天祿

天祿

1. (literary) blessings from heaven

   • “今王無以取之，而天祿亟至，是吳命之短也。員不忍稱疾辟易，以見王之親為越之禽也。員請先死。”遂自殺。 [Traditional Chinese poetry, trad.]
     “今王无以取之，而天禄亟至，是吴命之短也。员不忍称疾辟易，以见王之亲为越之禽也。员请先死。”遂自杀。 [Traditional Chinese poetry, simp.]

     From: Guoyu, circa 4^th century BCE

     “jīn wáng wúyǐ qǔ zhī, ér tiānlù qì zhì, shì Wú mìng zhī duǎn yě. Yún bùrěn chēngjí bìyì, yǐ jiàn wáng zhī qīn wéi Yuè zhī qín yě. Yún qǐng xiān sǐ.” Suì zìshā. [Pinyin]

     “Now Your Majesty does not have favorable conditions for success although Heaven has bestowed on you the blessings several times. This indicates that bad luck will soon befall the State of Wu. I do not have the heart to retire under the pretext of an illness and see you falling into the hands of the people of Yue. I plead with you to allow me to die first.” Hence Wu Zixu committed suicide.

2. (literary, dated) government salary

   • 堯曰：“咨，爾舜，天之曆數在爾躬，允執其中，四海困窮，天祿永終。” [Traditional Chinese poetry, trad.]
     尧曰：“咨，尔舜，天之历数在尔躬，允执其中，四海困穷，天禄永终。” [Traditional Chinese poetry, simp.]

     From: The Analects of Confucius, c. 475 – 221 BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

     Yáo yuē: “Zī, ěr Shùn, tiān zhī lìshù zài ěr gōng, yǔn zhí qízhōng, sìhǎi kùnqióng, tiānlù yǒng zhōng.” [Pinyin]

     Yao said, "Oh! you, Shun, the Heaven-determined order of succession now rests in your person. Sincerely hold fast the due Mean. If there shall be distress and want within the four seas, the Heavenly revenue will come to a perpetual end."

   • 然終於此而已矣。弗與共天位也，弗與治天職也，弗與食天祿也。 [Traditional Chinese poetry, trad.]
     然终于此而已矣。弗与共天位也，弗与治天职也，弗与食天禄也。 [Traditional Chinese poetry, simp.]

     From: Mencius, c. 4^th century BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

     Rán zhōng yú cǐ éryǐ yǐ. Fú yǔ gòng tiānwèi yě, fú yǔ zhì tiānzhí yě, fú yǔ shí tiānlù yě. [Pinyin]

     Here, however, he stopped, and went no farther. He did not call him to share any of Heaven's places, or to govern any of Heaven's offices, or to partake of any of Heaven's emoluments.

3. tianlu, a legendary beast in Chinese mythology

   Hypernym: 神獸 / 神兽 (shénshòu)

   • 今鄧州南陽縣北有宗資碑，旁有兩石獸，鐫其膊一曰天祿，二曰辟邪。據此，即天祿、辟邪，並獸名也。 [Literary Chinese, trad.]
     今邓州南阳县北有宗资碑，旁有两石兽，镌其膊一曰天禄，二曰辟邪。据此，即天禄、辟邪，并兽名也。 [Literary Chinese, simp.]

     From: 677, Prince Zhanghuai, et al., annotation to The Book of the Later Han

     Jīn Dèngzhōu Nányáng xiàn běi yǒu Zōng Zī bēi, páng yǒu liǎng shíshòu, juān qí bó yī yuē tiānlù, èr yuē bìxié. Jùcǐ, jí tiānlù, bìxié, bìng shòu míng yě. [Pinyin]

     Today there are two stone statues beside the tombstone of Zong Zi (fl. 160) located to the north of Nanyang County of Dengzhou with characters carved on their wings, one being tianlu, the other called bixie. From this we can infer both of them are names of beasts.

   • 今詳其形，甚類交趾所獻異獸，知其必天祿也。 [Literary Chinese, trad.]
     今详其形，甚类交趾所献异兽，知其必天禄也。 [Literary Chinese, simp.]

     From: c. 1088 CE, Shen Kuo, Dream Pool Essays

     Jīn xiáng qí xíng, shèn lèi Jiāozhǐ suǒ xiàn yì shòu, zhī qí bì tiānlù yě. [Pinyin]

     Through a careful scrutiny of these two animals, I find that one of them looks very much like the one presented by Jiaozhi people, so I come to know that it must be tianlu.

4. (historical) royal book repository

• 貔貅 (píxiū)
• 辟邪 (bìxié)

天祿

1. (～鎮) Tianlu (a town, formerly Yujia township in Guixi, Yingtan, Jiangxi, China)
2. era name of Emperor Shizong of Liao (947–951)
3. one of the era names of Emperor En'yū (970–973)

天(てん)祿(ろく) • (tenroku) 

1. Kyūjitai form of 天禄