Taxonomy of meanings for 實:　　

Additional information about 實

說文解字: 【實】，富也。从宀、从貫。貫，貨貝也。 〔小徐本作「從宀、貫。貫爲貨物。」〕 【神質切】

Criteria
• SEEM
  

  1. Sì 似 "apparently" always refers quite generally and colourlessly to things that are apparently only and not really what they seem to be, but the word also means "as if".

  [GENERAL]

  2. Míng 名 "in name and public appearance (only)" (ant. shí 實 "in reality") is the most current and refers to a mere superficial facade created by public behaviour.

  [DELIBERATE]

  3. Xíng 形 "shape" is occasionally used figuratively to refer to things being so only in physical appearance but not in underlying reality.

  [EXTERNAL], [SUBJECTIVE]

  4. Ruò 若 is sometimes used in ways that tempt us to subsume it into this synonym group, and one is tempted to translate the troublesome usage by the suitably vague English "as it were". This still needs detailed investigation.

  [METALINGUISTIC], [SUBJECTIVE]

• REALITY
  

  1. The current word referring to reality is shí 實 (ant. xū 虛 "pretended reality"), but the word acquired this meaning rather late (meaning "object" in earlier texts).

  2. Qíng 情 (ant. wěi 偽 "fake") and chéng 誠 (ant. zhà 詐 "fraudulent") are often used interchangeably to refer to the real facts versus what is pretended or what is merely superficial.

  3. Zhēn 真 (ant. jiǎ 假 "faked") refers to the genuine inner state of something, the ultimate truth about it.

• SUBSTANCE
  

  1. The general term for substance as opposed to form or appearance is zhì 質, and this troubling term desperately need systematic investigation.

  2. Tǐ 體 is occasionally used to refer to the physical mass of something.

  3. Shí 實 sometimes refers to the real substance of a matter as opposed to insubstantial thinking about it, or attitudes.

• NAME
  

  1. The current general word for a name is míng 名 (ant. shí 實 "reality").

  2. Wèi 謂 refers generally to the act of calling something by a certain name.

  3. Yuē 曰 is weaker in meaning and often refers to something being known as or called X.

  4. Mìng 命 typically refers to what is construed as a deliberate act of creating a name or making creative use of a name with the assumption that others should follow the practice.

  5. Chēng 稱 typically refers simply to establishing a new name for something or using a name in a special way.

  6. Shì 諡 refers as a technical term to formally conferring a posthumous name on someone or to that name itself. (See PERSONAL NAME)

• EMPTY
  

  1. The most geneal word is xū 虛 (ant. shí 實 "substantial and full") which can refer both to physical emptiness of a space and to abstract emptiness or tenuousness as a philosophical concept.

  2. Kōng 空 (ant. mǎn 滿 "filled up") generally refers to literal emptiness of a container, but used adjectivally the word also has abstract uses as in kōng yán 空言 "empty words, abstract insubstantial discourse".

  3. Wú 無 (ant. yǒu 有 "existence") refers to the philosophical abstract construct of "nothingness, emptiness".

  4. Kuò 廓 and kuàng 曠 emphasise the expansiveness of the empty space.

• EGO
  

  1. The umarked current first person pronoun most current by Warring States times is wú 吾, and the word is never emphatic in constructions like 吾實 "It was I who...". (Not in OBI. Note the Jinwen variant graphs for the same word 𫊣 and 䱷.) This word does not normally occur in object position and is highly idiomatic in a possessive pre-nominal position. Significantly, this pronoun can never be used emphatically or contrastively. (NB: The word also serves as an impersonal pronoun meaning "we" in the sense close to "one", German man, French on.) 我亦 "I too", versus 予亦 "I shall moreover V".

  2. Wǒ 我 (which can be used in the emphatic construction 我實 "It was I who...") is contrastive and emphatic by Warring States times, as in wǒ zé 我則 "I on the other hand...". (In OBI 我 was not yet in opposition to wú 吾 and was the standard unmarked pronoun during earlier stages of the language). The word freely occurs in subject, modifying, and object position and often has an idiomatic meaning like "I for my part" and the formal slightly depersonalised "our party". NB: The word also serves as a derived impersonal pronoun meaning "one", German "man", French "on". 我亦 "I too", versus 予亦 "I shall moreover V".

