三元

三元

1. (historical) winning three stages in imperial examinations: 解元 (jièyuán), first place in 鄉試／乡试 (xiāngshì, “triennial provincial imperial exam”); 會元／会元 (huìyuán), first place in 會試／会试 (huìshì, “triennial metropolitan imperial exam”); 狀元／状元 (zhuàngyuan), first place in 殿試／殿试 (diànshì, “palace exam”)
2. (Chinese philosophy) the three elements: heaven(天 (tiān)), earth(地 (dì)), and man(人 (rén))

   Synonym: 三才 (sāncái)

3. (historical, Chinese mathematics) three variables: x(天元), y(地元), z(人元)
4. (～大帝) (Taoism) the three great Emperor-Officials, important deities in Taoism: the Heavenly Official 天官 (tiānguān), the Earthly Official 地官 (dìguān) and the Water Official 水官 (shuǐguān)
5. (～節) (Taoism) the respective birthdates of the above deities: 上元 (Shàngyuán)(on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month), 中元 (zhōngyuán)(on the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month), and 下元(on the fifteenth day of the tenth lunar month)

三元

1. (～區) Sanyuan (a district of Sanming, Fujian, China)
2. (～鎮) Sanyuan Town (name of several towns and townships in China)
3. (～村) Sanyuan (a village in Huilong, Hanchuan, Xiaogan, Hubei, China)

• IPA^(key): [sã̠ŋɡẽ̞ɴ]

三(さん)元(げん) • (sangen) 

1. the general term for three festivals: 上(じょう)元(げん) (jōgen)(on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month), 中(ちゅう)元(げん) (chūgen)(on the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month), and 下(か)元(げん) (kagen)(on the fifteenth day of the tenth lunar month)
2. New Year's Day, the beginning(元) of the three time periods: the year, the month and the day

   Synonyms: 元旦, 元日, 正月

3. the three elements: heaven(天), earth(地), and man(人)

   Synonym: 三才