蓬萊

Uncertain.

It bears striking resemblance to a Southeast Asian word for “sea”. Compare Burmese ပင်လယ် (panglai, “sea; ocean”), Shan ပၢင်ႇလၢႆႇ (pàang làai, “sea; ocean”), Jingpho pang lai (“sea”), S'gaw Karen ပီၣ်လဲၣ် (paẁ leh̀, “sea”). These seem to be borrowings, possibly from a Mon-Khmer language; compare Proto-Mon-Khmer *d[n]liʔ (“sea”), whence Old Khmer danle, danley (“large river; lake; sea”) > Khmer ទន្លេ (tŭənlei, “river”), Thai ทะเล (tá-lee, “sea”) (Schuessler, 2007).

Alternatively, it may be a transcription of an earlier Austroasiatic name; cf. 萊國／莱国 (Láiguó, “Lai”), an ancient Dongyi tribe, where 萊／莱 (lái) has been argued to transcribe a native word for "mountain" or "wilderness". The latter interpretation was mentioned in the Classical Chinese text Yue Jue Shu (越絕書 [Eastern Han]) and discussed by Zhengzhang (1999).

蓬萊

1. (Chinese mythology) Penglai (a mythical eastern isle of immortals)

   See also: 瀛洲, 方丈

2. (by extension) fairyland
3. (～區, formerly ～縣, ～市) Penglai (a district, former county, and former county-level city of Yantai, Shandong, China)

• (mythical island):
  • 蓬萊山／蓬莱山 (Péngláishān)
  • 蓬萊島／蓬莱岛 (Péngláidǎo)
  • 蓬萊仙島／蓬莱仙岛 (Pénglái Xiāndǎo)
  • 蓬山 (Péngshān)
  • 蓬岛
  • 蓬丘
  • 蓬壺／蓬壶
• (district):
  • (historical) 登州 (Dēngzhōu)

蓬萊

1. (literary) wilderness

   • 舉英奇於仄陋，拔髦秀於蓬萊。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     举英奇于仄陋，拔髦秀于蓬莱。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Book of the Later Han, circa 5^th century CE

     Jǔ yīngqí yú zèlòu, bá máoxiù yú pénglái. [Pinyin]

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)