²² fɐt̚² niːp̚² pʰuːn²¹/

Idiom

一佛出世，二佛涅槃

(figurative, humorous) to be (beaten to) within an inch of one's life; to feel extremely painful

Synonyms

死去活來／死去活来 (sǐqùhuólái)