Taxonomy of meanings for 代:  

  • 代 dài (OC: lɯɯɡs MC: dəi) 徒耐切 去 廣韻:【更代年代亦州名春秋時屬晉其後趙襄子以銅斗擊殺代王取其地至秦隷太原郡漢置雲中鴈門代郡魏爲州又姓史記趙有代舉徒耐切十三 】
    • REPLACE
      • vt(oN)replace the determinate person
      • vtoN.adVtaking (someone else's) place
      • vtoNreplace (someone or something); replace someone in (a place); refill (a place)
      • vtoNcausativecause (someone) to be replaced
      • vtoNoneselftake someone else's place 四時相代
      • vtoNpassivebe replaced
      • vtoNreflexive.自replace (oneself); have (oneself) replaced
      • vttoN1:postvtoN2replace (something N1) by (something else N2)
      • vadVreplacing each otherCH
      • generalised> CHANGE
        • vadVreplace> one after the other; in succession; from generation to generation
        • vichange(of non-human subjects) change periodically
      • replace with a gloss> EXPLAIN
        • vadVBUDDH: (say) instead of > as a commentary (this seems to be a technical term in Chán historiography, marking passages where commentaries of other masters are inserted into the discussion)
      • action: replace so as to> CONTINUE
          • subject> DESCENDANT
            • NPpluraldescendants, later generations
            • abstract> FUTURE
              • NPadNof future generations
            • inheritor of wealth> HEIR
              • nheir
              • period until there is an heir> GENERATION
                • n.red:adVREDUP: generation after generation, through successive generations
                • ngeneration
                • line of descendence of rulers> DYNASTY
                  • nccdynasty 三代,五代,七代; HANSHU 漢代內史
          • grammaticalised:continuously> ALWAYS
            • nadVin every generation; in every dynasty
      • REGIONS
        • STATES

          Additional information about 代

          說文解字: 【代】,更也。从人、弋聲。 【臣鉉等曰:弋非聲。《說文》忒字與此義訓同,疑兼有忒音。】 【徒耐切】

            Criteria
          • REPLACE

            1. The current general word for replacing one thing with another is yì 易, "to exchange", which is also often used to refer to replacing one thing with another 以羊易之 "replace it with a sheep".dài 代.

            2. Gēng 更 refers to replacing something and changing it into something new.

            3. Dài 代 can refer to any deliberate or non-deliberate replacement of one thing by another, but the replacement tends to be conceived of as reversible.

          • 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

          • BEAUTIFUL

            [ABSOLUTE/GRADED]

            [ACOUSTIC/VISUAL]

            [ARTIFICIAL/NATURAL]

            [[COMMON/RARE]]

            [ELEVATED/VULGAR]

            [GENERAL/SPECIFIC]

            [HUMAN/NON-HUMAN]

            [POETIC/PROSAIC]

            1. The general word is měi 美 "handsome and admirable" (ant. è 惡 "ugly") which refers to anything concrete or abstract which is attractive or handsome in a dignified way, and the word often retains its primary culinary sense of "tasty".

            [GENERAL], [GRADED]; [[COMMON]]

            2. Lì 麗 (ant. sù 素 "unaodorned") is often restricted to physical objects, prototypically to clothes, and emphasises their balanced symmetric beauty, occasionally also - by analogy - the well-aligned symmetric beauty of mountains.

            [ELEVATED], [NON-HUMAN], [VISUAL!]

            3. Wén 文 (ant. zhì 質 "merely material") emphasises cultivated external as well as internal elegance as well as traditionalism.

            [ARTIFICIAL], [ELEVATED], [NON-HUMAN], [VISUAL!]

            4. Yǎ 雅 (ant. sú 俗 "vulgar") emphasises primarily external elevated elegance.

            [ACOUSTIC!], [ARTIFICIAL], [ELEVATED+], [NON-HUMAN]

            5. Hǎo 好 "comely, handsome" (ant. chǒu 醜 "ugly") refers indiscriminately to men and women, but the word is sometimes more general and even abstract in application and refers to attractive words or attractive moral qualities.

            [HUMAN!], [NATURAL], [VISUAL]

            6. Xiù 秀 "of vigorous and imposing beauty" focusses on flourishing and flamboyant beauty in analogy with that of flowers.

            [ELEVATED], [NATURAL], [NON-HUMAN], [POETIC], [VISUAL]; [[RARE]]

            7. Huá 華 "of striking and colourful beauty" (ant. sú 俗 "vulgar") focusses on flourishing and flamboyant superficial or only apparent beauty, on the analogy analogy with that of flowers.

            [ARTIFICIAL], [ELEVATED], NON-HUMAN], [SUPERFICIAL], [VISUAL]

            8. Zhuàng 壯 "stately" (ant. ruò 弱 "weak and unsightly") is virile beauty associated with strength and vigour. See STRONG

            [NATURAL], [MARGINAL], [POETIC]; [[RARE]]

            9. Jiā 佳 "of outstanding beauty" (NB: liè 劣 "unremarkable" is the ant. of jiā 佳 "outstanding", and not in the meaning of "outstandingly beautiful") emphasises comparative beauty compared to others in the same group.

