Taxonomy of meanings for 主:　　

  • zhǔ (OC: tjoʔ MC: tɕio) 之庾切 上 廣韻：【掌也領也典也守也君也説文曰鐙中火主又姓出姓苑之𢈔切五 】
    • HOST
      • na host, person ritually in charge
      • nfigurativehost (BUDDH. one of the central terms in 臨濟's teaching, referring frequently to the teacher, as opposed to 賓 the 'disciple', but more generally also to the 'objectice', as opposed to the 'subjective')
      • npost-Nhost of, leader of
      • vtoNbe the host of (a meeting)CH
      • n(post-N)host of the contextually determinate NDS
      • generalised> RULER
        • nnonreferentialthe ruler
        • nabfigurativeruling principle
        • nccruler; host; lord/ruler, owner (as being primarily in charge of territories and/or things)
        • npost-N{PLACE}周主
        • npostNpr.post-N{PLACE}趙襄主
        • npostNpr襄主
        • n(post-N)the person in charge (of the contextually determinate N), sometimes used in transferred even more abstract sense: ruling agency, dominant force.
        • npost-Nfigurative"ruler" of the NsCH
        • npost-Vindefiniteabstract: a ruler who V-s (with no implied state he is taken to be the ruler of)CH
        • nadNabnonreferentialthe ruler'sCH
        • n(post-N)ruler of the contextually determinate NTWH
        • n[post-N]the ruler of the lexically determinate main subject of the phraseCH
        • nderivedthe legitimate ruler (in contrast to other potential rulers), the legitimate successor to the throneLZ
        • npost-Nruler in control of NCH
        • action> GOVERN
          • vt+V[0]preside over the V-ing
          • vtoNbe the leader of; be in charge of (tasks), take responsibility for; preside over
          • vtoNfigurativebe in charge of (things not literally governed); preside over
          • relevant action> LEAD
            • n(post-N)leader (should perhaps be n(post-N)
            • vtoNpsychbe in charge of (of oneself)
            • vtoNbe in charge ofCH
            • generalised> CAUSE
              • nab.post-Ndetermining cause or main factorCH
              • agent> CULPRIT
                • n(post-N)culprit
            • lead use of> POSSESS
              • n(post-N)the possessor/owner of the contextually determinate N
              • npost-Nowner of N
              • exclusively> MONOPOLISE
                • vtoNmonopolise, take sole charge of
          • medical> CURE
            • vtoNbe mainly designed to cure N
        • figurative:ruling feature> BASIS
          • npost-NYI: basis for N 榮辱之主 "basis for glory and shame"
          • feature> IMPORTANT
            • nabmetaphysicalthe most important point; the essential thing, the main thing
            • vadNmain, primary
            • vtoNattitudinalTREAT AS THE MAIN THING> have as one's main concern, give top priority to
            • vtoNputativehave (something) as most important element; depend on (something)
            • v[adN1.]post-N2the most important thing of/for N2
        • female> PRINCESS
          • npost-Ntitleoccasionally: princess
        • metaphorical:spiritual tablet> DOCUMENT
          • ninscribed ancestral tablet placed in temple GULIANG 作喜公主"made an ancestral tablet for Lord Xi"
          • religious:ancestral symbol> SYMBOL
            • nspirit tablet，ancestral tablet; Tablette sur laquelle est inscrit le nom d’un défunt; tablettes des ancêtres 神主
        • grammaticalised: polite> YOU
          • npronominalyou, my lord; you, my lord and father ZUO
      • occupy as host> DWELL
        • vtoNtreat as one's host for a night: dwell in 必主其家 "will inevitably stay in his home"
        • vt+prep+NSHIJI: spend a night in N

