Taxonomy of meanings for 夕:
- 夕 xī (OC: sɢlaɡ MC: ziɛk) 祥易切 入 廣韻：【暮也字從半月又姓漢書巴郡蠻渠帥七姓有羅朴督鄂度夕龔也朴普卜切蜀有尚書令夕斌
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- EVENING
- ndusk, very late afternoon and evening before one goes to sleep
- nadNbelonging to the evening; arising in the evening
- nadVtimeat dusk; in the evening; in the evenings
- vichangebecome evening-like 日夕
- n[adN]time of the evening
- West> DIRECTION
- 夕 yì《史記,司馬貞索隱》音亦。
- =亦
- EVENING
Additional information about 夕
說文解字: 【夕】，莫也。 〔小徐本「莫」作「暮」。〕 从月半見。凡夕之屬皆从夕。 【祥易切】
- Criteria
- EVENING
1. The current general word for the evening is xì 夕 (ant. zhāo 朝 "morning"), and the term refers to the period when the sun is declining and including the time when the sun has just gone down.
2. Huì 晦 (ant. míng 明 "full morning, morning immediately after daybreak") and mù 暮 (ant. dàn 旦 "morning") refer to time when it is beginning to get dark. The focus is on reduced light conditions.
3. Wǎn 晚 can refer to the evening from Han times onwards.
- DAY
1. The general term for the day as the time of human activity is 日 (ant. 夜 "nighttime, when there is no activity", and perhaps sometimes xì 夕 "the time of day when the sun is declining and including the time when the sun has gone down but one has not yet gone to bed"). It was unclear in ancient times exactly when during the night one day ends and the next begins.
2. Zhòu 晝 (ant. xiāo 宵 "nighttime" and yè 夜 "night") refers to that part of the day when there is daylight.
- MORNING
1. The current general word for the morning is zhāo 朝 (ant. xì 夕 "evening") 。
2. Sù 夙 (ant. yè 夜 "night") refers generically to the early morning and is almost still a part of the night, yè 夜, since it is a time where the moon is still out. It never refers specifically to the morning of a given day.
3. Mèi shuǎng 昧爽 (ant. huáng hūn 黃昏 "dusk, or the time just after dusk") refers specifically to the time of dawn or just before dawn.
4. Píng míng 平明 refers exactly to the point of daybreak.
5. Chén 晨 (hūn 昏 "dusk") refers to the period after sunrise but before the late morning, and occasionally the word does also include the time just before sunrise.
6. Dàn 旦 (ant. xì 夕 "in the evening") refers to the morning right until sunrise, when it is already quite bright and the moon is no longer visible, thus reaching somewhat more into the day than sù 夙 and zǎo 早.
7. Xiǎo 曉 (ant. xiāo 宵 "evening") is exceedingly rare in pre-Buddhist texts and refers to the part of the morning where the sun is already shining.
8. Míng 明 (ant. míng 冥 "darkness, the dark" mù 暮 "dusk") refers to the early morning in OBI.
9. Zǎo 早 (ant. wǎn 晚 "late") is often used to refer in a somewhat diffuse way to the very early morning as the time preceding ordinary activities.
DK: See Tunnan 42 for an important inscription on times of day. CH: SHIJI 55, beginning, has a nice sequence on timewords referring to parts of the day.