<p>It depends on your context. It could be 神 (deity), 老天爷 (Boss of Heaven), 上帝 (God), 主 (The Lord, used by Christians; other people just use 上帝). 真主(God of Islam), 佛祖(God of Buddhism, Sakyamuni specifically), 太上老君(Boss of Taoism)</p>

<p>Other neutral words
仙, 神仙</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2017-11-27T16:22:33.050Z
2020-03-03T04:23:29.097Z
2020-03-03T04:23:29.097Z
sfy
<p>神 shén is the character for spirit or god, but 上帝 shàng dì is closer to the Judeo-Christian sense of the word. The former could be translated as "the gods," whereas the latter would translate as "God" or "The Lord."</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-27T14:38:13.777Z
2017-11-27T14:38:13.777Z
Rafael Fogel
<p>In Chinese, there is no single, direct translation of "god":</p>

<p>-If you are a Christian, or live in the West, the word 上帝 perhaps is your best bet for "god" in Chinese, as it is the usual translation for the Western god, regardless of denomination (e.g. "god" in Gogol's books are all translated as 上帝);</p>

<p>-The cosmic power/spirit: 上天 (as in: 上天保佑--sort of like "may the force be with you"） or 老天爷;</p>

<p>-Christian prayers (esp the older translations) refer to god as 主 or 神 （I've seen hand-copied Christian prayers that use both）；but 神 also means "spirit" (if you think of "the holy spirit", it makes sense that 神 is used to refer to god). However, unlike 上帝, the character 神 alone doesn't unambiguously mean "god".</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-01T01:59:56.907Z
2017-12-01T01:59:56.907Z
YCode
<p>I searched it from a translator and it said 神仏. Is that correct? I need the text for my hoodie that im making. There is so many answers and I dont want to write something that I dont 100% know.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-27T16:16:55.060Z
**真主** {伊斯兰教} Allah,  清真言:“万物非主，唯有 **真主** ；穆罕默德，是主使者”。There is no god but God ...
user6065
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-03-03T05:19:30.287Z
Though generally the word 神 is accepted as "god" or "deity" of some kind, it has multifarious meanings, some of which have nothing to do with god as such, like 神经  (nervous system), 神奇, (out-of-the-ordinary), 神秘，(mysterious), 神游, (let your mind wander while in meditation), but if you reverse it, 游神, (transporting statues of deity around town as in the Japanese Shinko-sai Festival, (神幸祭) However, some superstitious people do not dare put such a powerful word like 神 on their bodies as a tattoo for fear of divine displeasure because ancient Chinese believed that words have supernatural powers.
Wayne Cheah
<translation>
What is "god" in Chinese?
# What is "god" in Chinese?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-11-27)

I searched it from a translator and it said 神仏. Is that correct? I need the text for my hoodie that im making. There is so many answers and I dont want to write something that I dont 100% know.

**Tags:** translation

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: **真主** {伊斯兰教} Allah,  清真言:“万物非主，唯有 **真主** ；穆罕默德，是主使者”。There is no god but God ...  
> **username_2**: Though generally the word 神 is accepted as "god" or "deity" of some kind, it has multifarious meanings, some of which have nothing to do with god as such, like 神经  (nervous system), 神奇, (out-of-the-ordinary), 神秘，(mysterious), 神游, (let your mind wander while in meditation), but if you reverse it, 游神, (transporting statues of deity around town as in the Japanese Shinko-sai Festival, (神幸祭) However, some superstitious people do not dare put such a powerful word like 神 on their bodies as a tattoo for fear of divine displeasure because ancient Chinese believed that words have supernatural powers.  

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## 3 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2017-11-27. Score: 7

It depends on your context. It could be 神 (deity), 老天爷 (Boss of Heaven), 上帝 (God), 主 (The Lord, used by Christians; other people just use 上帝). 真主(God of Islam), 佛祖(God of Buddhism, Sakyamuni specifically), 太上老君(Boss of Taoism)

Other neutral words
仙, 神仙


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### Answer by username_4 on 2017-11-27. Score: 1

神 shén is the character for spirit or god, but 上帝 shàng dì is closer to the Judeo-Christian sense of the word. The former could be translated as "the gods," whereas the latter would translate as "God" or "The Lord."


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### Answer by username_5 on 2017-12-01. Score: 1

In Chinese, there is no single, direct translation of "god":

-If you are a Christian, or live in the West, the word 上帝 perhaps is your best bet for "god" in Chinese, as it is the usual translation for the Western god, regardless of denomination (e.g. "god" in Gogol's books are all translated as 上帝);

-The cosmic power/spirit: 上天 (as in: 上天保佑--sort of like "may the force be with you"） or 老天爷;

-Christian prayers (esp the older translations) refer to god as 主 or 神 （I've seen hand-copied Christian prayers that use both）；but 神 also means "spirit" (if you think of "the holy spirit", it makes sense that 神 is used to refer to god). However, unlike 上帝, the character 神 alone doesn't unambiguously mean "god".


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