    Additional information about 主

    說文解字: 【主】，鐙中火主也。从象形；从丶，丶亦聲。 【臣鉉等曰：今俗別作炷，非是。】 【之庾切】

      Criteria
    • IMPORTANT

      1. The most general term for the relative importance and crucial nature of something is yào 要 (ant. xì 細 ).

      2. Zhòng 重 (ant. qīng 輕 "of no consequence") focusses on what carries considerable weight in a certain context.

      3. Zhǔ 主 (ant. cì 次 "secondary") refers to what is crucial and primary, or dominant, in a certain context.

      4. Běn 本 (ant. mò 末 ) refers to what is basic and and a matter of substance in a context.

      5. Shǒu 首 (wěi 尾 / mò 末 ) refers what deserves to come first or what deserves to be regarded of first importance.

      6. Jí 極 refers to the ultimate most elevated point of something.

      7. Jī 機 refers to the crucial mechanism that makes something work properly.

    • CHINA

      睡虎地秦墓竹簡 1978: 226 臣邦人不安秦主而欲去夏者, 勿許. 何謂夏 ? 欲去親屬是謂夏.

      The words for China have this in common that they do NOT designate any one state. 中國 "the central states" is implicitly plural when it does not refer to the capital city. 諸夏 the various Xià (states)" is explicitly plural. The standard Imperium Romanum has no counterpart in Chinese until very late, unless one admits 天下 "all under Heaven" as a designation for the empire. But 天下 does not define any bounded empire. It remains to be seen exactly when a standard term for China was took shape. Compare the problems of finding a term for the Chinese language.

      Based on 顧頡剛 & 王樹民, “ 夏 ” 和 “ 中國 ”— 祖國古代的稱號, Zhongguo lishi dili luncong, Vol. 1 (Xi'an, 1981), 6-22).

      In the Shu and Shi sections relating to the early Zhou, 區夏 (= 夏區 ), 有夏 and 時夏 (= 是夏 ) refers to the place in which the Zhou established their capital after their conquest of Shang, in contradistinction to Zhou 掇 homeland in the West ( 西土 ) and the close Zhou allies ( 一二邦 ). The Zhou referred to their own domain as 烠 he central city-state � ( 中國 ). Since 中國 in this usage refers to the territory directly governed by the Zhou, it is singular and used in exchange with 京師 and in contradistinction with 四方 and 四國. Other states also referred to their capital regions as 啎什縕 (thus Wu in GY 19.09.01/618); a (perhaps late) variant of this word is 啎尹塹 (Yugong).

      After becoming strong, the states enfeoffed by Zhou asserted the community with the 周 by commencing to refer to themselves as 堔 L �, leading to the plural designation 埣悎 L �, used in contrast with designations like 啈 i 狄�. The distinction between the two groups was viewed as cultural, and its precise reference shifted over time, originally excluding states (like 楚 ) from the community of 諸夏 but later including them, or including them in the beginning, whilst later excluding them (like 秦 ). Some of the non- 諸夏 states were viewed as subservient to 諸夏 states, others as their enemies. The membership of 楚 to the 諸夏 circle was always insecure; it was, so to speak, was"always on probation.

      The 東夏 made up a subdivision of the 諸夏, including states such a 齊 and 魯.

      In parallel with the 堔 L � appellations arose the 埽寊 appellations, 埽寊 on its own and 埣捄寊, and, the two words may well be cognate, the common 埽堮 L �.

      In the Warring States period the cultural distinction gave way to a geographical distinction, and the 中國 states were now the state occupying the Central Plain

