| Xiansheng | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Chinese name | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chinese | 先生 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | "[one] born before", "elder" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Vietnamese name | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Vietnamese alphabet | tiên sinh | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hán-Nôm | 先生 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Korean name | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hangul | 선생 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Japanese name | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Kanji | 先生 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hiragana | せんせい | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Katakana | センセイ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The term "先生", readsensei inJapanese,xiansheng inChinese,seonsaeng inKorean, andtiên sinh inVietnamese, is anhonorific used in theSinosphere. In Japanese, the term literally means "person born before another" or "one who comes before".[1] It is generally used after a person's name and means "teacher".[2][3] The word is also used as a title to refer to or address other professionals or people of authority, such asclergy,accountants,lawyers,physicians andpoliticians,[4] or to show respect to someone who has achieved a certain level of mastery in an art form or some other skill, e.g., accomplishednovelists,musicians,artists andmartial artists.
The two characters that make up the term can be directly translated as "first born" and imply one who teaches based onwisdom from age and experience.[5]
The word prefaced by the adjective 大, pronounced "dai" (or "ō"), which means "great" or "large", is often translated "grand master". This compound term, "dai-sensei" (大先生), is sometimes used to refer to the top sensei in a particular school or tradition, particularly within theiemoto system. For a more senior member of a group who has not achieved the level of sensei, the termsenpai (先輩) is used – note the common use of 先 "before"; in martial arts, this is particularly used for the most senior non-sensei member.
The Chinese use ofxiansheng was a courtesy title for a man of respected stature.Middle Chinese pronunciation of this term may have been *senʃaŋ or *sienʃaŋ.[6] Inmodern Standard Chinese, it is also used in the same way as the title "Mr". Prior to the development of the modernvernacular,xiansheng was used to address teachers of both genders; this has fallen out of usage in Standard Chinese, though it is retained in some southern ChineseChinese varieties such asCantonese,Hokkien,Wu,Teochew andHakka, where it still has the meaning "teacher" or "doctor". In Japanese,sensei is still used to address people of both genders. It is likely both the current Southern Chinese and Japanese usages are more reflective of its Middle Chineseetymology. For Hokkien and Teochew communities in Singapore and Malaysia, "sensei" is the proper word to address school teachers.[citation needed]Traditional physicians in the Malay Peninsular and Singapore are addressed among locals with theHokkien variantsinseh.[7]
InSanbo Kyodan-relatedZen schools,sensei is used to refer toordained teachers below the rank ofrōshi. However, other schools ofBuddhism in Japan use the term for any priest regardless of seniority; for example, the title is also used forJōdo Shinshū ministers in theUnited States, whether they are ethnically Japanese or not. In theKwan Um School of Zen, according toZen masterSeungsahn, theKorean titleji do poep sa nim is much like the Japanese title "sensei".[8]
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