The term t'ien-t'ang, for "heaven," seems to be founded on the use of t'ang as a "hall" for holding a court. Heaven is present to the native mind as a vast hall where the Deity sits in celestial state with subordinate divinities as his assessors. The phrase is not Hindoo, but the idea is Hindoo. In other words, the Chinese have made a phrase of their own, to fit the Buddhist notion of a paradise or palace of the gods. The reason is not far to seek. The Buddhist translators, when rendering the word "god" used t'ien invariably. The Sanscrit deva, the Latin deus, and the Bengali debta, have no other equivalent in Chinese than t'ien, "heaven." At the same time devaloka, the "heaven of a deva," is also translated by t'ien, thus causing some confusion. This mixture of two senses has led to the addition of t'ang, in ordinary colloquial use, for heaven as a paradise. This phrase t'ien-t'ang, "heavenly hall," is of course modern and subsequent to the spread of Buddhism.

The narrow limitation of the word to the sense "hall" is an objection, but Christians all feel that the chief and prevailing sense is in the word t'ien. The Christian usage omits t'ang as often as it admits it, even in colloquial intercourse and in preaching. In the various translations of the Bible, t'ien-t'ang is never used.

T'ien-kung, "palace of heaven," is not inappropriate for the throne-scene in the fourth chapter of the Book of the Revelation; but it is not used in the Chinese versions of the Scriptures. Like ti-yu for "hell," it is limited to colloquial use in Christian literature. In Buddhist books, tien-tang is not used for "heaven," but t'ien-kung, "palace of the gods," which is so used, is a good deal like it, and resembles ming-kung, "bright palace," which is found in the Syrian inscription for "heaven," and in late Christian literature occasionally. Ming-kung and t'ien-t'ang are both of them phrases formed on the Hindoo notion of heaven.