DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

天命

Mandarin · pinyin Tiān mìng

Mandate of Heaven
destiny
fate
one's life span

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

天: tiān · sky, heaven; god, celestial
命: mìng · life; destiny, fate, luck; an order, instruction

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

1–4 · Tian1 ming4

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

2character links

Explore word families ↗Compare pronunciations ↗Open character structure ↗

Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.

Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

天命 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 8 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

tin1 ming6

Cantonese word readings for 天命. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

noun

the myriad of things in nature which make up the law of nature or natural law
the will of heaven
the Mandate of Heaven
one's fate or destiny
one's nature or natural instincts
one's innate skills or gifts
one's life span or life expectancy

name

(historical) the Tianming era (a Chinese era name; the era of Nurhaci as khan of the Later Jin, from the proclamation of the dynasty in 1616 until 1627)

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack