The current paper explores the meaning and implications of an ancient Chinese phrase “kung-fu” by analyzing the source of the language and the earlier literature. In earliest times, “kung-fu” did not connote “self-cultivation”, which was developed from earlier Buddhism’s translated scriptures. Hence the paper subsequently analyzes several usages of “kung-fu” from earlier Buddhism’s translated scriptures and comes up with a core implication—“the means or method with which to achieve a certain goal of practice”. As to the characteristics and content of “kung-fu”, the paper induces a couple of components through the discussion on Da Anban Shouyi Jing, one of the earliest Buddhism’s scriptures; to put it shortly, “kung-fu” refers to that “an individual intensely focusing the physical and spiritual self to commit oneself to ritualized repetitive and progressive techniques or skills”. Such an understanding of “kung-fu” might in some way contribute to a broader thinking and perspective on all types of self-cultivation, such as chadou, martial arts, and literary creations.