    • MONOPOLISE

      1. The most general word for taking sovereign charge of something is probably zhǔ 主.

      2. Zhuān 專 emphasises that one takes exclusive control, by whatever means.

      3. Shàn 擅 emphasises the improper arrogation of monopolised control.

      4. Cuàn 篡 suggests the violent arrogation of monopolised power.

    • ARTISAN

      1. The current general word for a worker or craftsman is jiàng 匠 (ant. shì 士 "freeman; scholar").

      2. Yōng 庸 (ant. jūn zǐ 君子 "gentleman") refers to any menial worker.

      3. Yì 役 (ant. zhǔ 主 "person in charge") refers specifically to a corvee labourer. See CORVEE LABOURER

      4. Táo 陶 "potter", páo 庖 "cook", yě 冶 "founder" are current specific terms.

      5. Zhū 侏 and rú 儒 are specific terms referring to the clowns or court entertainers. See CLOWN

    • PEOPLE

      1. The dominant current general word for the people is mín 民 (ant. jūn 君 "ruler"), and this term refers inclusively to all the people particularly insofar as they are ruled by a ruler or belong to a state (xiǎo mín 小民 are the ordinary people). [ 夫民之為言也暝也，萌之為言也（肓）〔盲〕也，故惟上之所扶而以之，民無不化也。故曰：「民萌。」民萌哉！ ( 直言其意而為之名也 ) Xinshu 9

      2. Bǎi xìng 百姓 (ant. jūn zhǔ 君主 "ruler") typically refers to the registered senior families in a state who are under the control of the ruler and contribute taxes as well as military service to him; but from earliest times this term was occasionally used to refer generally to the populace at large.

      3. Rén 人 (ant. wáng 王 "king") is sometimes used generically for those people who were taken to have a political voice, as in Yīn rén 殷人 "the people of Yīn".

      4. Méng 氓 / 萌 (ant.* shì mín 士民 "citizens") refers specifically to the common people belonging to the lower echelons of society.

      5. Zhòng 眾, shù 庶 and the rarer and more rarified words 蒸 and lí 黎 refer to the masses of the people under the aspect of their numerousness.

      6. Qián shǒu 黔首 "black-headed people" is the current word for the people especially promoted by the Qin dynasty.

      7. Shì mín 士民 refers to senior registered citizens with a certain political influence; but the term can also be used collectively to refer to the freemen/gentleman shì 士 on the one hand, and the common people mín 民 on the other.

      8. Guó rén 國人 refers not to the people in a state, but specifically to the senior citizens in the capital.

      9. Mín rén 民人 is a very current way of referring to the people without suggesting any low or high status.

      10. Shù rén 庶人 is the technical term for the non-office-holding commoners in a country.

    • RULER

      1. The current general word for a person in charge of or senior to others is zhǔ 主 (ant. pú 僕 "servant").

      2. Jūn 君 (ant. chén 臣 "minister") refers specifically to someone who is politically or administratively in charge of others as a ruler.

      3. Wáng 王 (contrast bà 霸 "hegemon basing his role on power rather than moral authority") refers specifically to someone who is enfeoffed as a formal ruler of what counts as a state in ancient China.

      4. Gōng 公 has many related meaning, but when following after the name of a state the word refers specifically to the ruler of an enfeoffed kingdom under the Son of Heaven who belongs to the royal lineage. After personal names, or used absolutely, the word may generally refer to to rulers of any rank and might be fastidiously translated as "his lordship".

      5. Hóu 侯 refers specifically to someone who is enfeoffed with a kingdom (or by Han times a minor administrative area) by the Son of Heaven as a hereditary feudal lord.

      6. Bà 霸 (contr. wáng 王 "regular king"), sometimes also written 伯 refers to a person who is in actual control of an area and specifically to one who acts as the leader of the feudal lords, and the term is sometimes used pejoratively for a "tyrant" caring for his own interests rather than those of his subordinates.

      7. Lìng 令 refers specifically to someone who is controlling a xiàn 縣 by order of a king.

      8. Shǒu 守 refers specifically to someone who is controlling a jùn 郡 by order of the emperor.

      9. Mù 牧 refers specifically to someone who is controlling a zhōu 州 by order of the emperor in Eastern Han times.

      10. Shàng 上 can refer to any governing authority or ruler, but by Han times the word became a standard polite way of referring to the Han emperor.

