Yuan (缘) or Yuanfen (缘份; pinyin: yuan2 fen4) is a Buddhist-related Chinese concept that means the predetermined principle that dictates a person's relationships and encounters, usually positive, such as the affinity among friends or lovers. In common usage the term can be defined as the "binding force" that links two persons together in any relationship. The concept of synchronicity from the Swiss psychologist Carl Jung can be seen as similar to yuanfen, which Chinese people also believe to be a universal force governing the happening of things to some people at some places. Yuanfen belongs to the family of concepts known in theology as determinism. Hanyu Pinyin (Simplified Chinese: 汉语拼音; Traditional Chinese: 漢語拼音; Hanyu Pinyin: , lit. ... A replica of an ancient statue found among the ruins of a temple at Sarnath Buddhism is a philosophy based on the teachings of the Buddha, Siddhārtha Gautama, a prince of the Shakyas, whose lifetime is traditionally given as 566 to 486 BCE. It had subsequently been accepted by... Predeterminism is generally the philosophy that all of the events of history, past, present and future, have been decided before the advent of temporal existence. ... An interpersonal relationship is some relationship or connection between two people. ... An intimate relationship is a interpersonal relationship where there is a great deal of physical or emotional intimacy. ... Synchronicity is a word coined by the Swiss psychologist Carl Jung to describe the temporally coincident occurences of acausal events. Jung also spoke of synchronicity as being an acausal connecting principle (ie. ... Carl Jungs autobiographical work Memories , Dreams and Reflections, Fontana edition Carl Gustav Jung (July 26, 1875 – June 6, 1961) (IPA:) was a Swiss psychiatrist and founder of analytical psychology. ... A concept is an abstract, idea, notion, or entity that serves to designate a category or class of entities, events, phenomena or relations between them. ... Theology is reasoned discourse concerning God (Greek θεος, theos, God, + λογος, logos, word or reason). It can also refer to the study of other religious topics. ... Determinism is the philosophical proposition that every event, including human cognition and action, is causally determined by an unbroken chain of prior occurrences. ...

Some believe that the driving forces and causes behind yuanfen are the actions done in the previous reincarnations. This aspect is therefore similar to karma of Buddhism. However, while karma often refers to the consequences of an individual's actions on him- or herself, "yuan" is always used in conjunction with two persons. It has been suggested that Metempsychosis be merged into this article or section. ... Karma (Sanskrit: from the root , to do, [meaning deed] meaning action, effect, destiny) is a term that comprises the entire cycle of cause and effect. ... Buddhism is a religion and philosophy focusing on the teachings of the Buddha Śākyamuni (Siddhārtha Gautama), who probably lived in the 5th century BCE. Buddhism spread throughout the ancient Indian sub-continent in the five centuries following the Buddhas death, and propagated into Central, Southeast, and East Asia...

The proverb yau yen mo fen (有緣無份) is sometimes used to describe couples who meet, but cannot stay together.

Unlike other Chinese social relations, which describe abstract, but easily noticeable, connections between people, nowadays, Chinese merely use this word poetically or to emphasize a meant-to-be relationship, and almost never in a serious business or legal situation. Chinese social relations are social relations typified by a reciprocal social network. ...

Usage

• The Chinese saying "Have fate without destiny" (pinyin: you3 yuan2 wu5 fen4) refers to couples who are fated to come together, but not destined to stay together.
• When one meets a person (of either gender) who is hard to find, one can exclaim: "It is yuanfen that has brought us together!"
• When one encounters another repeatedly in various locations that it seems to be beyond coincidence, one can refer to yuanfen.
• On the contrary, when two persons who know each other (maybe as penpals) but never get a chance to meet face-to-face, it can be said that their yuanfen is too superficial or thin.

The Mandarin proverb: 百世修来同船渡，千载修得共枕眠 (pinyin: bai3 shi4 xiu1 lai2 tong2 chuan2 du4, qian1 zai4 xiu1 de2 gong4 zheng3 mian2) Hanyu Pinyin (Simplified Chinese: 汉语拼音; Traditional Chinese: 漢語拼音; Hanyu Pinyin: , lit. ... Pen pals (or penpals or pen friends) are people who regularly write each other, in particular in the case of snail mail. ... Mandarin, or Beifanghua (Chinese: 北方話; Pinyin: BÄ›ifānghuà; literally Northern Dialect(s)), or Guanhua (Traditional Chinese: 官話; Simplified Chinese: 官话; Pinyin: Guānhuà; literally official speech) is a category of related Chinese dialects spoken across most of northern and southwestern China. ... Hanyu Pinyin (Simplified Chinese: 汉语拼音; Traditional Chinese: 漢語拼音; Hanyu Pinyin: , lit. ...

• Literally: It takes hundreds of reincarnations to bring two persons to ride on the same boat; it takes a thousand eons to bring two persons to share the same pillow. This is just to show how precious yuanfen is.

Translations

Often yuanfen is said to be the equivalent of "fate" (as is with the title of a 1984 movie starring Leslie Cheung) or "destiny". However, these words do not have the element of the past playing a role in deciding the outcome of the uncertain future. The most common Chinese term for "fate" or "destiny" is mingyun (命運 ming4 yun4), literally "the turn of events in life". Film refers to the celluloid media on which movies are printed. ... Leslie Cheung Kwok-wing (September 12, 1956 - April 1, 2003) (Traditional Chinese: 張國榮; Simplified Chinese: 张国荣; Cantonese IPA: , Jyutping: zoeng1 kwok3 wing4; Mandarin Pinyin: Zhāng Guóróng, Wades-Giles: λChang Kuo-jung; nickname Gor-gor (哥哥, Elder Brother in Cantonese)) was an actor and a musician from Hong Kong. ...

"Providence" and "predestination" are also not exact translations, because these words imply that the things happen by the will of God or gods, whereas yuanfen does not necessarily involve divine intervention. Predestination is a religious idea, under which the relationship between the beginning of things and the destiny of things is discussed. ... Image:Http://www. ... At the moment this article is only a list. ...

See also: Chinese social relations Chinese social relations are social relations typified by a reciprocal social network. ...