Chinese idiom · 成语
普渡众生
Meaning
To ferry all beings; universal salvation.
Character by character
Origin and story
Religious expressionThis expression belongs to Buddhist language about helping all sentient beings reach liberation from suffering and the cycle of birth and death. Du, written either 渡 or 度 in this expression, evokes carrying or guiding beings across. Zhongsheng means living or sentient beings, not specifically human souls.
The phrase is documented in later vernacular literature rather than tied here to one founding incident. In chapter twenty-five of Dream of the Red Chamber, a character jokes about the Buddha being busy with teaching and saving beings. That playful fictional use assumes an already familiar religious ideal; it does not establish when the phrase was first coined.
Sources and further reading
In everyday life
他总想替所有人解决烦恼，我们笑他简直是在普渡众生。
He always wants to solve everyone's troubles; we joke that he's trying to save all sentient beings.
A Buddhist expression, also used playfully for helping everyone; context matters.