Taxonomy of meanings for 妖:　　

Additional information about 妖

說文解字:

Criteria
• WICKED
  

  1. The most current and general word for wickedness is probably è 惡 (ant. shàn 善 "good"), but it must be noted that in early texts the word is more current in the meaning of physical ugliness.

  2. Xié 邪 (ant. zhèng 正 "straight and in no way wicked") typically involves nuances of sinister evil influences in addition to plain human depravity.

  3. Suì 祟 (ant. xiáng 祥 "of the good innocuous kind") refers to sinister supernatural wicked forces operating in the human world.

  4. Yāo 妖 (ant. jí 吉 "of a generally auspicious nature") typically implies nuances of seductive or beguiling qualities coexisting with wickedness.

  5. Jiān 姦 (ant. liáng 良 "of the good sort, decent") refers to sheer human depravity with no supernatural or sinister overtones.

  6. Chǒu 醜 (ant. měi 美 "of commendable moral quality") often refers to something rather like moral ugliness and depravity in early texts, but from Han times onwards the word comes to refer to physical ugliness].

  7. Qū 曲 (ant. duān 端 "straight and unwarped") refers to warped crookedness and lack of moral straightness.

  8. Wú 污 (ant. jié 潔 "morally pure and spotless") refers to moral defilement or moral impurity.

  9. Liè 劣 (ant. ) refers to moral inferiority as opposed to excellence.

  10. Pì 僻 (ant. ) refers to

  11. Jiāo 姣 refers to wickedness coupled with cunning, scheming and malice.

  12. Xiǎn 險 is occasionally used to refer to the type of wickedness that is a danger to the group or the state.

  13. Wāi 歪 (ant. zhí 直 "morally straight") refers to wickedness under the image of moral warpedness and and deviation from a straight proper norm.

  14. Xiōng 凶 refers to a baneful wickedness that bodes ill for the future.

  15. Chǐ 恥 refers to something that is a public disgrace. See SHAME.

• DEITY
  

  1. The general designation for the spirits is guǐ shén 鬼神, and for the higher and lower spirits of Heaven and Earth it is shén qí 神祇.

  2. Guǐ 鬼 is very often a spirit of the deceased (See GHOST), but the word can also refer to nature spirits of all kinds.

  3. Shén 神 refers to the ethereal supernatural spirits of all kinds, primarily associated with heaven, but the word also refers to a righteous person who turns into such a spirit after death.

  4. Míng shén 明神 refers to the luminous elevated higher spirits, and it is significant that there are not míng guǐ 明鬼.

  5. Qí 祇 refers to the spirits of the earth.

  6. Yāo 妖 are wicked spirits, and jiān 姦 can be used in the same sense. See DEVIL.

  7. Xiān 仙 refers to ethereal divinised creatures of any kind, typically to those who have attained an eternal life on earth, and it is striking that the word gained currency first in Eastern Han times, and that the word is very common in the verbal meaning "become an immortal", whereas guǐ 鬼 is very rarely so used.

• INAUSPICIOUS
  

  1. The current general word for what is of no good omen is xiōng 凶 (ant. jí 吉 ).

  2. Jiù 咎 is an archaic elevated terminus technicus for inauspiciousness used especially in divination literature.

  3. Yāo 妖 / 祅 refers to concrete inauspicious events like animal misfosters.

  4. Niè 孽 refers to inauspicious events, and the reference is said to be typically to botanic misfosters.

  5. Jìn 祲 refers to inauspicious supernatural influences.

  6. Bù xiáng 祥 is currently used to refer to inauspicious events.

Word relations
• Assoc: (INAUSPICIOUS)孽/DISASTER Niè 孽 often has heavy metaphysical connotations and refers to disasters as caused by higher powers acting with an intention to harm, but there are some clear cases where the word refers to man-made trouble in MENG. 1 Attribution
• Oppos: (INAUSPICIOUS)常/STANDARD Cháng 常 focusses on the lasting effectiveness of a standard. 1 Attribution