Other Meanings
In addition to these Taoist "Three Treasures", Chinese sanbao can also refer to the Three Treasures in Traditional Chinese Medicine or the Three Jewels in Buddhism. Victor H. Mair (1990:110) notes that Chinese Buddhists chose the Taoist term sanbao to translate Sanskrit triratna or ratnatraya ("three jewels"), and "It is not at all strange that the Taoists would take over this widespread ancient Indian expression and use it for their own purposes."
Erik Zürcher, who studied influences of Buddhist doctrinal terms in Daoism, noted (1980:115) two later meanings of sanbao: Dao 道 "the Way", jing 經 "the Scriptures", and shi 師 "the Master" seems to be patterned after Buddhist usage; Tianbao jun 天寶君 "Lord of Celestial Treasure", Lingbao jun 靈寶君 "Lord of Numinous Treasure", and Shenbao jun 神寶君 "Lord of Divine Treasure" are the Sanyuan 三元 "Three Primes" of the Lingbao School.
Read more about this topic: Three Treasures (Taoism)
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