📖 Meaning
A Buddhist term denoting boundless loving-kindness and mercy. 'Ci' (慈) means giving joy and happiness to all sentient beings out of love, while 'Bei' (悲) means relieving their suffering out of pity. It is used to describe a person of deeply charitable and kind-hearted nature.
📜 Origin Story
Originates from the Lotus Sutra (《妙法莲华经·譬喻品》), a foundational Mahayana Buddhist scripture originally composed in India around the 1st–2nd century CE. The Chinese version was translated by the renowned monk Kumarajiva in the early 5th century during the Later Qin dynasty. The full passage reads '大慈大悲，常无懈倦，恒求善事，利益一切', portraying the Buddha's tireless compassion toward all beings. Over centuries the phrase moved beyond monastic contexts into mainstream Chinese literature, where it came to praise or invoke extraordinary human kindness and forgiveness.
💡 Example Usage
这位老中医大慈大悲，几十年来坚持为贫困病人免费诊治。
This elderly traditional Chinese medicine doctor, full of boundless compassion, has insisted on giving free treatment to impoverished patients for decades.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 大慈大悲
- Pinyin: dà cí dà bēi
- Literal Translation: great compassion, great mercy
- Category: Morality
- Characters: 4