Taxonomy of meanings for 常:　　

Additional information about 常

說文解字: 【常】，下帬也。从巾、尚聲。 【市羊切】 【裳】，常或从衣。 〔小徐本作「俗常從衣。」〕

Criteria
• OFTEN
  

  1. The current general word for high frequency of an event within a certain period of time is shuò 數 " several times in a row" (xī 希 "rarely").

  2. Lu# 屢 "quite a few times" (ant. hǎn 罕 "very seldom") indicates that an event has many precursors similar to it in the past, and the word does not emphasise the high frequency.

  3. Qì 亟 and pín 頻 "very often" (ant.* ǒu 偶 "on and off") are probably more intensitive than shuò 數.

  4. Zòu 驟 "repeatedly, within a short period of time" (ant. shū 疏 "at long intervals") is more temporary in nature.

  5. Cháng 常 (ant. xiǎn 鮮 "quite rarely, in the natural course of events") refers to fequency as a symptom of something being ordinary and only to be expected.

  6. Duō 多 (ant. shǎo 少 "a few times, few times") is a colourless word indicating that something is of generally frequent occurrence.

• STRANGE
  

  1. The current general word for things strange is guài 怪 (ant. cháng 常 "ordinary").

  2. Qí 奇 (ant. fán 凡 "perfectly ordinary") refers to the positive quality of being remarkable and unusual.

  3. Yì 異 (ant. cháng 常 "ordinary") focusses on something being out of the ordinary.

• STANDARD
  

  1. The current general words for a standard to be followed is guī 規.

  2. The current word referring specifically to physical standards and measurements is dù 度.

  3. The current general word for abstract moral standards is jié 節.

  4. Cháng 常 focusses on the lasting effectiveness of a standard.

  5. Cao 操 refers to a standard as a technique to be mastered and then exercised.

  6. Zhì 制 refers to a system in general. See SYSTEM

• LAW
  

  1. The current general word for a law, a legal system or any legal provision of any kind is fǎ 法.

  2. Lu �律 is far more specialised as a specific term referring to concrete and detailed regulations rather than a legal system as a whole, and the word is also syntactically much less flexible. Thus we have 先王之法 and not 先王之律.

  The complexities of legal terminology can be preliminarily summarised as follows:

  A. The rule may be explicit (chéng 程, diǎn 典, fǎ 法, hào 號, lu �律 ); or it may be primarily conventional (cháng 常, jì 紀, jīng 經, zhì 制 ).

  B. The rule may be conceived as temporary (lìng 令, dù 度, chéng 程, hào 號 ); or it may be conceived as permanent and unchangeable (cháng 常, diǎn 典, jì 紀, jīng 經 ); or it may be conceived as long-term but clearly changeable (fǎ 法, lu �律, xiàn 憲, zhāng 章, zhì 制 ).

  C. The rules may concern legal and economic administration (chéng 程, diǎn 典, dù 度, lu �律, xiàn 憲, zhāng 章, zhì 制, and occasionally fǎ 法 ); or they may concern prohibitions of criminal conduct (fǎ 法, pì 辟, xíng 刑 ); or they may be general moral guidelines on conduct (cháng 常, hào 號, lìng 令, jì 紀 ).

  D. The focus may be on the written documents containing the rules as such (diǎn 典, xiàn 憲, zhāng 章 ); or the focus may be on the content of the rules (cháng 常, chéng 程, dù 度, lìng 令, zhì 制 ); or the primary focus may be on oral promulgation of the rule (hào 號 ).

  E. The rules may be regarded as a collective system (cháng 常, jì 紀, jīng 經, zhì 制 ); or they may be conceived as individual legal prescriptions (all others).

• CHANGE
  

  1. The most current general words for objective and typically abrupt change are biàn 變 "change FROM one's original state to become something different" (ant. héng 恆 "remain constant").

  2. Huà 化 (ant. cháng 常 "remain constant") refers to irreversible change INTO a fundamentally new state, while retaining one's identity".

  3. Gǎi 改 refers to a deliberate change brought about at a certain point in time, typically in order to improve a situation. See IMPROVE

  4. Gēng 更 is an act of deliberately changing something, typically by replacing it by an improved version of the same kind of thing in order to insure continuity.

  5. Gé 革 (ant. yīn 因 "continue the tradition") refers to a typically unlicenced act of replacing the old by something new.

  6. Yì 易 refers prototypically to a change construed as brought about by a process of interchange and (often mutual) replacement.

  7. Dòng 動 refers to change construed as the moving from a previous stable state.

  8. Xǐ 徙 refers to making the object moved unstable.

  9. Yí 移 refers to a change in a current situation so as to effect a certain development in a desired direction.

  10. Yú 渝 is to change a current situation or an object, generally to the worse, and the word is remarkably often negated.

  11. Qiān 遷 (ant. 滯 "stay put in one place, unable to move") refers typically to change of one's current condition brought about by oneself.

