英文把天译为天堂，是值得澄清的。
天是中国宇宙学里最早用的一个字，也是中国神话，哲学里一个重要概念。据说天最早用于周朝，是指最高的天神。周朝为了说明其篡夺天下的正当性，而提出了天命的政治说辞，是说当一个统治者无道，他就应该被上天所指定的人来取而代之。
我们不难了解帝皇为什么要自称天子，或天神之子了。
孔子和他的弟子把天的概念延伸为人性化的道德之天，天为最高道德标准。中庸里首句‘天命之謂性’就是这个天。
老子则把天放到道之后：‘有物混成，先天地生…….吾不知其名，故强字之曰道。’这就把天还回凡俗，而超自然力量的天神也就从中国文化中被排除了。
中国的天与西方的天堂概念是不同的。天堂为了翻译英文Heaven才有的一个新的中文名词。
天加其他字又有新意，如天空，天性，天体，等等。
中国哲学常把天和互补的地合为天地 – 这就是我们的物质世界和宇宙。
再加上人，就形成了华人宇宙观的三才：天地人。
.
The word Tian, which is usually translated as Heaven in English, needs clarification.
The Chinese word Tian is one of the oldest Chinese terms for the cosmos and a key concept in Chinese mythology, philosophy. Apparently Tian was first used during Zhou dynasty to refer to the highest deity. Zhou developed a political theory to justify their usurpation of the emperorship in a doctrine called Tian Ming, or the mandate of the highest deity, which is usually translated as the ‘Mandate of Heaven’ in English.
According to the Mandate of Heaven, whenever a ruler was no longer worthy of his position, he would be deposed and replaced by a ruler more favored by divine powers.
One can understand why emperors in China had decided to call themselves Tianzi, or the son of the highest deity.
Confucius and his disciples extended its meaning to mean an ethical Tian, that is, one having a moral principle and which is the highest principle of the universe. This is the sort of Tian which the book Zhong Yong (Doctrine of the Mean) refers to in its opening sentence when it says: ‘What Tian confers (on man) is called his nature.’
Laozi put Dao before Tian when he said: ‘There was something undifferentiated and all-embracing, which existed before Tian and Di (地 earth)….. I do not know its name, and hence call it Dao.’ With this, Tian is back to the terrestrial world and thus the mighty supernatural god is eliminated from the Chinese cultural context.
The Chinese concept of Tian is therefore different from the concept of the western Heaven. When the original English word Heaven is translated into Chinese, a new Chinese term Tian Tang (堂 hall) is used.
However, when Tian is combined with other Chinese words, the meaning may change accordingly. For example, Tian Kong (空empty, air) means the sky, Tian Xin(性 nature), inborn nature, Tian Ti (体 form, system), celestial phenomena, etc.
In Chinese philosophy, the term Tian is usually mentioned in relationship to its complementary aspect of Di (地), which is most often translated as "Earth". Put these two words together, the term Tian-Di actually means the terrestrial world, the universe. Together with Humanity (ren 人), the Chinese have therefore conceived a three-tier universe – tian, di (earth) and ren (humanity).
天是中国宇宙学里最早用的一个字，也是中国神话，哲学里一个重要概念。据说天最早用于周朝，是指最高的天神。周朝为了说明其篡夺天下的正当性，而提出了天命的政治说辞，是说当一个统治者无道，他就应该被上天所指定的人来取而代之。
我们不难了解帝皇为什么要自称天子，或天神之子了。
孔子和他的弟子把天的概念延伸为人性化的道德之天，天为最高道德标准。中庸里首句‘天命之謂性’就是这个天。
老子则把天放到道之后：‘有物混成，先天地生…….吾不知其名，故强字之曰道。’这就把天还回凡俗，而超自然力量的天神也就从中国文化中被排除了。
中国的天与西方的天堂概念是不同的。天堂为了翻译英文Heaven才有的一个新的中文名词。
天加其他字又有新意，如天空，天性，天体，等等。
中国哲学常把天和互补的地合为天地 – 这就是我们的物质世界和宇宙。
再加上人，就形成了华人宇宙观的三才：天地人。
.
The word Tian, which is usually translated as Heaven in English, needs clarification.
The Chinese word Tian is one of the oldest Chinese terms for the cosmos and a key concept in Chinese mythology, philosophy. Apparently Tian was first used during Zhou dynasty to refer to the highest deity. Zhou developed a political theory to justify their usurpation of the emperorship in a doctrine called Tian Ming, or the mandate of the highest deity, which is usually translated as the ‘Mandate of Heaven’ in English.
According to the Mandate of Heaven, whenever a ruler was no longer worthy of his position, he would be deposed and replaced by a ruler more favored by divine powers.
One can understand why emperors in China had decided to call themselves Tianzi, or the son of the highest deity.
Confucius and his disciples extended its meaning to mean an ethical Tian, that is, one having a moral principle and which is the highest principle of the universe. This is the sort of Tian which the book Zhong Yong (Doctrine of the Mean) refers to in its opening sentence when it says: ‘What Tian confers (on man) is called his nature.’
Laozi put Dao before Tian when he said: ‘There was something undifferentiated and all-embracing, which existed before Tian and Di (地 earth)….. I do not know its name, and hence call it Dao.’ With this, Tian is back to the terrestrial world and thus the mighty supernatural god is eliminated from the Chinese cultural context.
The Chinese concept of Tian is therefore different from the concept of the western Heaven. When the original English word Heaven is translated into Chinese, a new Chinese term Tian Tang (堂 hall) is used.
However, when Tian is combined with other Chinese words, the meaning may change accordingly. For example, Tian Kong (空empty, air) means the sky, Tian Xin(性 nature), inborn nature, Tian Ti (体 form, system), celestial phenomena, etc.
In Chinese philosophy, the term Tian is usually mentioned in relationship to its complementary aspect of Di (地), which is most often translated as "Earth". Put these two words together, the term Tian-Di actually means the terrestrial world, the universe. Together with Humanity (ren 人), the Chinese have therefore conceived a three-tier universe – tian, di (earth) and ren (humanity).
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