Taxonomy of meanings for 勇:　　

Additional information about 勇

說文解字:

Criteria
• FEAR
  

  1. The most general word for any kind of passing fear is probably jù 懼 and this word naturally links with yōu 憂 "worry", and this word refers to a momentary historical moment where that fear manifested itself ( 文王乃懼 "then King Wén got scared"). Jù sǐ 懼死 is momentary fear for one's life, whereas wèi sǐ 畏死 refers to a general state where one is too frightened to sacrifice one's life.

  2. Kǒng 恐 refers primarily to intense or overwhelming possibly passing state of fear, and the word differs from jù 懼 mainly in degree of intensity and in the managability of the danger faced.

  3. Wèi 畏 is typically a stable state of reasoned fear, typically relating those who are in authority (the etymologically related wēi 威 on which relation there is much word-play in texts like ZUO), or ghosts etc, but the word also has extended generalised uses, as in wèi sǐ 畏死 "be afraid to die".

  4. Jīng 驚 refers to the sudden onset of fear when someone is faced with an unexpected danger.

  5. Lì 栗 / 慄 and zhàn 戰 is to shiver with intense fear, and the physical expression of fear can be more prominent the inner feeling expressed through shivering.

  6. Qiè 怯 "chicken-livered and unlikely to undertake risky tasks" and nuò 懦 (ant. yǒng 勇 "courage, boldness") as well as dàn 憚 "unduly prone to feelings of fear" refer to being pusilanimousness or the lack or courage where courage is required.

  7. Bù 怖 "be in a current acute state of fear" has no weakened generalised uses.

  8. Sǒng 悚 / 聳 "be fretful, given to fear; get slightly frightened" refers to mild forms of (possibly superfluous or reprehensible) fear.

  9. Jì 悸 refers to symptoms of violent heart-beat caused by intense fear.

  NB: Pà 怕 is post-Buddhist (TANG).

• COURAGE
  

  1. The standard general word for courage is yǒng 勇 (ant. nuò 懦 "pusillanimousness, chicken-liveredness"), which refers to positive boldness evinced in the face of danger or risk. Cf. fortitudo

  2. Hàn 悍 (ant. qiè 怯 "fearfulness") is foolhardiness and recklessness under conditions of danger or risk. Cf. Latin ferocia

  3. Gǎn 敢 (ant. qiè 怯 "fearfulness") is the ability of an individual to take considered reasonable risks where appropriate or where required by ritual propriety.

  4. Guǒ 果 and duàn 斷 (ant. xū1 需 "hestant") is general resoluteness as an attitude towards the conduct of one's affairs. Cf. Latin audacia

  5. Zhì 志 "morale, fighting spirit" and the rarer wǔ 武 is the courageous warlike attitude of a whole group. Cf. Latin acrimonia, animus

  6. Qì 氣 "morale, fighting spirit" is typically the morale of an individual but can also occasionally be used of groups. Cf. Latin spiritus

• VIRTUE
  

  1. The current general term for salient features and principles of charismatic moral potency, integrity and generosity is dé 德, when used as a term of ethical evalutation.

  2. Other general terms for subjectively construed general moral commendation include měi 美 "point of moral distinction" (ant. è 惡 "point of moral decrepitude"), and occasionally gāo 高 "elevated points, elevated spirit" (ant. jiàn 賤 "point of vulgar decrepitude"). NB that shàn 善 "excellent" is not used as a general term of positive moral appreciation in pre-Buddhist texts.

  3. The most current dé 德 "virtues" recognised in pre-Buddhist China are rén 仁 "kind-heartedness", yì 義 "rectitude", lǐ 禮 "propriety", zhì 智 "wisdom", and xìn 信 "good faith".

  4. Further important virtues are xiào 孝 "filial piety", zhōng 忠 "loyal diligence", tì 悌 / 弟 "brotherly affection", lián 廉 "impeccable probity", jié 節 "moderation", and perhaps yǒng 勇 "the courage of one's moral convictions". ( 說苑 : 百行 (xìng) 孝為先 )

  5. Zhōng yōng 中庸 "the mean in action" may be mentioned as a a central Confucian virtue, jiān ài 兼愛 "unIversal love" as a Mohist virtue, wú wéi 無為 "unobtrusive action" as a non-moralistic Taoist virtue.

Word relations
• Inconsist: (COURAGE)懼/FEAR The most general word for any kind of passing fear is probably jù 懼 and this word naturally links with yōu 憂 "worry", and this word refers to a momentary historical moment where that fear manifested itself (文王乃懼 "then King Wén got scared"). Jù sǐ 懼死 is momentary fear for one's life, whereas wèi sǐ 畏死 refers to a general state where one is too frightened to sacrifice one's life.
• Inconsist: (COURAGE)怒/ANGER Nù 怒 (ant. xǐ 喜 "be delighted") is the general word for anger, and the word tends to imply overt manifestation of feelings of anger, typically in terms of altered breathing patterns. (cf. nù 怒 "to puff oneself up") [OVERT], [PERSONAL] 1 Attribution
• Ant: (COURAGE)屈/HUMBLE1 Attribution
• Ant: (COURAGE)怯/COWARDLY4 Attributions
• Ant: (COURAGE)慈/LOVE Cí 慈 (ant. rěn 忍 "callous, unfeeling") is primarily the intimate emotional concern of mothers/parents for their children, and by extension such concern of a fatherly ruler for his people. [EMOTIONAL], [PRACTICAL] 1 Attribution
• Assoc: (COURAGE)力/STRONG The typically nominal or adverbial lì 力 commonly refers to a permanent property of strength.. 1 Attribution
• Assoc: (COURAGE)悍/COURAGE Hàn 悍 (ant. qiè 怯 "fearfulness") is foolhardiness and recklessness under conditions of danger or risk. Cf. Latin ferocia
• Relat: (COURAGE)亂/CHAOS The very dominant word in this group is luàn 亂 (ant. zhì 治 "state of good government, state of good order") which refers to all kinds of reprehensible lack of order.