      11. Chán-yú 單于 refers specifically to the ruler of the Xiōngnú 匈奴. Cf. the Tang term kēhān 可汗 "Khan".

      12. Háo 豪 refers to a person of power but without formally recognised bureaucratic status.

      13. Kuí 魁 refers to a powerful popular leader unrecognised by government.

    • GUEST

      1. The current general neutral word for a guest is kè 客 (ant. zhǔ 主 "host"), but this word is also used to refer to strangers.

      2. Bīn 賓 (ant. zhǔ 主 "host") is an honorific term for an honoured guest.

    • HOST

      1. The standard word for the host on a ritual occasion is zhǔ 主

    • TORSO

      幹，特指身體的主要部分，即軀幹。

    • PRINCESS

      1. The standard word for a princess is gōng zhǔ 公主.

      Word relations
    • Object: (RULER)事/SERVE The current general word for serving another is shì 事 (ant. shǐ 使 "deploy").
    • Object: (RULER)背 / 倍/REVOLT Bèi 背 and bèi 倍 (ant. shùn 順 "remain loyal") refer to a defiant act of disobedience and turning against one's superiors without a necessary intention to topple these authorities.
    • Object: (RULER)忠/FAITHFUL Zhōng 忠 refers to a selfless effort on behalf of the person to whom one takes oneself to owe loyalty, and this person may be either a ruler or a friend.
    • Object: (RULER)欺 / 諆/CHEAT The standard common word for cheating is qī 欺 (ant. chéng 誠) and it refers to any deliberate act of deception, self-interested or not, even occasionally self-deception.
    • Object: (RULER)蔽/BLOCK
    • Epithet: (RULER)明/INTELLIGENT Míng 明 (ant. àn 闇 "obfuscated in one's mind"), taking its analogy from sharpness of vision, typically refers to clarity of insight at all levels.
    • Epithet: (RULER)人/HUMAN The dominant term is rén 人 which refers to any human.
    • Epithet: (RULER)賢/EXCELLENT
    • Epithet: (RULER)側/SIDE Cè 側 refers to anything that is beside something upright, like a building or a standing person.
    • Epithet: (IMPORTANT)本/BASIS The basic word is běn 本 "the trunk, the main part" (ant. mò 末 "marginal part") and this word refers to the crucial constituent of something in any sense. [GENERAL], [STATIC]; [[COMMON]]
    • Epithet: (RULER)本/BASIS The basic word is běn 本 "the trunk, the main part" (ant. mò 末 "marginal part") and this word refers to the crucial constituent of something in any sense. [GENERAL], [STATIC]; [[COMMON]]
    • Contrast: (RULER)人主/RULER
    • Assoc: (RULER)上/RULER Shàng 上 can refer to any governing authority or ruler, but by Han times the word became a standard polite way of referring to the Han emperor.
    • Assoc: (RULER)君/RULER Jūn 君 (ant. chén 臣 "minister") refers specifically to someone who is politically or administratively in charge of others as a ruler.
    • Synon: (RULER)上/RULER Shàng 上 can refer to any governing authority or ruler, but by Han times the word became a standard polite way of referring to the Han emperor.
    • Synon: (GOVERN)典/GOVERN
    • Synon: (RULER)君/RULER Jūn 君 (ant. chén 臣 "minister") refers specifically to someone who is politically or administratively in charge of others as a ruler.
    • Synon: (IMPORTANT)本/IMPORTANT Běn 本 (ant. mò 末) refers to what is basic and and a matter of substance in a context.
    • Oppos: (RULER)臣/MINISTER The general word for a government minister at any level and of any kind is chén 臣, generically rén chén 人臣.
    • Oppos: (RULER)私/PRIVATE The dominant current word for privacy is sī 私 (ant. gōng 公 "public"), and the word designates everything that falls outside the responsibility of public administration. Contrast SELFISH.
    • Oppos: (RULER)私/PRIVATE The dominant current word for privacy is sī 私 (ant. gōng 公 "public"), and the word designates everything that falls outside the responsibility of public administration. Contrast SELFISH.
    • Oppos: (HOST)賓/GUEST