Taxonomy of meanings for 司:　　

Additional information about 司

說文解字: 【司】，臣司事於外者。从反后。凡司之屬皆从司。 【息玆切】

Criteria
• PHILOSOPHY
  

  1. Xué 學 can refer to the systematic study of the fundamentals of life, which is typically taken to involve the emulation of a master.

  2. Jiā 家 can refer to the bibliographic classification of philosophical lineage or school of thought, especially from Han times onwards, as in the six schools (liù jiā 六家 ) of "philosophy" discussed by the father of Chinese historiography, Sīmǎ Tán 司馬談.

  2. Dàoxué 道學 can refer to the pursuit of Taoist or Confucian philosophy (but the term also refers to the pursuit of Taoist religious practices) from Tang times onwards.

• 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.

• GOVERN
  

  1. The general word for governing, administering or ordering things is zhì 治, old reading chí.

  2. Wéi 為, yǒu 有, yòng 用, lín 臨, lì 蒞, lǐ 理 are polite ways of referring to the government by a legitimate ruler.

  3. Nán miàn 南面, tīng zhèng 聽政, and the late jiàn zuò 踐祚 "ascend the throne and hold control" are polite ways of referring to the occupation of ruler's position by a legitimate incumbent.

  4. Zhèng 政 refers to the basically bureaucratic administration of a state, practical implementation of governmental measures.

  5. Shù 術 refers to the "philosophical" and political art of statecraft.

  6. Xiǎng 享 refers to government of a state as a privilege enjoyed by the legitimate ruler.

  7. Wàng 王 is the proper government of a state by its legitimate ruler, and term often has "idealising" nuances.

  8. Jūn 君 refers to de-facto government by a ruler without any idealising or approving nuances being implied.

  9. Zhuān 專 refers to the (often illegal or not entirely law-based) monopolising of power, and the word often has negative connotations.

  10. Xiàng 相 refers to senior roles in government bureaucracy other than those of the ruler.

  11. Sī 司 refers to administration on a scale below that of a state.

  12. Shǐ 使 refers to leadership, typically of the people.

  13. Mù 牧 refers to government as a paternalistic responsibility of the ruler.

• MEET
  

  1. The current general word for meeting someone by coincidence is yù 遇, and going to meet someone is jiàn 見.

  2. Huì 會 refers to an arranged meeting, usually between more than two persons.

  3. Zāo 遭 refers to being exposed to something or running into someone, and the focus is on the fact that the encounter is generally hostile ( 遭宋司馬，將要而殺之 "ran into the Marshal of Sòng and wanted to kill him").

  4. Féng 逢 seems to be a dialect word for encountering something, but in early times this word has a much more limited range of syntactic functions, while from Han times it tended to replace yù 遇 as the standard word for encountering a person, later to be replaced in colloquial Chinese by its cognate pèng 碰.

  5. Chù 觸 is occasionally used to refer to someone bumping into someone else.

• OFFICER
  

  1. Jūn zǐ 君子 (xiǎo rén 小人 "soldier of lower rank") refers generically to the higher grades in the army.

  2. Kuí 魁 is a powerful personality who happens, on account of his power, to obtain military command over an army.

  3. Sīmǎ 司馬 refers to a very senior military official in the bureaucracy of the capital of a state.

  4. tài wèi 太尉 corresponds roughly to the Minister of Defense in the Qin and Han bureaucracy.

  5. Dū weì 都尉 is a senior military official in the Han bureaucracy.

  NB: For official military titles see XXX.

• COMPASS
  

  1. Sīnán 司南 is the predecessor of a compass; it was made of a natural magnetic iron.

  2. Zhǐnánzhēn 指南針 is a compass pointing in the north-southern direction, which was made of a magnetic iron.

  3. Zhǐnánchē 指南車 refers to a chariot pointing to the world directions; it came to be used by the emperors after the Jin dynasty.