P'eng-lai

A form of Penglai — A district of Yantai, in eastern Shandong, China (famous for its mirages out at sea), formerly known as Tengchow and since renamed for a mythical island.

OriginMandarin 蓬萊 /蓬莱 →
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

proper noun
  1. alternativeAlternative form of Penglai.

    Li Shao-chün not only promised the Emperor immortality after seeing P'eng-lai, but he said that he himself had been to P'eng-lai.

    1966, Holmes Welch, Taoism: The Parting of the Way, Beacon Press, page 101
    2 more examples

    'The Pointing Finger' is one of many Taoist tales about the Eight Immortals whose fabled home was the magical island of P'eng-lai.

    1980, Sweet and Sour, New York: Clarion Books, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 10

    The second strand features such personages as the Hsi Wang Mu, Queen Mother of the West, and places such as the Isles of P'eng-lai in the east.

    2012, Teresa Moorey, Understand Chinese mythology, →ISBN, page 3

Origin

  1. Mandarin蓬萊 /蓬莱
  2. EnglishP'eng-lai

From the Wade–Giles romanization of the Mandarin 蓬萊 /蓬莱 (Pénglái) Wade–Giles romanization: Pʻeng²-lai².

More words from Mandarin

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

P'eng-lai. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/P'eng-lai

MLA

“P'eng-lai.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/P'eng-lai. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “P'eng-lai,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/P'eng-lai.

Source: P'eng-lai on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.