Taxonomy of meanings for 公:
- gōng (OC: klooŋ MC: kuŋ) 古紅切 平
廣韻：【通也父也正也共也官也三公論道又公者無私也從八從厶厶音私八背意也背厶爲公也亦姓漢有主爵都尉公儉又漢複姓八十五氏左傳魯有公冉務人公歛陽公何𦵧公父歜公賔庚公思展公鉏極公申叔子費宰公山弗擾公甲叔公巫召伯䘙有公文要戰國䇿齊威王時有左執法公旗蕃左傳齊悼子公旗之後左傳季武子庶子公沮後以爲氏孟子有公行子著書左傳晉成公以卿之庶子爲公行大夫其後氏焉孔子家語魯有公冶長又公索氏將祭而亡其牲者魯有公愼氏出婬妻又有公罔之裘揚觶者孔子弟子齊人公晳哀陳人公良儒公西赤公祖句兹公肩定漢書藝文志有公檮子著書又有公勝生著書濟南公玉帶上明堂圖功臣表有公師壹晉穆公子成師之後又有公扈滿意後漢有零陵太守公仇稱晉穆公子仇之後又弘農令北海公沙穆山陽公堵恭魏志有公夏浩晉書有征虜長史太山公正羣成都王帳下督公帥蕃本姓公師避晉景帝諱改爲公帥氏前趙録有大中大夫公帥式子夏門人齊人公羊髙作春秋傳列女傳有公乗之姒墨子魯有公輸班衞大夫公叔文子史記有魯相公儀休孔子門人公休哀又有公祈哀禮記魯大夫公明儀何氏姓苑云今髙平人衞大夫公南文子魯有公荆皎衞大夫公子荆之後魯大夫公襄昭魯襄公太子野之後魯大夫公伯寮何氏姓苑云彭城人趙平陵太守公休勝魯士官公爲珍魯昭公子公爲之後楚大夫公朱髙宋公子子朱之後公車氏秦公子伯車之後淮南子有公牛哀病七日化爲虎齊公子牛之後吕氏春秋有邴大夫公息忘孟子稱公都子有學業楚公子田食采於都邑後氏焉公劉氏后稷公劉之後古今人表有公房皮楚公子房之後郭泰别傳有渤海公族進階衞大夫有公上王世本有魯大夫公之文晉蒲邑大夫公佗世卿秦公子金之後有公金氏齊公子成之後有公牽氏何氏姓苑云公右氏今琅邪人公左氏今髙平人又有公言公孟公獻公留公石公旅公仲等氏又左傳衞有𢈔公差以善射聞祭公謀父出自姜姓申公子福楚申公巫臣之後衞有尹公佗楚大夫逢公子仲楚白公勝之後有白公氏文字志云魏文侯時有古樂人竇公氏獻古文樂書一篇秦有博士黃公庇古今人表神農之後有公幹仕齊爲大夫其後氏焉丗本有大公叔頴又有公紀氏衞有大夫左公子洩右公子職漢四晧有園公先生尚書僕射東郡成公敞古紅切十三
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- rank of a duke> RANK
- nindefinitedukes
- ndefiniteruler - not necessarily of the status of a Duke
- npost-N{PLACE}.+Npr虢公鼓，祭公敦 Duke
- npost-N{PLACE}as in 宋公: Duke
- npost-N{PLACE}traditional州公 Duke is not here an enfeoffment title of the Zhōu, but presumably of the Shāng (See 日知錄 p. 566)
- npost-NprHis Excellency (applied posthumously to any deceased member of the 諸侯 group) 桓公 Bronze inscriptions have this 公 after deceased persons below 諸侯 rank. [JM]
- npostNpr.post-N{PLACE}齊桓公 His Excellency
- nposthumousruler of a state of any of the five ranks 公侯伯子男. (This designation must not be confused with the formal rank of a 公 "Duke".