  3. Yú 予／余 is personal and often autobiographical, speaking of the author in the past. It it a preferred pronoun used by poets.

  4. Zhèn 朕 is an ordinary southern dialect first person pronoun in CC, but by decree the word came to be limited to use by the emperor alone after the unification of the Chinese Empire in 221 BC.

  NB 1: Many official titles - but by no means all - function as quasi pronouns. For example, no king could call himself wáng 王 "king", but all ministers will normally refer to themselves as chén 臣 in the presence of their king, and not by the more assertive pronoun wǒ 我. Thus most quasi-pronouns serve a self-deprecatory function and are not usable in contexts where no self-deprecation is called for. A fascinating exception is fūzǐ 夫子 "the master" which is apparently used in self-reference meaning "I, your master" by Confucius.

  For the internal complexity of the notion of the EGO in German see C. Harbsmeier, "Ueber den inneren Schweinehund, das bessere Ich und die rausgelassene Sau" [On lack of will-power and one's better Self???]

• FULL
  

  1. The ancient standard word for fullness of any kind is yíng 盈.

  2. Mǎn 滿 became current in late Warring States times only, and the word is semantically hard to distinguish from yíng 盈.

  3. Chōng 充 refers to complete fullness, fullness to the brim, typically as something desirable or satisfactory.

  4. Shí 實 can refer to something being full of solid substance, and thus by extension not tenuous or unimportant.

• FAKE
  

  1. The current general word for faking something is jiǎo 矯 and the typical focus is on fraudulence involved.

  2. Wěi 偽 (ant. zhēn 真 ) focusses on the artificiality rather than natural or proper provenance of the product.

  3. Xū 虛 (ant. shí 實 ) focusses on the insubstantiality of the product, and the word is normally used adnominally.

  NB: Jiǎ 假 (ant. zhēn 真 ) focusses on something standing in for something else that is the genuine thing, but this usage was late to develop (HOUHANSHU).

• TRUE
  

  1. The most current word is rán 然 "it is so" (ant. fǒu 否 "be untrue"), and what is said to be so is a yán 言 "statement', and things are claimed to be as stated in that statement.

  2. Kě 可 refers to logical or ethical acceptability.

  3. Xìn 信 (ant. zhà 詐 "fraudulent and not reliable") refers prototypically to reliablity as information.

  4. Shì 是 (ant. fēi 非 "wrong") refers prototypically to what invites assent or approval.

  5. Zhēn 真 (ant. jiǎ 假 "fake") typically refers to what contains nothing faked or unreal and is genuinely true.

  6. Dāng 當 (ant. guò 過 "wrong") refers prototypically to what fits the facts and does not deviate.

  7. Yǒu 有 (ant. wú 無 "there is no such fact")refers abstractly to the occurrence of an event or the truth of an abstract proposition.

  8. Chéng 誠 (ant. wěi 偽 "faked") refers to honest truth. (Note that chéng 誠 normally means "earnest" in early texts and has nothing to do with this meaning.)

  9. Shí 實 "real and true" (ant. xū 虛 "only apparently") refers to something not being a figment of the imagination. See REAL.

• ZERO
  

  1. 無 x 直 means "the value of X is zero". JZ 8.8: 下無錢直 "below there is no coin value, i.e. there is zero.

  2. 虛缺　JZ 8.8 於下實虛缺矣 "below, the dividend, having been empty, now involves a lack> is negative

• CONCRETE
  

  Shí 實 (ant. xū 虛 insubstantial, abstract) refers to something being manifest and concrete rather than abstract.

• FAITHFUL
  

  1. The current general word for trustiness or good faith is xìn 信.

  2. Chéng 誠 adds to the notion of good faith that of earnestness of effort on behalf of those one is faithful to.

  3. Zhōng 忠 refers to a selfless effort on behalf of the person to whom one takes oneself to owe loyalty, and this person may be either a ruler or a friend.

