Ruyi (scepter)
| Ruyi | |||||||||||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese | |||||||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | as desired | ||||||||||||||||
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| Vietnamese name | |||||||||||||||||
| Vietnamese alphabet | như ý | ||||||||||||||||
| Chữ Hán | 如意 | ||||||||||||||||
| Korean name | |||||||||||||||||
| Hangul | 여의 | ||||||||||||||||
| Hanja | 如意 | ||||||||||||||||
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| Japanese name | |||||||||||||||||
| Kanji | 如意 | ||||||||||||||||
| Hiragana | にょい | ||||||||||||||||
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| Transcriptions | |
|---|---|
| Standard Mandarin | |
| Hanyu Pinyin | rúyì |
| Wade–Giles | ju-i |
| Middle Chinese | |
| Middle Chinese | nyo 'iH |
| Old Chinese | |
| Baxter-Sagart | na-s ʔək-s |
| Transcriptions | |
|---|---|
| Revised Romanization | yeo ui |
| McCune–Reischauer | yŏ ŭi |
| Transcriptions | |
|---|---|
| Revised Hepburn | nyōi |
Ruyi (Chinese: 如意; literally: "as desired; as [you] wish") is a curved decorative object that serves as a ceremonial sceptre in Chinese Buddhism or a talisman symbolizing power and good fortune in Chinese folklore. A traditional ruyi has a long S-shaped handle and a head fashioned like a fist, cloud, or lingzhi mushroom. Ruyi are constructed from diverse materials. For example, the Palace Museum in Beijing has nearly 3000 ruyi that are variously made from valuable materials like gold, silver, iron, bamboo, wood, ivory, coral, rhinoceros horn, lacquer, crystal, jade, and precious gems. The "ruyi" image frequently appears as a motif in Asian art.
The Chinese term ruyi is a compound of ru "as; like; such as; as if; for example; supposing; be like; be similar; accord with" and yi "wish; will; desire; intention; suggestion; thought; idea; meaning; imagination".
Standard Chinese uses ruyi either as a stative verb meaning "as desired; as one wishes, as one likes; according to one's wishes; following your heart's desires", or as an adjective meaning "satisfied, pleased, happy, comfortable". The word is combined with suanpan 算盤 "abacus" in the expression ruyi suanpan "wishful thinking; smug calculations".
Chinese ruyi was borrowed as a Buddhist loanword into Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese, with corresponding Sino-Xenic pronunciations (see Infobox above).
Chinese classic texts from the Former Han Dynasty (206 BC – 24 AD) have the earliest usages of the word ruyi. For example, the Shiji history uses it both literally for "as desired" and for the given name of Liu Ruyi 劉如意 (d. 195 BC), who was the son of Emperor Gaozu of Han and Concubine Qi. The Hanshu biography of the fangshi astrologer and mathematician Jing Fang (78-37 BCE) quotes him using ruyi meaning "as you wish" in an audience with Emperor Yuan of Han (tr. Edkins 1904: 238), "I fear that though your Majesty acts in this way you will still not obtain what accords with your wish."
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