section_path: Etymology/Chinese translation
section_name: Chinese translation
paragraph_text: Chinese translation
  
  In Chinese, Mahāyāna is called 大乘 (dàshèng, or dàchéng), which is a calque of maha (great 大) yana (vehicle 乘). There is also the transliteration 摩诃衍那. The term appeared in some of the earliest Mahāyāna texts, including Emperor Ling of Han 's translation of the Lotus Sutra. It also appears in the Chinese Āgamas, though scholars like Yin Shun argue that this is a later addition. Some Chinese scholars also argue that the meaning of the term in these earlier texts is different from later ideas of Mahāyāna Buddhism.