Definition

1. Noun:
   • Pagoda; Buddhist temple: A building or complex of buildings dedicated to Buddhist worship, meditation, and monastic life. It is a place where Buddha is venerated.
   • Something communal or free (colloquial): Used to describe resources, money, or items that are considered communal, public, or free for use, implying a lack of personal ownership or responsibility.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Chúng tôi đi lễ chùa vào mỗi dịp đầu năm. (We visit the pagoda for worship at the start of every new year.)
  • Đây là tiền chùa, đừng có tiêu phung phí. (This is free money/common funds, don't spend it wastefully.)
  • Khu vực này vắng như chùa bà Đanh. (This area is deserted/unpopulated.)

Advanced Usage

• The word can be used metaphorically to describe extreme emptiness or lack of people, as in the idiom "vắng như chùa bà Đanh" (as deserted as Bà Đanh Pagoda).
• In colloquial contexts, it criticizes the attitude of being careless with shared resources, e.g., "của chùa" (communal property).

Variants and Related Words

• Đi chùa (v): to go to the pagoda/temple (for worship).
  • Bà tôi thường đi chùa vào ngày rằm. (My grandmother often goes to the pagoda on the full moon day.)
• Chùa chiền (n): temples and pagodas (general term for Buddhist religious buildings).
  • Kiến trúc chùa chiền ở miền Bắc rất cổ kính. (The architecture of temples in the North is very ancient.)

Synonyms

• Pagoda: A Buddhist temple, often tiered.
• Temple: A building for religious worship (general, but commonly used for Buddhist contexts).
• Monastery: A building where monks live (can be part of a chùa complex).

Related Idioms

• Chùa nát bụt vàng: Literally "a dilapidated pagoda, a golden Buddha." Means a good heart or valuable essence within a humble or poor exterior.
  • Con người ấy đúng là chùa nát bụt vàng. (That person is truly a golden Buddha in a dilapidated pagoda.)
• Bụt chùa nhà không thiêng: Literally "The Buddha in one's own home pagoda is not sacred." Similar to "A prophet is not without honor, save in his own country."
  • Anh ta được khen ngợi ở nước ngoài, đúng là bụt chùa nhà không thiêng. (He is praised abroad, truly a prophet is not without honor in his own country.)
• Ăn cơm nhà làm việc chùa: To "eat at home but work for the pagoda." Means to work for a common or external cause without personal benefit, or to be exploited.
  • Lương thấp quá, tôi cảm thấy như đang ăn cơm nhà làm việc chùa vậy. (The salary is too low; I feel like I'm working for free/being exploited.)

noun

1. Pagoda
   • chùa nát bụt vàng, chùa rách bụt vàng
     a golden Buddha in a dilapidated pagoda
   • vắng như chùa bà Đanh
     unpopulated like the desert