Definition

1. Noun (Literary):
   • Dust and grime / Filth: The literal meaning refers to physical dirt, dust, and unclean matter.
   • Baseness / Vileness / Moral impurity: The figurative and more common literary meaning refers to something morally low, despicable, or corrupt; the stains of worldly defilement.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Trong thơ cổ, "trần cấu" thường tượng trưng cho những tham vọng tầm thường. (In classical poetry, "trần cấu" often symbolizes vulgar ambitions.)
  • Tâm hồn thanh cao, không vương chút trần cấu. (A noble soul, untouched by any vileness.)

Advanced Usage

• This term is almost exclusively used in classical or highly literary Vietnamese contexts, particularly in poetry and philosophical texts, to contrast spiritual purity with worldly corruption.

Variants and Related Words

• Trần ai (n): The dusty world; the mundane, sorrowful human world.
• Trần tục (adj): Mundane, worldly, secular.
• Cấu bẩn (n): Dirt, filth (modern, literal usage).

Synonyms

• Filth: Material dirt.
• Baseness: Lack of moral principles.
• Defilement: The state of being spiritually impure.
• Sordidness: Moral dirtiness.

Related Idioms

• Gột rửa trần cấu: To wash away the worldly filth; to purify oneself from base desires.
  • Thiền định để gột rửa trần cấu. (To meditate in order to wash away worldly defilement.)