  4. Zhēn 貞 refers to sturdy moral reliability based on inner conviction.

  5. Shí 實 is occasionally used to refer to reliability of a person's actual performance of duties, particularly to a person's reliability in relation to promises made.

  6. Què 愨 is a rare archaic word referring to trustiness and stolid loyalty as a psychological quality.

  7. Liàng 諒 refers to trustworthiness and fidelity in a more popular mode, sometimes (LY) even with negative overtones of blind faith.

• THING
  

  1. The current standard word for any physical or non-physical object or creature is wù 物.

  2. Shì 事 refers to a things as a subject matter, or as an event.

  3. Shí 實 is a philosophical concept referring to any object or reality of any kind.

• FRUIT
  

  1. The dominant common general word for edible fruit, typically as viewed from the consumer's point of view, is guǒ 果.

  2. The dominant common general word for the fruit viewed from a biological point of view is shí 實.

Word relations
• Ant: (REALITY)名/SEEM Míng 名 "in name and public appearance (only(" (ant. shí 實 "in reality") is the most current and refers to a mere superficial facade created by public behaviour. [DELIBERATE] 4 Attributions
• Ant: (REALITY)聲/WELL-KNOWN Shēng 聲 refers specifically to notoriety in so far as it is the subject of public discussion. 1 Attribution
• Ant: (FULL)虛/EMPTY The most geneal word is xū 虛 (ant. shí 實 "substantial and full") which can refer both to physical emptiness of a space and to abstract emptiness or tenuousness as a philosophical concept. 3 Attributions
• Ant: (REALITY)非實/LACK
• Ant: (SUBSTANCE)文/SHAPE1 Attribution
• Ant: (FULL)空/EMPTY Kōng 空 (ant. mǎn 滿 "filled up") generally refers to literal emptiness of a container, but used adjectivally the word also has abstract uses as in kōng yán 空言 "empty words, abstract insubstantial discourse".
• Ant: (REALITY)華/BEAUTIFUL 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] 2 Attributions
• Ant: (CONCRETE)虛/ABSTRACT Xū 虛 derives its sense from the meaning "physically tenuous" and refers to something being tenuous in substance or having only tenuous links with concrete realities. [EXPLICIT] 1 Attribution
• Contrast: (REALITY)本/BASIS The basic word is běn 本 "the trunk, the main part" (ant. mò 末 "marginal part") and this word refers to the crucial constituent of something in any sense. [GENERAL], [STATIC]; [[COMMON]]
• Assoc: (REALITY)事/SITUATION Shì 事 focusses on the factual sequence of events that create a shì 勢. 1 Attribution
• Assoc: (FULL)充/FULL Chōng 充 refers to complete fullness, fullness to the brim, typically as something desirable or satisfactory. 1 Attribution
• Assoc: (PROFIT)名/WELL-KNOWN The dominant general term for any kind of reputation, god or bad, is míng 名. 1 Attribution
• Assoc: (REALITY)定/DECIDE Dìng 定 refers to the fixing something not only for oneself but primarily for others. See FIX
• Assoc: (INVESTIGATE)考 / 考/INVESTIGATE Kǎo 考 and jī 稽 refer to an objective investigation into something on the basis of the best available evidence.
• Synon: (FULL)充/FULL Chōng 充 refers to complete fullness, fullness to the brim, typically as something desirable or satisfactory. 1 Attribution
• Synon: (INVESTIGATE)考 / 考/INVESTIGATE Kǎo 考 and jī 稽 refer to an objective investigation into something on the basis of the best available evidence.
• Synon: (REALITY)誠/REALITY Qíng 情 (ant. wěi 偽 "fake") and chéng 誠 (ant. zhà 詐 "fraudulent") are often used interchangeably to refer to the real facts versus what is pretended or what is merely superficial.
• Oppos: (TRUE)華/BEAUTIFUL 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] 3 Attributions
• Oppos: (REALITY)心/MIND The general word for the mental sphere of man is xīn 心 "HEART> mind" (ant. xíng 形 "physical shape, body", tǐ 體 "limbs, body"). 1 Attribution