- n(post-N)duke of the contextually determinate N; ruler (of any rank) of N
- n[post-N]the duke of the speaker's state
- posthumous title "duke" used for all enfeoffed rulers> RULER
- npost-NprNpr=place or persongeneralised posthumous honorific title "duke" referring to any ruler of a state enfeoffed by the Zhou, irrespective of his rank when alive. [齊公 can refer respectfully to the deceased ruler of Qi who was not a duke at all.)e.g. 周公 "Duke of Zhou" (as opposed to 桓公 "Duke Huan) Duke of NprCH
- npost=NprDuke (as in 太公 "Duke Tai" as opposed to 周公 "the duke of Zhou".CH
- nnonreferentialdukeIH
- n(post=Npr)anaphoricthe Duke mentioned aboveCH
- honorific term of address> YOU
- n[post-npro2.][post=npro1:]adNyour
- npro{OBJ}+Vtyou, sir
- n[post-npro1.][post=npro2]pronominalYou (the duke); later: colloquial in informal conversation: you
- generalised: HUMAN
- npost=NprMrCH
- npost-Nkeeper of N; man occupied with NDS
- n(post-N)keeper of the contextually determinate N; man occupied with the contextually determinate NDS
- specifically> MALE
- nadNlate: male 公牛，公雞
- honorific term for one’s father> FATHER
- ntfather (LIE)
- fathers' father> ANCESTOR
- npluralOBI ancestors 多公 "the many ancestors" 公宮 "Temple of the Ancestors"
- belonging to the official or public sphere> PUBLIC
- nsubjectwhat is public, what is in the public interest
- nabsocialpublic duty; the public interest, the public good; public matter; that which is public
- vadNpublic (benefit, road, law etc), belonging to the public rather than to any private individual
- vadNnon-restrictive"，which is inherently public-spirited and not egotistic"
- vadVgenerally, publicly, (sometimes: shamelessly) in public
- vibe public-spirited; be fair-minded, be just
- vi0public spiritedness prevails, there is public-spiritedness
- v[adN]public concerns; official concerns; non-selfish perspectivesCH
- public tasks> WORK
- nabactpublic duties
- public spirit in> JUSTICE
- nabactpublic-spiritedness; even-handedness
- v[adN]pluralthose who are selfless, public-spirited or even-handed
- vadNselfless; public-spirited; fair and disinterested
- vadNnon-restrictivewhich is selfless(non-restrictive)
- vibe impartial; be public-spirited; be even-handed
- rank of a duke> RANK
- gōngPALACE
- nthe office/palace (scil. of the duke)
Additional information about 公
說文解字: 【公】，平分也。从八、从厶。 【音司。】 八，猶背也。《韓非》曰：背厶爲公。 【古紅切】
- Criteria
- PRINCE
1. The standard word for a prince is gōng zǐ 公子.
- OFFICIAL
1. Officials are referred to as shì 士 and daì fū 大夫. The word shì 士 can also include daì fū 大夫, therefore the term is often used for a whole body of officials.
2. Dà fū 大夫 "notables" is a general formal term for high officials.
3. Lì 吏 refers to officials in charge of concrete practical matters, often policing and the like.
4. Gōng 工 can be used as a general term for clerks.
5. Yǒu sī 有司 can refer to a person in charge of an office.
6. Guān 官 refers quite generally to the persons in charge of an office.
7. Shì zhě 仕者 refers to any person in public employment of any kind.
8. Lǎo 老 originally politely referred to higher officials (>gōng 公, >qīng 卿, >dài fū 大夫 ), therefore it came to be used as a general term referring to high officials.
9. Yuán 員 originally refers to officials as counted units, and the word came to be used as a general term for officials.
- SECRET
1. The current general word for something being kept secret from the general public, but it remaining accessible to an inner circle, is mì 密 (ant. míng 明 "openly, for everyone to see").
2. Yǐn 隱 (ant. xiǎn 顯 "manifestly, demonstratively") refers primarily to hiding something or being hidden from everyone except the person who is hiding it.
3. Yīn 陰 (ant. míng 明 "openly, for everyone to see") refers to covert actions hidden from a certain person group.
4. Tōu 偷 (ant. zhèng 正 "regularly and openly") refers to unreglemented inappropriate secrecy.
5. Sī 私 (ant. gōng 公 "openly") focusses on the aspect of discreetness in secrecy.
6. Jiàn 間 (ant. zhèng 正 "straightforwardly") refers to the secretiveness of secret agents in espionage and the like.
7. Wēi 微 (ant. zhí 直 "straightforwardly") typically refers to secrecy achieved through indirectness or subtlety in the form of communication.
8. Àn 暗 / 闇 (ant. míng 明 "openly, for everyone to see") gains its nuance from the original meaning of darkness and focusses on the shadiness of secretive action.
