Shangjie 上界 [the upper realms] is used broadly here as another way to call the heavens. The term probably comes from the Buddhist concept of Trailokya [Sanskrit: त्रैलोक्य; Kannada: ತ್ರೈಲೋಕ್ಯ; Pali: tiloka, Tibetan: khams gsum; Chinese: 三界; Vietnamese: Tam Giới], literally means “three words.”
Language and Culture Center (LCC) at Duke Kunshan University
