Taxonomy of meanings for 合:　　

Additional information about 合

說文解字: 【合】，合口也。从亼、从口。 【候閤切】

Criteria
• OPEN
  

  1. The most common general word for opening things is qǐ 啟 (ant. bì 閉 "close") which can refer to all sorts of opening up of all manner of things.

  2. Kāi 開 (ant. bì 閉 "close") and pì 闢 "open wide" (ant. fēng 封 "close tightly") refer primarily to the opening of doors, windows and the like.

  3. Fā 發 (ant. bì 閉 "close") refers to the opening of something in order to enable one to inspect the contents or to remove things from the interior.

  4. Pī 披 (ant. hé 合 "roll up") refers to the opening up of something by unrolling it.

  5. Jué 決 (ant. dǔ 堵 "block up" and sè 塞 "block up") refers to the opening up of an artificial waterway for circulation.

• WORD
  

  Note that 辭也 "This is a grammatical particle" is sometimes written 詞也, but never 字也. At this point, the classical Chinese commentators do make something like a distinction between character and word. The matter deserves detailed attention.

  1. On the relatively rare occasions when words rather than characters are referred to, the current general term to use is yán 言.

  Note that the definition of the word is notiously problematic for classical as well as for modern Chinese - as indeed it is for English. A typical illustration for the problem is a modern Chinese word like 合身 "fitting" which does invite categorisation as a word, but which is comfortably expanded into 合我的身 "fits my body", in which the grammatical relation between 合 and 身 remains the same, but where it becomes clear that the construction is not only syntactic but even syntactically productive. Cases of this kind are so many that one needs to find a systematic way of accounting for them in Chinese, and in this connection it is remarkable that in their very long history of reflection on their own language the Chinese never came anywhere near to inventing a notion of a "word". YANG QINGHUI 1995 gives a convenient but analytically unreliable survey of such phenomena for beginning students of modern Chinese.

• WORLD
  

  1. The current term for the inhabited sublunar world on earth (often particularly that part of it which is populated or at least dominated by the Han/華夏 people) is tiān xià 天下 "All under Heaven". Compare the Greek oikoumenē.

  2. Hǎi nèi 海內 refers to what is surrounded by the four seas, i.e. the whole of the land mass of the world.

  3. Sì hǎi 四海 "the Four Seas" includes the landmass between these Four Seas. (The names of these Four Seas are not entirely clear. Perhaps the Eastern, Southern, Northern and Western Seas.)

  4. Liù hé 六合 refers to everything in all dimensiones east, west, south, north, below, above.

  5. Shì 世 sometimes refers to the world as it is now, the world one lives in.

  6. Jiǔ zhōu 九州 refers to the nine regions of the world.

• 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>

• COMBINE
  

  1. The current general word for combining or linking things, or joining a new unit into an old one is jiān 兼 (ant. fēn 分 "be divided").

  2. Hé 合 (ant. lí 離 "get separated off") is the combining of typically abstract items into a single whole.

  3. Lián 聯 and the Han equivalent lián 連 (all ant. jué 絕 "break relations with") refer to the establishing of links without the creation of a new unity.

  4. Huì 會 refers to the combination of separate units into a whole as in huì yì 會意 "complex characters where semantically significant elements retain their graphic significance".

  5 Bìng 並 refers to the lining things up and joining them together. See ANNEX.

  6. Zhuān 專 is occasionally used to refer to the combining or uniting of things. See CONCENTRATE

• UNIVERSE
  

  1. The most current word for the whole universe is tiān dì 天地

  2. Liù hé 六合 is a technical term referring to the world in all its dimensions from east to west, south to north, below to above.

  3. Yǔ zhòu 宇宙 is a rather abstract cosmological word for the universe of space and time.

• DIVIDE
  

  1. The most current general word for physically diving things into separate parts is fēn 分 (ant. yī 一 "treat as one undivided whole, to unite") and this word may refer to destroying the unity of what is being divided.

  2. Bié 別 (ant. tóng 同 "treat as the same, treat the same way") is to separate physically what can be separated out without interfering with integrity of the things separated. ( 別男女 "separate men from women")

  3. Xī 析 is to split and divide what is naturally unsplit and undivided.

  4. Lí 離 (ant. hé 合 "combine into one") is to keep apart what naturally is apart.

• COPULATE
  

  1. The current general word for copulation applying to both humans and animals, are jiāo 交, hé 合, and these are all rather discrete abstract terms to use.

  2. Yù 御 refers to a male "riding" a female, and the word has no negative overtones.

  3. Tōng 通 and sī 私 are neutral historian's terms for improper sexual intercourse.

  4. Xì 戲 refers to a man making a sexual pass at a woman (occasionally actually one's own wife!).

  5. Yín 淫 and huì 穢 are derogatory terms for engaging in lewd sexual activities with someone.

  6. Xìng 幸 refers periphrastically and politely in historical texts to enjoying the sexual favours, typically of an emperor. See also FAVOUR

  7. Zhēng 烝 refers to the ritual establishment of political relations with a widowed woman of one's senior generation through publicised spending of a night with her.

  8. Bào 報 refers to establishing extramarital sexual relations with a woman of a (normally) lower but sometimes also of a higher generation, but not normally of the same generation.

  9. Gǔ 蠱 refers to a male using irregular means to obtain the sexual favours of a woman he is not married to.

  NB: gòu 構／媾 was late to become current as a term for sexual union.

• CONFORM
  

  1. Perhaps the most general and the most current word describing conformity to a norm is shùn 順 (ant. nì 逆 "go against").

  2. Yóu 由 refers to conformity construed as a matter of taking something as one's starting point or point of orientation.

  3. Dào 道 refers to conformity construed as a matter of taking one's model to define the way of doing things for one.

  4. Yǐ 以 refers to conformity construed as a matter of availing oneself of something as an instrument or guideline.

  5. Yīn 因 refers to conformity construed as a matter of adapting to pre-existing models or rules.

  6. Yuán 緣 refers to conformity construed as a matter of following something attentively in all details as a guideline.

  7. Shǒu 守 refers to conformity construed as a matter of guarding a precedent or a tradition.

  8. Zhōu 周 and hé 合 (all ant. fǎn 反 "go against the model") refer to complete all-round conformity construed as overall identification with a model.

  9. Chèn 稱 refers to conformity construed as a matter of balancing one's actions against a standard.

  10. Yìng 應 and

  shì 適 refer to conformity construed as a matter of responding adequately to given facts.

  12. Cóng 從 and suí 隨 refer to conformity construed as a matter of following a lead.

  12. Tīng 聽 refers specifically to a superior acting in conformity with his inferior's suggestions.

Word relations
• Ant: (CONFORM)乖/OFFEND
• Ant: (CONFORM)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.
• Ant: (CONFORM)刺/CONTRARY
• Ant: (SAME)違/CONTRARY1 Attribution
• Ant: (COMBINE)離/DIVIDE Lí 離 (ant. hé 合 "combine into one") is to keep apart what naturally is apart.
• Ant: (CONFORM)離/CONFLICT1 Attribution
• Contrast: (SAME)同/SAME
• Contrast: (TALLY)稱/TALLY
• Assoc: (CONFORM)諧/HARMONY
• Assoc: (CONFORM)順/CONFORM Perhaps the most general and the most current word describing conformity to a norm is shùn 順 (ant. nì 逆 "go against").
• Assoc: (COMPARE)審/INVESTIGATE The most general words for investigating something are chá 察 "sort out clearly" and shen 審 "investigate carefully". 1 Attribution
• Synon: (JUXTAPOSE)偶/JUXTAPOSE
• Synon: (TALLY)稱/TALLY