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X
≫ xiaoren (Chinese: 小人, pinyin: xiǎorén) = a morally small man; a petty, mean, ignoble, limited person. In Confucianism, the antithesis of the junzi (gentleman or noble person).
• see also: junzi (gentleman, noble person, respectable person) ; ren (humanity) ; sheng (sage)
• external links: wiktionary
xin (Chinese: 心, pinyin: xīn, also written as transliteration of Sanskrit, Chinese: 質多, pinyin: zhíduō) = mind, heart, heart-mind (the Chinese translation of the Sanskrit word chitta). Wikipedia notes that “literally, xin refers to the physical heart, though it is sometimes translated as “mind” as the ancient Chinese believed the heart was the centre of human cognition. For this reason, it is also sometimes translated as “heart-mind”.
• note on meaning: xin and chitta have a broader semantic range than the English word “mind”, including “thought, intellect, mentality, the mind as the seat of intelligence” but also “heart, spirit, motive”, “wholeheartedness, sincerity, attention, interest, care, intention” and even “essence, core, marrow”. As DJKR frequently notes, these differing semantic ranges create challenges when these words are translated into English simply as “mind”. See for example, DJKR teaching “Vipassana for beginners“, Taipei, December 12, 2020.
• other languages: chitta (Sanskrit ≫ main entry for “heart/mind”) ; sem (Tibetan ≫ main entry for “ordinary dualistic mind”).
• external links: wiktionary (includes overview of the historical evolution of the Chinese glyph for xin, which was originally a pictogram representing “heart” in Shang bronze inscriptions and oracle bone script) / wikipedia
≫ Xuanzang (Chinese: 玄奘, pinyin: Xuánzàng) (602-664) = a Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, and translator who traveled to India in the 7th century and described the interaction between Chinese Buddhism and Indian Buddhism during the early Tang dynasty. During the journey he visited many sacred Buddhist sites in what are now Pakistan, India, Nepal, and Bangladesh. His seventeen-year overland journey to India (including Nalanda) is recorded in detail in the classic text “Great Tang Records on the Western Regions” (Chinese: 大唐西域記 / 大唐西域记; pinyin: Dà Táng xīyù jì).
• see also: Faxian (337-422, Chinese Buddhist monk who traveled to India)
• external links (Xuanzang): wiktionary / wikipedia; (Great Tang Records on the Western Regions): wikipedia