The Sanskrit original terms such as paritrāṇa, uttaraṇa which mean 'to save,' 'protect,' 'help,'   'aid,' and so forth are rendered into classical Chinese as 救濟, as well as 救護, 救拔, 拔濟, 拯濟, 救援, etc. The present term has a precedent for usage seen in the early Chinese historical work Sanguo zhi 三國志, but in Buddhist texts such as the Abhidharmakośa-bhāṣya 倶舍論, it is utilized to denote taking refuge in the Three Treasures 三寶 to remove oneʼs suffering.

In the Lotus Sutraʼs 法華經 chapter on parables, the three worlds are described as being none other than the possessions of the Buddha, with sentient beings being the Buddhaʼs children, and therefore there is no refuge in the world except the Buddha. The same sort of message is expressed in the Huayan jing, and thus both scriptures take the interpretation of the term somewhat beyond that seen in early Buddhism and in Abhidharma. The Fo Guang Dictionary also offers a fairly extensive article on this term (p. 4594).