  12. Fǎn 反 refers to a change resulting in the reverting to one's original state. See RETURN vt.fig

  13. Zhuǎn 轉 refers to change typically construed as part of a cycle of changes.

• RARE
  

  1. The current general word for seldom is hǎn 罕 (ant. lu# 屢 "fairly often), which tends to refer to a very low fequency of occurrence of something.

  2. Xiǎn 鮮 (ant. cháng 常 "frequently, in the natural course of events") refer to a dramatic degree of scarcity.

  3. Xī 希 / 稀 (ant. shuò 數 "repeatedly, many times, several times") refers to relative scarcity or sparseness both in time and in space.

  4. Shǎo 少 (ant. duō 多 "often") is a colourless word frequently used to indicate non-specifically that something is not often seen.

• ENDURING
  

  1. The general word for something which is constant and lasting in time is jiǔ 久 (ant. qǐng 頃 "for a short time"), which can refer to bounded or unbounded and open-ended persistence in time.

  2. Cháng 長 (ant. duǎn 短 "of short duration") expresses bounded enduringness with a definite final point being typically imagined, although in cháng shēng 長生 the word refers to an unending long life.

  3. Cháng 常 and the especially emphatic héng 恆 "highly constant and permanent" (ant.* ǒu 偶 "contingency and consequent changeability") emphasise the constancy or constant recurrence of the attributes of what is lasting, and typically - though not always - the constancy is valued positively.

  4. Bì 必 refers to something being an invariable event that always tends to occur.

  5. Shí 時 "recurrently, constantly" allows for something being present or having certain attributes intermittently but over a long stretch of time.

  6. Yóng 永 "last for a while" (ant. zàn 暫 "temporary" post-Buddhist, Six Dynasties: temporarily) is an elevated and poetic word often referring to subjectively experienced long duration.

Word relations
• Ant: (ENDURING)希 / 稀/RARE Xī 希/稀 (ant. shuò 數 "repeatedly, many times, several times") refers to relative scarcity or sparseness both in time and in space.
• Ant: (ENDURING)罕/RARE The current general word for seldom is hǎn 罕 (ant. lu# 屢 "fairly often), which tends to refer to a very low fequency of occurrence of something.
• Ant: (ENDURING)無常/CHANGE1 Attribution
• Ant: (ORDINARY)異/DIFFERENT The dominant general term for difference is yì 異 (ant. tóng 同 "be the same"). 1 Attribution
• Epithet: (COMMON)非/NOT1 Attribution
• Epithet: (ENDURING)經/RULE Jīng 經 refers to an operative underlying main principle which man also may take as a guideline. 4 Attributions
• Epithet: (ENDURING)法/LAW The current general word for a law, a legal system or any legal provision of any kind is fǎ 法. 1 Attribution
• Contrast: (ENDURING)久/ENDURING The general word for something which is constant and lasting in time is jiǔ 久 (ant. qǐng 頃 "for a short time"), which can refer to bounded or unbounded and open-ended persistence in time.
• Contrast: (COMMON)俗/VULGAR The most general current word for ordinariness or vulgarity is sú 俗 (ant. yǎ 雅 "elegant"), and the basic parameter of judging something as sú 俗is relative status in the hierarchy.
• Contrast: (COMMON)庸/ORDINARY Yōng 庸 (ant. tè 特 "of special distinction") refers to what is regularly met and not unexpected, and the word focusses on that this does not distinguish itself through any positive features.
• Contrast: (ENDURING)恆 / 恆恒/ALWAYS Cháng 常 and the especially emphatic héng 恒/恆 "highly constant and permanent" (ant.* ǒu 偶 "contingency and consequent changeability") emphasise the constancy or constant recurrence of the attributes of what is lasting, and typically - though not always - the constancy is valued positively.
• Contrast: (ENDURING)時/OFTEN
• Assoc: (LENGTH MEASURES)尋/LENGTH MEASURES1 Attribution
• Assoc: (ENDURING)故/OLD Gù 故 (ant. xīn 新) refers to what is a matter of the past which typically has an impact on, or traces in, the present. 1 Attribution
• Assoc: (ENDURING)法/METHOD Fǎ 法 is a regular rule-governed procedure governing the proper exercise of a skill. 1 Attribution
• Assoc: (ENDURING)常/ENDURING Cháng 常 and the especially emphatic héng 恆 "highly constant and permanent" (ant.* ǒu 偶 "contingency and consequent changeability") emphasise the constancy or constant recurrence of the attributes of what is lasting, and typically - though not always - the constancy is valued positively. 2 Attributions
• Synon: (ENDURING)久/ENDURING The general word for something which is constant and lasting in time is jiǔ 久 (ant. qǐng 頃 "for a short time"), which can refer to bounded or unbounded and open-ended persistence in time.
• Oppos: (STANDARD)妖 / 祅/INAUSPICIOUS Yāo 妖/祅 refers to concrete inauspicious events like animal misfosters. 1 Attribution