Taxonomy of meanings for 戚:　　

Additional information about 戚

說文解字: 【戚】，戉也。从戉、尗聲。 【倉歷切】

Criteria
• SAD
  

  1. The general word for sadness of any kind is bēi 悲 (ant. huān 歡 "joyful" and xǐ 喜 "delighted").

  2. Yōu 悠 refers to a pensive listlessness, a wistful kind of sadness.

  3. Qī 悽 (ant. lè 樂 "feel acute profound joy") refers to acute profound unhappiness.

  4. Yù 鬱 (ant. xīn 欣 "in high spirits") refers to largely endogenic sadness or depression.

  5. Shāng 傷 (ant. yuè 悅 "be pleased") refers to sadness caused by identifiable external conditions.

  6. Cǎn 慘／憯 refers poetically to a kind of despondency.

  7. Mǐn 閔 / 憫 is a very poetic word which typically refers to a kind of sadness that has external causes and can be close to compassion.

  8. Chóu 愁 refers to an internalised sadness one is reluctant to show openly.

  9. Qī 戚 / 慽 is an archaising elevated word for sadness that is common in poetry.

  10. Qī chuàng 悽愴 refers to sadness typically associated with regret or even remorse.

  NB: The vocabulary of sadness in Chinese poses very special problems because it is to huge: in many cases I am quite unable to determine the exact nuances. This subject requires a special monograph.

• AXE
  

  [CEREMONIAL/PRACTICAL]

  [[COMMON/RARE]]

  [LARGE/SMALL]

  [ELEVATED/INFORMAL]

  1. The most current word for an axe is perhaps fǔ 斧, but the word refers specifically to an axe as in the illustration, used to split things with.

  [SPECIFIC]; [COMMON+]

  2. Jīn 斤 refers to an axe where the blade is at a right angle to the shaft, as in the illustration, and this axe would seem to be of use only for cutting down branches or small trees or bushes.

  [SPECIFIC]; [[COMMON+]

  3. Yuè 鉞 refers to a battle axe which came to be mostly used for ritual execution or ceremonial purposes.

  [CEREMONIAL], [ELEVATED], [LARGE], [SPECIFIC]

  4. Qī 戚 is a somewhat smaller variety of the yuè 鉞.

  [CEREMONIAL], [ELEVATED], [SPECIFIC]

  5. Qiāng 斨 refers to a fǔ 斧 -style axe with a square hole for the handle.

  [SPECIFIC]

  6. Zhǔ 欘 adze, refers to a carpenter 掇 or cooper 掇 tool, like an axe with the blade set at right angles to the handle and curving inwards towards it; used for cutting or slicing away the surface of wood.

  [SPECIFIC]; [[RARE]]

• STAIRS
  

  1. General term for stairs is jiē 階. The word usually refers to the high stairs leading to an important building, such as the hall in a palace or temple, but it can be used also for the stairs of ordinary dwellings. That the word refers mainly to the stairs of important buildings can be easily understood, since in archaic China only these buildings were levelled on a higher platform. Already in the Warring States period, the word can also refer to a ladder.

  2. Bì 陛 is another word for stairs and it refers to the high stairs. Since Qin times, the word specifically referred to the stairs used by the emperor in his palace.

  3. Chú 除 in Han and Wei times referred to the stairs in a palace, later it came to be used for stairs generally.

  4. Zuò 阼 refers to the east-side staircase in a palace, temple, or aristocratic mansion. This was used by the host when inviting guests (while the guests used western staircase) or by the ruler when performing sacrifice.

  5. Cè (written like 土戚 ) refers to the left-side staircase of the main hall in a palace which was used by the emperor; it has nine steps.

  6. Píng 平 refers to the right-side staircase - or more precisely the slope way of bricks - of the main hall in a palace.

• RELATIVES
  

  1. The current general words for relatives are qīn 親 "consanguine relative", and qī 戚 "non-consaguine relative".

  2. Juàn 眷 is not very current in pre-Buddhist times, but does refer quite generally to consanguine as well as non-consanguine relatives.

  3. Qī 戚 refers to relatives including and sometimes focussing on the non-consanguine relations.

  4. Qīn qī 親戚 refers to members of one family having a consanguinal relationship. Before the >Qín 秦 dynasty, these could be also called zhì qīn 至親.

  5. Gǔ roù 骨肉 is used as a metaphor refering to a consanginual kinship.

  6. Jiā rén 家人 refers to the family living together.

  7. Qīn shǔ 親屬 refers in a rather objective or even administrative way to the members of a clan.

Word relations
• Epithet: (RELATIVES)六/SIX1 Attribution
• Assoc: (RELATIVES)親/RELATIVES The current general words for relatives are qīn 親"consanguine relative", and qī 戚"non-consaguine relative". 1 Attribution
• Assoc: (AXE)干/SHIELD Prior to the Warring States period, common general word for the shield was gān 干. It is known already from oracle bone inscriptions. In Warring States times, the word was gradually replaced by shǔn 盾. In Han times, according to FANG YAN, the term was still in use from the Hangu pass to the east, and shǔn 盾 was common in the area from the pass to the West. Shields predating Warring States period are known bad; from the Shang period there is a shield made of the leather on wooden construction, of approximately oblong shape, and painted with a picture of the tiger. 1 Attribution