小乘

Chinese

		small; tiny; few small; tiny; few; young	ride; mount; make use of ride; mount; make use of; take advantage of; multiply; to avail of; to ride
trad. (小乘)		小	乘
simp. ^#(小乘)		小	乘
Literally: “small vehicle”.

Etymology

Calque of Sanskrit हीनयान (hīnayāna, “lesser vehicle”).

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): xiǎochéng, xiǎoshèng

(Zhuyin): ㄒㄧㄠˇ ㄔㄥˊ, ㄒㄧㄠˇ ㄕㄥˋ
Cantonese (Jyutping): siu² sing⁶

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese, standard in Mainland)
  - Hanyu Pinyin: xiǎochéng
  - Zhuyin: ㄒㄧㄠˇ ㄔㄥˊ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: siǎochéng
  - Wade–Giles: hsiao³-chʻêng²
  - Yale: syǎu-chéng
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: sheaucherng
  - Palladius: сяочэн (sjaočɛn)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɕi̯ɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ ʈ͡ʂʰɤŋ³⁵/
  - Homophones:
    [Show/Hide]
    ^edit
    ^edit
    小乘
    小城
- (Standard Chinese, standard in Taiwan; variant in Mainland)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: xiǎoshèng
  - Zhuyin: ㄒㄧㄠˇ ㄕㄥˋ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: siǎoshèng
  - Wade–Giles: hsiao³-shêng⁴
  - Yale: syǎu-shèng
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: sheaushenq
  - Palladius: сяошэн (sjaošɛn)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɕi̯ɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ ʂɤŋ⁵¹/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: siu² sing⁶
  - Yale: síu sihng
  - Cantonese Pinyin: siu² sing⁶
  - Guangdong Romanization: xiu² xing⁶
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /siːu̯³⁵ sɪŋ²²/

Middle Chinese: sjewX zyingH

Rime
Character	小	乘
Reading #	1/1	2/2
Initial (聲)	心 (16)	船 (27)
Final (韻)	宵 (91)	蒸 (133)
Tone (調)	Rising (X)	Departing (H)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open
Division (等)	III	III
Fanqie	私兆切	實證切
Baxter	sjewX	zyingH
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/siᴇu^X/	/ʑɨŋ^H/
Pan Wuyun	/siɛu^X/	/ʑɨŋ^H/
Shao Rongfen	/sjæu^X/	/ʑieŋ^H/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/siaw^X/	/ʑiŋ^H/
Li Rong	/siɛu^X/	/d͡ʑiəŋ^H/
Wang Li	/sĭɛu^X/	/d͡ʑĭəŋ^H/
Bernhard Karlgren	/si̯ɛu^X/	/d͡ʑʰi̯əŋ^H/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	xiǎo	shèng
Expected Cantonese Reflex	siu²	sing⁶

Noun

小乘

(Buddhism, originally derogatory, now usually neutral) Hinayana (early Buddhism; Theravada Buddhism)

Usage notes

This term is applied by some Mahayana Buddhists, but is not accepted as proper by Theravada Buddhists.
In 1950 the World Fellowship of Buddhists declared that this term should not be used when referring to any form of Buddhism existing today.

Synonyms

南傳／南传 (nánchuán)

Coordinate terms

大乘 (Dàchéng, “Mahayana”)

Derived terms

小乘佛教 (Xiǎochéngfójiào)

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (小乘):

→ Japanese: 小(しょう)乗(じょう) (shōjō)
→ Korean: 소승(小乘) (soseung)
→ Vietnamese: Tiểu thừa (小乘)

See also

上座部 (Shàngzuòbù)
二乘
聲聞乘／声闻乘

References

Ding, Fubao (丁福保) (1922), “小乘” in 佛學大辭典 [A Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms].

Further reading

小乘佛教 on the Chinese Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^zh
Hinayana on Wikipedia.Wikipedia