Translation help please

[mxian]

Hi,

In dictionary, the character 劫 means 1) a buddhist lifetime, and 2) to plunder.

When seeing the episode list of the old chinese TV series "Justice Pao", I see some episode names with that character 劫 that I can't decipher the meaning. For example, what does "天倫劫" mean? Also, does "孿生劫" mean "lifetimes of a twins", or what? And "通判劫"?

Another term: does "寸草心" mean "heart of a grass blade"?

Thank you very much for your help.

[fengyixiao]

Literally,寸草心 is "Grass-inch heart".

Actually,it is a feeling how much a son loves his mother.

劫jié

1.to rob; to snatch; to plunder2.a calamity

The 劫 in 天伦劫、通判劫 has a meaning "a calamity".

天伦

1. [natural bonds and ethical relationship between family members]∶指父子、兄弟等亲属关系

天伦之乐

So, you can understand:天伦劫 means "a calamity occur between family members".

通判tōng pàn

[an official under county magistrate who administers lawsuit,etc.] 官名。在知府下掌管粮运、家田、水利和诉讼等事项

So "通判劫" means "a calamity happende to the 通判"

What does "孪生劫" means? You can reason it.

Edited September 28, 2009 at 04:29 PM by fengyixiao

[leeyah]

天倫 （天伦) means natural order of things, and is figuratively used to mean family affairs.

My dictionary gives 劫 as calamity, disaster, and also says it's short for 劫波, the Chinese equivalent of the Sanskrit word kalpa from Hindu/ Buddhist cosmology

孪生 means "twins".

寸草 figuratively refers to children , 小草，比喻子女.

寸草心 = 子女的心 and is from a poem 游子吟 by 孟郊 (Tang dynasty)

The original phrase >> 谁言寸草心，报得三春晖 means: "what children owe to their parents is hard to repay".

通判 is probably an official title, someone in charge of (public) order

[mxian]

Thanks, everyone. You're great!