            [GRADED], [ELEVATED], [NATURAL], [POETIC]

            10. Dū 都 "urbane and exquisitely beautiful" (ant. bì 鄙 "rustic and inelegant") is a highly poetic word that can only be used in elevated prose.

            [ARCHAIC], [ELEVATED], [POETIC], [VISUAL]; [[RARE]]

            11. Yán 妍 "attractive and exquisite (of humans as well as human products)" (ant. chì 蚩 "unattractive") refers to elaborate beauty. See SEXY.

            [ARCHAIC], [ELEVATED], [HUMAN], [POETIC]; [[RARE]]

            12. Xiū 脩 / 修 "refined moral beauty" refers to moral as well as physical beauty, thus coming close the Greek kalokagathia, but never approaching the latter in importance as a cultural keyword.

            <div>[ELEVATED], [ARTIFICIAL]; [[RARE]]</div><div><br></div><div>吳蓬,東方審美詞彙集萃,上海文藝出版社,2002 lists the following rough definitions of a variety of terms of aesthetic appreciation by the artist and scholar Wu Peng. Many of these terms express conventional appreciative flattery only. This list does provide one not particularly well-known artist's subjective readings of some basic terms of traditional Chinese aesthetic approbation.</div><div>勃:富有生机之突起。<br>苍:浓的,毛的,老练的。<br>沉:沉着不浮,有重量感。<br>冲:调成和淡之意向。<br>饬:整顿。<br>粗:大而不笨者。<br>淳:清,往往易薄,然而淳是清中滋润之厚。<br>醇:与淳略同,这醇是提炼后的滋润之厚。<br>绰:与"约"字合用,即舒而不纵之意。<br>澹:平静而有幽淡之趣。<br>淡:与浓艳相对。<br>宕:放荡不拘。<br>跌:往往与"宕"字合用,即是起伏明显之状。<br>端:方正而不出偏,有稳实感。<br>敦:很实在的,结实的厚。<br>繁:众而密,有生气。<br>方:与平正同义。<br>丰:饱满而充足。<br>风:审美中之"风"指的是一种气韵格调。<br>飞:大幅度的流动。<br>刚:属于阳性的,有正力的,与柔软相对。</div><div>高:俯视一切的、超然得不一般。<br>工:规矩,不潦草。<br>孤:自我独立。<br>古:旧气,更有历史的抗怀千载之迹象。<br>骨:内在的架子。<br>犷:是跟"雄悍"接近,在粗中发展开来。<br>瑰:不单调的美。<br>乖:不和顺。<br>憨:近于拙朴而敦实。<br>酣:厚润四溢。<br>豪:激动向上之貌,有气魄。<br>宏:大而有气度。<br>厚:有沉积的饱和。<br>华:明亮而艳丽。<br>环:长久圆融之境。<br>荒:与"枯简"接近,不修饰。<br>豁:与开朗接近,然比开朗明显。<br>恢:宽广有余。<br>浑:团然一气之象,有朦胧感。<br>简:经过一番整修的减少。<br>娇:美得可爱。<br>警:审美中用此警字,往往指敏锐、颖达。<br></div><div>劲:能察觉的力。<br>精:很到位。<br>隽:精致而具内涵之美。<br>娟:秀而婉丽。<br>崛:高起而突出。<br>俊:人材杰曲之美。<br>峻:山高而陡。在书画中是浓而锋利之用笔。<br>空:有灵气之空白。<br>枯:干而毛,生的萎缩,然亦是力的显露。<br>宽:大度而畅朗。<br>旷:广阔而空灵。<br>辣:是枯毛爽直的老笔触。<br>朗:明亮而豁然。<br>琅:圆而光润。<br>伦:是同类之意,带有文明意念。<br>冷:跟"淡"与"静”接近,与浓烈相对。<br>炼:精到而有功力。<br>淋:与"漓”往往合用,是无拘束的洒落。<br>流:明显的动感。<br>迈:阔而放的超势。<br>莽:宽广而繁密的,朴直奔放的。<br>袤:与"古"字合用,即悠长久远之趣。<br>茂:有生气的繁密。<br>媚:柔美之趣。<br>宓:安而静。<br>明:清晰有亮度。<br>凝:浓重而不流动。<br>懦:毫无火气之柔软。<br>平:一般的,接近于稳。<br>朴:原始状态,形象较准。<br>嫖:与"姚"字合用,即动疾之状,而有气势。<br>奇:不一般。<br>气:生发的,迎面直扑而来的感觉。<br>清:是混的相对。其间透出一股朗气。<br>峭:山之直而险,在书画中是露锋的侧锋用笔,有明显露<br>尖状态。文章中之峭,是意气直逼。<br>遒:婉转有致,内力强劲。<br>虬:与遒类似,但动感较强,弯曲而有力度。<br>意:诚实谨慎。<br>儒:代表文人之书卷气。<br>洒:散落无拘束。<br>赡:富有与丰实。若与"疏”、"逸”组合即成"澹”或"安"之义。</div><div>骚:审美中之骚字,可引伸为风骚至风流感。<br>韶:美丽有光泽。<br>涩:在不爽快的进程中,流露出内力之美。<br>深:不是浮面的。<br>神:精与气合。高端的。<br>生:不成熟,但比成熟有味。<br>肆:任意放纵。<br>松:松是灵活自然,是一切技巧之本要。<br>瘦:与粗笨相对,在审美中的"瘦",是指细长而精练。<br>疏:一种稀少秀朗之美。<br>肃:有立即静穆下来之势。<br>率:与潦草随便有别,爽快而直接。<br>邃:深远而悠久。<br>阅:通达之意。<br>给:与"宕"合用,是安详舒放之趣。<br>天:很自然,一片天箱之"天"。<br>恬:安静而坦然。<br>挺:直而有生气。<br>婉:柔和而曲折。<br>温:是一种暖调与缓和的综合。</div><div>巍:往往与"峨"合用,是高大厚实之趣。<br>洗:与"炼”合用,即是"精炼"之意,凡物之洁出于洗。<br>犀:与"利"字合用,即坚利。<br>熙:光明,和乐。<br>细:指细而不纤。<br>娴:文静而雅致。<br>闲:一种高雅的自由。<br>萧:疏少有致。<br>潇:散朗而润泽。<br>馨:很醇厚的香气。<br>篁:"篁古”是悠远辽阔之意。<br>雄:强大,有力度,有霸气。<br>秀:灵巧的,有生气的,美好的显露。<br>虚:表象空,但并非真空。<br>雅:文气而不俗。<br>妍:鲜美而柔性。<br>严:认真,不马虎。<br>淹:一种浸沉与精深明达之境。<br>野:超脱、不规范。<br>冶:经过一番精致修饰。<br>逸:悠闲的起伏。</div><div>意:精神倾向。<br>莹:透明而幽亮。<br>雍:往往与“容"字合用,有和顺之貌。<br>幽:静而深。<br>腴:肥润而饱和。<br>郁:厚积而有生气。<br>纤:与"迥"字合用,即弯环回绕之趣。<br>遹:与"瑰"字合用,即纤迥美丽之趣。<br>渊:往往与"懿"合用,是深润而悠美之趣。<br>圆:接近于饱满润滑。<br>蕴:与"藉"合用,即内涵丰富。<br>韵:一种余味不尽之趣。<br>恣:放纵的,无拘束的。<br>滋:湿润感。<br>自:出于本性的流露。<br>质:本体的,实在的。<br>纵:放逸无拘之状。<br>拙:接近朴,形不准。<br>庄:端正之貌。<br>卓:与“荤"合用,是突出明显之状。<br></div><div><br></div><br>

