Sanjie 三界 [Three Realms] is a term used in Hinduism and Buddhism with different interpretations. “In Buddhism, the three worlds refer to the following destinations for karmic rebirth: Kāmaloka is the world of desire, typified by base desires, populated by hell beings, preta (hungry ghosts), animals, humans and lower demi-gods;
Rūpaloka is the world of form, predominantly free of baser desires, populated by dhyāna-dwelling gods, possible rebirth destination for those well practiced in dhyana; Arūpaloka is the world of formlessness, a noncorporeal realm populated with four heavens, possible rebirth destination for practitioners of the four formlessness stages.” (wikipedia) This concept is also borrowed by Daoism. Here, it is again used loosely to refer to all the realms.
