Scholars generally agree that referring to a person as a ＂han＂ 漢 reflects oral usage, a characteristic of Chan language. Regarding the reason why ＂han＂ becomes used as an appellation, scholars have generally regarded it to be a case of using the name of a race to refer to an individual member of the race. However, it has not been possible to explain how this relates to the same term as it refers to the Han River. This article analyzes passages in Chan texts containing this term from the late Tang and Five Dynasties to find common characteristics, combining linguistics and exegesis to explore possible origins of this usage. This article suggests that the implicit meanings of the phonetic component the character ＂han＂, [+suffering] and [+human], are activated and employed during the transliteration process, making ＂aluohan＂ 阿羅漢 a powerful translation for arhat. When Chan masters reduce ＂aluohan＂ to ＂han＂, they add descriptive content, suggest different conditions of the persons referred to, and convey their eager expectations. This crosses sectarian lines to become a common phrase in the Chan school.
