Tích Thiện
Definition
Noun (Proper Noun):
- Tích Thiện (Commune): A commune-level administrative unit located in Trà Ôn District, Vĩnh Long Province, Vietnam.
Noun (Compound Word from Sino-Vietnamese):
- Accumulating Virtue / Storing Up Goodness: A philosophical and moral concept derived from Chinese tradition, meaning the practice of consistently performing good deeds to accumulate moral merit, often with the belief that this leads to positive outcomes for oneself or one's descendants.
Usage Examples
Noun (Proper Noun):
- Gia đình tôi sống ở xã Tích Thiện. (My family lives in Tích Thiện commune.)
- Tích Thiện là một xã thuộc huyện Trà Ôn. (Tích Thiện is a commune in Trà Ôn district.)
Noun (Concept):
- Ông bà ta tin vào đạo "tích thiện phùng thiện". (Our ancestors believed in the principle that "accumulating virtue brings good fortune".)
- Sống phải biết tích thiện. (In life, one must know how to accumulate good deeds.)
Advanced Usage
- The concept is often used in proverbs and moral teachings. It is central to the idea of "tích đức" (accumulating moral virtue) for one's future or for one's children's future.
- Làm việc thiện là cách để tích thiện. (Doing good deeds is a way to accumulate virtue.)
Variants and Related Words
- Tích đức (v/n): To accumulate virtue/good karma; a closely related term often used interchangeably with "tích thiện" in moral contexts.
- Hành thiện (v): To do good, to perform good deeds.
- Phúc đức (n): Blessings and virtue, often seen as the result of "tích thiện".
Synonyms
- Accumulating merit: Building up a store of good actions.
- Stockpiling goodness: A more literal synonym for the moral concept.
Related Idioms and Proverbs
"Tích thiện phùng thiện, tích ác phùng ác":
- A proverb meaning "Accumulate good, meet with good; accumulate evil, meet with evil." It expresses the concept of karmic retribution.
- Hãy nhớ câu "tích thiện phùng thiện". (Remember the saying "good begets good".)
"Đức năng thắng số":
- An idiom meaning "Virtue can overcome fate," related to the belief that accumulated virtue ("tích thiện") can change one's predetermined destiny for the better.