- JUSTICE
1. The standard word for rectitude and justice is yì 義 "what is right and proper".
2. Lǐ 理 may perhaps be taken to be the principle which justifies what is right and proper.
3. Dào 道 can be taken to refer to the way of behaviour that conforms to what is right and proper.
4. Gōng 公 (ant. piān 偏 ) refers to public-spirited and evenhanded justice, and sometimes this virtue is referred to by the binome gōng píng 公平.
- FEMALE
1. The current general word for a female of any species is cí 雌 (ant. xióng 雄 "male").
2. Nu# 女 (ant. nán 男 "male") refers specifically to human females.
3. Pìn 牝 (ant. mǔ 牡 "male") refers to specifically to females of animals.
4. Zì 牸 refers to females of buffalo, but sometimes also of tiger, rhinoceros, or horse.
5. Mǔ 母 (ant. gōng 公 "male") refers to adult females of some species, including spirits. NB incidentally: Mǔ jī 母雞 is current, while mǔ niǎo 母鳥 does not seem to be found.
6. Kūn 坤 (ant. qián 乾 "metaphysically: male") is a metaphysical way of characterising things as belonging to the female realm. (NB incidentally and irrelevantly as a modern Chinese reflex kūn biǎo 坤錶 "women's watch".)
- PUBLIC
1. There is only one dominant word for what pertains to the community or nation at large, gōng 公 (ant sī 私 "private").
- ALTRUISM
公
- 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.
- SLAVE
1. The standard general word for a dependent low-status servant or slave is nú 奴, and this word became quite currrent in Han times.
2. Yì 役 tends to focus on the hard labour involved.
3. Lǔ 虜 focusses prototypically on the prisoner-origins of a slave.
4. Lì 隸 refers to slaves in an administrative bureaucratic way, and prototypically these menial workers are in public employment, being thus of higher status than mere shepherds or stable-boys in the countryside.
5. Zānghuò 臧獲 is the standard exampe of the name of a slave.
Slavery and servant-hood not always easy to distinguish, and this is for very interesting social reasons. A scheme for the place of menials in the status system is systematised in a crucial ZUO Zhao 7 passage:
故王臣公，公臣大夫，大夫臣士，士臣皁，皁臣輿，輿臣隸，隸臣僚，僚臣僕，僕臣臺。
馬有圉，牛有牧，
- PRIVATE
1. 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, which is a common related category of thought in ancient China, and the differentiation between the two is by no means always clear.
- CHILD
1. The commonest word for a child is zǐ 子 "son; child (male or female); rarely: baby".
2. Ér 兒 refers to children of fairly young age.
3. Tóng 童 refers to a person as a young child without focusing on whose child it is and the word is often used in compounds.
4. Gōng zǐ 公子 refers specifically to a prince or son by a royal father and his main wife. See PRINCE.
5. Chì zǐ 赤子 refers to a fairly small or new-born child.
6. Ruò zǐ 弱子 and 童子 refer to a very young child.
7. Xiǎo zǐ 小子 is often used for small children but can also refer to people lower in hierachy as for example the disciples of a master (often when the master is addressing them); in addition it is sometimes used by the ruler (when mourning for his parents) and by high officers as humble first person pronoun.
8. Rǔ zǐ 孺子 can refer to very young children, but the word can also refer more generally to youths, especially girls.
- PRINCESS
1. The standard word for a princess is gōng zhǔ 公主.
- MOUNTAINS
8. Qí shān 岐山 is located in the northeast of the modern Qishan district, Shaanxi province. It was also called Tiān zhǔ shān 天柱山 Fēnghuángduī4 風凰堆. Ancient Zhou centers were located close to this mountain. For this reason, Qí shān 岐山 is mentioned already in the Shijing.
9. Qíliánshān 祁連山 is another name for Tiānshān 天山. This mountain range is located in the southern and western part of the modern Xinjiang. It is divided into two groups - the northern in the central Xinjiang, and the southern in the southern Xinjiang. The former is identical with the modern Tiānshān 天山, the latter includes modern Kūnlúnshān 昆侖山, A3ěrjīnshān 阿爾金, and Qíliánshān 祁連山.These mountains are already mentioned in the Shiji, Xiongnu liezhuan.
