Chinese translation for "spirituality"?

[tooironic]

Is there any Chinese equivalent for the term "spirituality"?

 

Wikipedia translates it as 灵性, but I'm not convinced. My Chinese-Chinese dictionary defines that term as 天赋的聪明才智 (innate wisdom and talent) and 指动物的某种感知力 (intelligence in animals).

 

Is 灵性 commonly understood as spirituality? Or is it an academic or technical meaning only?

[hbuchtel]

How do you define the word 'spirituality'? That might be a good starting point for finding a Chinese equivalent (if one exists).

[陳德聰]

Agree with #2. What is the definition of spirituality you're working with? It doesn't really mean anything to me in English at all.

[lingo-ling]

That's the problem with the word... I don't even know what it means in my native language, English.

[Pingfa]

I don't think there is an exact Chinese equivalent. It's an abstract concept to begin with. I think of spiritual as being anything that can't be explained by science - ya' know, 'deep' stuff. Spiritual可道非常spiritual...

 

How about 超自然？

[gato]

"Spiritual" has multiple meanings in English. It could mean that one believes in the supernatural. Under this meaning, the Chinese word could be 迷信.

Or it could mean that one is an idealist and non-materialistic. Under this meaning, the Chinese word would be 理想主义.

The 21st Century E-C Dictionary gives the Chinese equivalent for these multiple meanings:

spir∙i∙tu∙al

ADJ.

1 精神的,非物质的

2 精神上的,心灵的

3 灵魂的;唯灵论的

4 超自然的

5 招魂术的

6 超越世俗的,高尚的,崇高的

7 智慧的,智力的

8 感情上的,情感的

9 神的;神圣的;圣灵的

10 教会的,教堂的;宗教的

[Pingfa]

神圣的 seems like a good general-purpose translation. When someone says they are 'spiritual' that means they believe there is something inherently 神圣的 about life and they feel a connection with a kind of 神圣的精神。

 

I remember in the Chinese translation of The Power of Now (当下的力量) it was often translated as 灵性. I don't think 灵性 is quite as broad as spiritual but suffices in most cases.

[flowertea]

tooironic,

I have an idea. Perhaps you can write some examples,I mean simple sentences with spiritual, spiritually and spirituality seperately in English. And then we try to translate them into Chinese in different situations in order to make the meaning of the word more clearer. I think context is necessary for this abstract word.

[skylee]

To flowertea, of course the OP knows that context is important. Just look at his qualifications below his avatar!

[flowertea]

Hi, skylee. yes, I noticed that his level is really good. I say "context is necessary " , it 's nothing with someone's level of Chinese. I mean context is good and easy for me to explain this word. I was trying to say whether I could know some context of the words so that I or other people here might help to translate those words in some specific situations. for example, Gato gave us good and different translations for the word spiritual. I just would like to help and put them into diferernt sentences and let people know how to translate the words in the concrete situations.

Eg: 

1. I care more about the spiritual life than the substantial life.和物质生活相比，我更注重精神生活。

2. a spiritual force神圣的力量

3. That person felt spiritually very depressed.那个人精神上感到很压抑。

4. It connects you with nature, and is spiritually enriching.它连结你和大自然，而且让你的内心也更加充实。（从你内心上）

5. How did you turn to spirituality? 您是如何走上灵修这条路的？

6. The ancient incan culture was rich in spirituality。古印加文化灵性资产丰富。

 

I don't know what contexts Tooironic met, and my English is just 马马虎虎，haha， so I was asking for some English sentences at first in the previous post. I found some English examples now in different places and picked out the typical ones. I revised a little bit and orgnized them here.

[Michaelyus]

As someone who encounters this term on an almost daily basis in both English and Chinese, 灵性 is the default and most accepted equivalent for the definition of "spirituality" that is in opposition to "carnality" or "fleshly thinking". A sensitivity or attachment to religious values, one that is opposed to over-reliance on materialism, is probably the definition I'd go with.

 

I distinguish this distinction from the "sacred/secular, profane" [神圣/世俗] distinction, which is distinguished from the "holy/unholy" [圣洁] distinction. I also appreciate that these distinctions and usages represent a small community of language users, and as such are not necessarily recognised by the wider community. In fact, I'd think those language users that are familiar with the term 灵性 are a minority.

 

According to zdic.net, this definition of 灵性 I come across most often dates to at least the 明朝:

 

特指对宗教的悟性。 明 陈汝元 《金莲记·郊遇》：“自家叫做 佛印 ，生来有些灵性，只为了悟一心，因此削光两鬢。”

 

As "spiritual" has a much broader scope than "spirituality", especially in its range of referents, it is "spiritual" that will have a wide range of Chinese equivalents.

[querido]

Anyone interested in words like this might want to investigate the applicability, if any, of the first quote (Roddy quoting from elsewhere) in this thread: http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/41416-perry-links-an-anatomy-of-chinese/

[tooironic]

I think that's more or less answered now. Thanks to everyone who contributed, in particular flowertea and Michaelyus.

[tooironic]

By the way, today I happened to be looking into the Chinese definition of 精神生活, and 國語辭典 suggested this: 物質生活以外的心靈生活。如宗教、藝術、思想等生活。Could it be that 精神生活, as flowertea was suggesting earlier, is an equivalent for "spirituality"? They seem very similar, though perhaps the only difference is that while 精神生活 sounds like natural Chinese, "spirituality" can sound trite depending on the context.