          • CHARIOT

            1. The current word for a military chariot is shèng 乘 usually drawn by four horses.

            2. Róng 戎 is a old general word for chariots which was already rare by Warring States times.

            3. Cháo chē 轈車 refers to a high observation chariot.

            4. Qīng chē 輕車 refers to a highly mobile light and quick chariot.

            5. Zī zhòng 輜重 refers to military vehicles used to transport weapons and supplies.

            6. Fén yūn/wēn 轒榡 refers to a four-wheel covered roofed chariot with the baldachin made of ox hide.

            For illustrations of these see 中國古代兵器圖冊 (Huang Jingui)

          • GENERATION

            1. The dominant general word for a generation is shì 世, and this word has strong temporal connotations referring to the period of one generation, and the word has a certain syntactic flexibility. Sān shì 三世 refers to three generations.

            2. Dài 代 refers to the length of a whole dynasty comprising several generations, and the word in this meaning has little syntactic flexibility. Sān dài 三代 refers to three dynasties Xià, Shāng, and Zhōu. See DYNASTY

            3. Jì 紀 refers to a cycle of 12 years, sān jì 三紀 refers to a period of thirty-six years, but from Later Han times, the reference is often more generally to a generation.

            4. Tiān xià 天下 "all under Heaven" often refers generally to all people alive at a certain time.

            5. Shí rén 時人 refers specifically and prosaically to the people of the time.

          • DYNASTY

            1. The standard term for a dynasty is dài 代, but this term is not used to refer to a person's contemporary dynasty in pre-Han times, and as far as I can see, it is rarely so used in Han times, although there is a clear example of Hàn dài 漢代 in HANSHU. Zhōu dài 周代 is not in the texts I have surveyed so far, whereas 周世 is in SHIJI.

            Word relations
          • Contrast: (GENERATION)世/GENERATION The dominant general word for a generation is shì 世, and this word has strong temporal connotations referring to the period of one generation, and the word has a certain syntactic flexibility. Sān shì 三世 refers to three generations.
          • Contrast: (HEIR)嗣/HEIR The most current general and neutral word referring to an heir is sì 嗣.
          • Assoc: (CHANGE)遞/CHANGE