10. D4àyǔlíng 大庾岭 refers to the mountains on the borders of the modern Jiangxi and Guangdong.
11. Yīnshān 陰山 refers to the mountains in the central part of the modern Inner Mongolia. Mentioned already in the Shiji.
12. Qínlíng 秦岭 is a mountain range dividing the northern and southern parts of China. It is also a water-shed dividing the drainage areas of the Weì 渭, Huái 淮, and Hàn 漢 rivers. It spreads from the borders of the Qinghai and Gansu to the central part of Henan. This range includes important mountains, such as Mínshān 岷山, Huàshān 華山, and Sǒngshān 嵩山. Qínlíng 秦岭 in the narrow sense refers to the part of the range in the modern Shaanxi.
13. Yānshān 燕山 refers to the mountains on the northern edge of the Hebei plains.
14. Wǔyíshān 武夷山 is the name of the mountains on the borders of the modern Jiangxi and Fujian provinces. The earliest references I have found are post-Han.
15. Taìhéngshān 太行山 refers to the mountain range on the borders of the modern Henan, Shanxi, and Hebei. In the south, it reaches to the Huanghe. The name already occurs in the texts of the Warring States period [YUGONG chapter in the SHANGSHU].
16. Kūnlúnshān 昆侖山 is the name of the mountains on the borders of the modern Xinjiang and Tibet. It runs from the east to the west in the length of 2500 km. It is already referred to in the texts of the Warring states and Han periods [SHANHAIJING, HUAINANZI, MU TIANZI ZHUAN].
17. Tiānshān 天山 are mountains in the central part of the modern Xinjiang. The name already occurs in the SHANHAIJING and HANSHU.
18. Jǐuzǐshān 九子山 is an ancient name of the Jiǔhuáshān 九華山 in the modern Qingyang county of the Anhui province. The latter name was in use since the Tang.
19. Dàbāshān 大巴山 refers to the mountains on the borders of the modern Sichuan, Gansu, Shaanxi, and Hubei.
20. Yàndàngshān 雁蕩山 are the mountains in the southeastern part of the modern Zhejiang province.
21. Wūshān 巫山 is located on the borders of the modern Sichuan and Hubei. The Changjiang flows through its central part, creating famous Three gorges.
22. Jūnshān 君山 is the mountain in the center of the Dongting lake, modern Hunan province. Also called Dòngtíngshān 洞庭山.
23. Běimáng 北邙 is the mountain range in the modern Henan. Also called Mángshān 芒山, Běishān 北山.It runs from Sanmenxia in the West to the bank of the Yīluò river in the East. Since the Eastern Han, princes and high officers were buried on its slopes north to the Luoyang.
24. Běigùshān 北固山 is the mountain in the northeastern part of the modern city of Zhenjiang, Jiangsu province.
25. Wúshān 吳山 is name of the three important mountains.
a. In the north of the Pinglu county, Shanxi province. According to HOUHANSHU, on the peak of it, there there was located the city of Yǔ 麌.
b. To the south-east of the Xihu lake in the Hangzhou city, Zhejiang province. In the Chunqiu period, it was the western border of the state of Wú, hence the name.
c. In the southwestern part of the Long county, Shaanxi province. According to ERYA, it was one of the Five sacred mountains, 五岳.
26. Dìngjūnshān 定軍山 is located in the southeatern part of the modern Mian county, Shaanxi province. In 219 A.D., near these mountains, army of Liu Bei defeated one of the Cao Caos generals.
27. Fúniúshān 伏牛山 is ancient name for the Jīnshān 金山, northwest to the modern city of Zhenjiang in the Jiangsu province. The latter name came to be used in the Tang. Also called Huófú 獲箙, Fúyù 浮玉 mountains.
28. Jiāoshān 焦山 is located to the northeast of the modern city of Zhenjiang, Jiangsu province.
29. Tài sh1an 泰山 is the most important of the Five sacred mountains. It was also called Dōngyuè 東岳, Daìzōng 岱宗, Daìshān 岱山, Daìyuè 岱岳, Taìyuè 泰岳. It is located in the central part of the modern Shandong province. The mountain range runs from the eastern margin of the Dōngpíng 東平 lake in the northwestern direction to the modern Linbo city. It is about 200 km long. Since antiquity, Chinese rulers sacrificed on the Tài sh1an. The earliest evidence is in SHIJING.
30. Huàshān 華山 is the westernmost of the Five sacred peaks, henceforth it was also called Xīyuè 西岳. It is located in the southern part of the modern Yin county, Shaanxi province. Its height is 1997 m.
31. Héng shān �琱 sis the northernmost of the Five sacred peaks, henceforth it was also called Běiyuè 北岳.From the Han to the Ming, the sacred Héng shān �琱 swas located in the northwestern part of the modern Quyang county of the Hebei province.
