师傅

[Mike]

The book 250 Essential Chinese Characters Volume 1 by Philip Lee (Tuttle Publishing) shows on page 80 师父 as shīfù (master). I believe that it must be 师傅, not 师父 or even 师付. Is this correct?

[againstwind]

Could you input that text here? It may depends on context.

[Mike]

In the book it has: "他是我的师父, 我是他的徒弟".

But I'm thinking about when speaking to a bus driver:

"师傅, 这辆车去汽车站吗?"

[HashiriKata]

师傅 and 师父 are different words. You can find them both in a dictionary (with related but different meanings), I think.

[againstwind]

师傅 and 师父 both exist in Chinese.

"他是我的师父, 我是他的徒弟" and "师傅, 这辆车去汽车站吗?" are both correct. No problem.

Because 师父 is often used for 1) teachers who teach skills 2) Buddhist or Taoist monks.

While 师傅 also has the 1st meaning of 师父. Besides it is a honorific title for skill workers, such like 木匠师傅, 铁匠师傅, 剃头的师傅, etc. So you can call a bus driver 师傅.

And it's interesting that many people in China call middle-aged men shīfu (fu should be a neutral tone). Seemlingly it has become a common title for the middleaged men. However, they just call those men in this way without awareness of which 'shīfu' they're using.

[889]

My dictionary shows two meanings for 师父：first, as an alternate for 师傅 and second, as a polite form of address to a nun or monk.

[test0012]

In Classical Chinese, 师 and 傅 are not the same. They are both some kinds of teachers, but Shi is more respective than Fu. The word 师傅 in modern Chinese put Shi and Fu together, could mean all kinds of teachers.

As for 师父. The famous Yuan Dynasty writer Guan Hanqing says: 一日为师，终身为父 I think this is the best explaination of the word 师父.