📖 Meaning
A Buddhist term meaning to universally save and relieve all sentient beings from suffering. It reflects the Buddha's compassionate vow to use his great spiritual power to ferry the struggling masses, likened to people drowning in a sea of suffering, to the other shore of liberation. It is synonymous with the more common phrase 普度众生.
📜 Origin Story
This phrase originates from Buddhist teaching and cosmology, in which worldly beings are described as endlessly restless and troubled, like people floundering in a vast sea of suffering. Drawing on Mahayana ideals of compassion (慈悲), the Buddha and bodhisattvas vow to use their vast spiritual power to rescue every sentient being and guide them to the far shore of enlightenment. No single classical text or historical figure is exclusively credited as the source; the expression crystallizes a core Mahayana doctrine that evolved through scriptures and commentaries translated into Chinese during the Han, Jin, and Tang dynasties.
💡 Example Usage
老方丈一生悬壶济世，发愿普济群生，远近百姓无不感念其恩德。
The old abbot spent his life healing the sick, vowing to bring relief to all sentient beings, and the common people near and far were deeply grateful for his kindness.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 普济群生
- Pinyin: pǔ jì qún shēng
- Literal Translation: universally, aid, all, living beings
- Category: Morality
- Characters: 4