32. Héng shān 衡山 is the southernmost of the Five sacred mountains, and is also called Nányuè 南岳. It is located in the modern Hengshan county in the Hunan province, and is 1290 m high, and several hundred km long. It is refered to already in SHANGSHU, SHUN DIAN.
33. Sōng shān 嵩山 is the central of the Five sacred peaks, and it was also called Sōngyuè 嵩岳. It belongs to the Fúniúshān 伏牛山 mountain range, and is located in the modern Dengfeng county in the Henan province. It is already mentioned in the SHIJING.
34. Niúzhǔshān 牛渚山 is the name of the mountains on the bank of the Changjiang in the northwestern part of the modern Dangtu county, Anhui province.
35. Bāgōngshān 八公山 are the mountains in the western part of the modern city of Huainan, Anhui province. It is located west of the Féishuǐ 淝水, and south of the Huáishǔi 淮水. In 383 A.D. famous battle of Feishui took place close to this mountain.
36. Jiǔyíshān 九疑山, also called Cāngyǔshān 蒼木吾山, are the mountains in the modern Ningyuan county in the Hunan province. According to the Shiji, the sage emperor Shun died and was buried there.
37. Chìchéngshān 赤城山 are the mountains in the northwestern part of the modern Tiantai, Zhejiang province. First mentioned in the Jin dynasty.
38. Lúshān 盧山 are the mountains in the southern part of the modern Jiujiang town, Jiangxi province. Also called Kuāngshān 匡山, Kuānglú 匡盧, Nánzhàng4shān 南障山. The name is already mentioned in the Han times. It is said that both Emperor Yu and First emperor climbed the mountains when travelling to the South.
39. Sh3ouyángshān 首陽山 are the mountains in the southern part of the modern Yongji county, Shanxi province. According to the tradition (for the first time mentioned in the LUNYU), it was in these mountains, where Boyi and Shuqi lived in hermitage. The mountains are already referred to in the SHIJING.
40. E2méishān 峨嵋山 is the name of the mountains in the southwestern part of the modern Emei county, Sichuan province. It is already mentioned in the HUAYANG GUOZHI of the Jin dynasty. It belongs to the four famous mountains of buddhism.
41. Qīngchéngshān 青城山 are the mountains in the southwestern part of the modern Guan county, Sichuan province. According to the tradition, it was there where in the Han times Zhang Daoling practiced dao.
42. Luófúshān 羅浮山 are the mountains on the north bank of the Dōngjiāng 東江 river in the modern Guangdong province. According to the tradition, during the Eastern Jin dynasty, Ge Hong practiced dao there.
- Word relations
- Ant: (JUSTICE)偏/PARTIAL
The current general word for being partial rather than catholic in orientation of coverage is piān 偏 (ant. quán 全 "completely"). - Ant: (PUBLIC)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. - Ant: (JUSTICE)私/SELFISH
The standard word for selfishness in classical Chinese is sī 私. - Ant: (JUSTICE)私/SELFISH
The standard word for selfishness in classical Chinese is sī 私. - Ant: (EQUAL)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. - Epithet: (JUSTICE)廷 / 庭/COURT
The current dominant word for the royal court with its courtyard as a building complex is tíng 廷/庭, although the same word can also be used to refer to the courtyard as opposed to the main court building, i.e. the yard in front of the táng 堂. According to ZHENGZITONG, tíng 廷/庭 were originally unroofed, later they were covered with a roof. See also COURTYARD. - Epithet: (JUSTICE)法/LAW
The current general word for a law, a legal system or any legal provision of any kind is fǎ 法. - Epithet: (EQUAL)法/LAW
The current general word for a law, a legal system or any legal provision of any kind is fǎ 法. - Contrast: (RANK)天子/KING
Tiān zǐ 天子refers to the Son of Heaven recognised as the ritual leader of all kings, and the word is currently used in a non-referential generic abstract sense. - Assoc: (JUSTICE)正/CORRECT
The standard word for conformity with an established standard of behavioural or physical allignment zhèng 正(ant. xié 邪). - Oppos: (PUBLIC)家/FAMILY
The current dominant word is jiā 家 which refers to a whole household, including men, domestic animals and utensils as well as the whole clan system that defines its lineage affiliation. - Oppos: (EQUAL)私/SELFISH
The standard word for selfishness in classical Chinese is sī 私.