Definition

1. Noun:
   • Trade, profession, occupation: A field of work or a means of livelihood that one engages in.
   • Karma (Buddhist concept): The sum of a person's actions in previous states of existence, viewed as deciding their fate in future existences; destiny or fate resulting from past deeds.

Usage Examples

• Noun (Profession):
  • Cha ông tôi đã theo nghiệp đánh cá suốt đời. (My father and grandfather followed the fishing profession all their lives.)
  • Anh ấy rất đam mê với nghiệp dạy học. (He is very passionate about the teaching profession.)
• Noun (Karma):
  • Theo quan niệm nhà Phật, mỗi người phải gánh nghiệp của chính mình. (According to Buddhist belief, each person must bear their own karma.)
  • "Đã mang lấy nghiệp vào thân..." (Truyện Kiều - Nguyễn Du) ("Having brought this karma upon oneself..." (The Tale of Kieu - Nguyen Du))

Advanced Usage

• "mang nghiệp" / "gánh nghiệp": To bear one's karma; to be fated with a certain lot in life due to past actions.
  • Số phận long đong, có lẽ do anh ta phải mang nghiệp từ kiếp trước. (A turbulent fate, perhaps because he must bear the karma from a past life.)
• "theo nghiệp": To follow in someone's professional footsteps; to enter the same trade/profession.
  • Cô con gái đã theo nghiệp mẹ để trở thành bác sĩ. (The daughter followed her mother's profession to become a doctor.)

Variants and Related Words

• Cơ nghiệp (n): Estate, property, family business or foundation built over time.
  • Ông ấy đã dành cả đời để xây dựng cơ nghiệp. (He spent his whole life building his estate/business.)
• Nghiệp dư (adj): Amateur (literally "of the profession/art," but used to mean non-professional).
  • Anh ấy là một nhiếp ảnh gia nghiệp dư. (He is an amateur photographer.)
• Nghiệp chướng (n, Buddhist term): Karmic obstacles; sins or bad karma that cause suffering.
  • Gặp nhiều tai ương, người ta thường nói đó là nghiệp chướng. (Facing many calamities, people often say it is karmic retribution.)

Synonyms

• Nghề (n): Profession, trade, job. (More common and neutral for "profession").
• Số phận (n): Fate, destiny. (General term for fate, without the karmic implication).
• Nhân quả (n): Cause and effect, karma. (Specifically refers to the law of karma).

Related Phrases / Compound Words

• Nghiệp báo (n): Karmic retribution; the result or payback of one's karma.
  • Làm việc ác sẽ phải chịu nghiệp báo. (Doing evil will lead to karmic retribution.)
• Đoạn trường (a literary synonym in the context of fate/predestination, as seen in "Đoạn trường vô nghiệp").

Related Idioms

• "Cha truyền con nối": Literally "father passes on, son continues." This idiom relates to the concept of inheriting a family nghiệp (trade/profession).
  • Gia đình họ làm nghề thuốc nam cha truyền con nối đã mấy đời. (Their family has practiced traditional herbal medicine, passed down from father to son, for generations.)
• "Ăn ở có đức": To live virtuously. This idiom is related to the concept of nghiệp (karma), implying that good deeds lead to good karma.
  • Ăn ở có đức thì mới mong gặp may. (Only by living virtuously can one hope for good fortune.)

1. Trade, profession
   • Nghiệp nông
     The farming profession
2. Karma