Meanings
- In Chinese Buddhism, refers to Buddhist chanting, hymns, and liturgical music used in rituals and ceremonies. It plays a crucial role in spiritual practice, fostering meditation, reverence, and creating a sacred atmosphere in temples.
Fanbei generally involves a choir accompanied by numerous percussion instruments.
2017 November 17, Robert C. Provine, Yosihiko Tokumaru, J. Lawrence Witzleben, The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music: East Asia: China, Japan, and Korea, Routledge, →ISBN, page 5722 more examples
The earliest form of Budhist music was fanbei; fan being the music of Mahabrahma and bei being clearness and purity.
2004, Chi-Ying Fu, Zhiying Fu, Handing Down the Light: The Biography of Venerable Master Hsing Yun, Buddha's Light Publishing, page 65Monastic liturgical singing is known as fanbei, which may be loosely translated as ‘Indian singing’.
2005, “Buddhist music”, in Edward Lawrence Davis, editor, Encyclopedia of Contemporary Chinese Culture, Taylor & Francis, →ISBN, page 73, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 52, column 2
Origin
- Mandarin梵唄 /梵呗
- Englishfanbei
From the Hanyu Pinyin romanization of the Mandarin 梵唄 /梵呗 (fànbài). * 梵 (Fàn) – Derived from the Sanskrit word "Brahman" (ब्रह्मन्), meaning "sacred," "pure," or "divine." In the Buddhist context, it refers to things associated with the sacred or the transcendent. * 呗 (Bèi) – A phonetic transcription of the Sanskrit term "bhāṣya" (भाष्य), meaning "chant" or "recitation." Together, 梵呗 (Fanbei) can be translated as "sacred chanting" or "Brahma chant."
More words from Mandarin
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
fanbei. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fanbei
“fanbei.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fanbei. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “fanbei,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fanbei.
Source: fanbei on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.