Taxonomy of meanings for 律:
- 律 lǜ (OC: b-rud MC: lʷit) 呂卹切 入 廣韻：【律吕又律法也吕䘏切八 】
- ASSESS
- vtoNassess, measure
- LAW
- nabbuddhistvinaya
- nabtextstatute defining legal procedure, regulation, standard rule; legal standards
- nabfigurativeobligatory rulesCH
- npost-Nstatutes regulating NLZ
- METHOD
- naba systematic rule (for conduct)
- PIPE
- npitch-pipe
- vtoNattune as with pitch-pipes
- SONG
- nregular poetry
- ASSESS
- lǜCONFORM
- vtoNconform to N, to abide by N's rulesLZ
Additional information about 律
說文解字: 【律】，均布也。从彳、聿聲。 【呂戌切】
- Criteria
- PIPE
1. The most common word for a pipe is dí 笛 which is made of bamboo and has seven holes. This is what today is called xiāo 簫.
2. Lài 籟 refers to a short pipe with three holes.
3. Xūn 壎 refers to an egg-shaped flute with three or more holes in it.
4. Yuè 籥 is a rare word referring to a rather primitive three-hole bamboo flute.
5. Chí 篪 refers to a traverse flute with seven holes. This is the oldest type of traverse flute that is known.
6. Lu �律 is a very abstract technical term for a pitch-pipe of any kind.
7. Huáng 簧 refers to the reed used to enhance the sonority of pipes.
- 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).