Taxonomy of meanings for 拜:　　

  • 拜 bài (OC: proods MC: pɯæi) 博怪切 去 廣韻：【同𢷎 】
    • BOW DOWN
      • nabacta polite bow
      • vadVsometimes almost adverbially: with a bow; bowingly 拜送, 拜送，拜曰
      • vi.cactbow (thrice)
      • viactbow respectfully; bow as a sign of gratitude, admiration, congratulation, polite apology etc; makeobeisance
      • vtoNN=humanbow to someone 相拜 "bow to each other"
      • vtoNN=nonhubow to something
      • vt(oN)thank the contextually determinate N
      • causative, transitive>BEND
        • gesture>GREET
            • as promoted>APPOINT
              • vt+NN=officebe appointed as (a prime minister etc)
              • vttoN1.+N2appoint (a person N1) in (a position N2); appoint N1 to a position higher by N2
          • grammaticalised: respectfully>POLITE
              • pay respect>VISIT
                • vtoNpay a polite visit to
              • exocentric>ACCEPT
                • vtoNbowingly accept, accept gratefully
                • respond linguisticallyTHANK
                  • vtoNoffer thanks for by bowing
                  • vt(oN)to offer thanks for
                  • vtoNab{S}thank for Nab
                  • WORSHIP
                    • vtoNpost-Han: worship
              • exocentric>HAND UP

          Additional information about 拜

          說文解字:

            Criteria
          • KNEEL

            1. The current general word for kneeling down while resting one's body on one's heels in an orderly but relaxed position is zuò 坐 (lì 立 "stand up"), a term often innocently mistranslated as "to sit".

            2. Guì 跪 refers to the polite act of submission which involves kneeling down with one's torso protruding forward, ready to show respect and submission

            3. Bài 拜 refers to the action of guì 跪 with the addition of moving one's head towards the ground. See BOW.

            4. Jì 跽 and cháng guì4 長跪 kneel with one's torso erect, as a sign of seriousness.

            5. Qǐ 啟 is a poetic word for the polite act of submitting which involves kneeling down which is current in SHI.

          • ACCEPT

            [ASCENDING/DESCENDING[

            [ELEVATED/INFORMAL]

            [GENERAL/SPECIFIC]

            [IMPOLITE/POLITE]

            1. The general word for accepting something offered to one is shòu 受, but the distinction with the passive "receive" is not made explicit.

            [GENERAL]

            2. Fe4ng 奉 is literally to accept something with both arms, enthusiastically, formally.

            3. Sho1u 收 refers to accepting and keeping something.

            4. Na4 納 refers neutrally to not refusing what one is offered.

            5. Bài 拜 is sometimes used by itself to signify very polite acceptance of an offer.

            [ASCENDING], [POLITE], [ELEVATED], [SPECIFIC]

          • THANK

            1. There is no common or current word for "to thank" in classical Chinese. Xiè 謝 is very occasionally used to express this meaning.

            2. Wǎng bài qí mén 往拜其門 (MENG) is a classical periphrastic idiom referring to thanking.

          • DREAM

            1. The current standard word for a dream is mèng 夢.

            2. Xiōng mèng 凶夢 refers to a nightmare.

            ZHOULI 3 占夢：掌其歲時，觀天地之會，辨陰陽之氣。以日月星辰占六夢之吉凶，一曰正夢，二曰噩夢，三曰思夢，四曰寤夢，五曰喜夢，六曰懼夢。季冬，聘王夢，獻吉夢于王，王拜而受之。乃舍萌于四方，以贈惡夢，遂令始難驅疫。

          • APPOINT

            [FORMAL/INFORMAL]

            [GENERAL/SPECIFIC]

            [IMPOLITE/POLITE]

            [TECHNICAL-TERM/CURRENT-WORD]

            1. Bài 拜 (ant. biǎn 貶 "demote to a lower position in the hierarchy at court") refers formally and bureaucratically to a high appointment at court.

            [POLITE], [SPECIFIED]; [vtt!]

            2. Shì 仕 (ant. chù 黜 "remove from office") describes a position below the top echelon in pre-Qín times, but came to refer to the highest kinds of appointment in Hàn times.

            [FORMAL], [GENERAL]

            3. Huàn 宦 is rarer, refers originally to the position of a menial servant, but became basically synonymous with shì 仕, except that huàn 宦 normally refers to positions held at court.

            [SPECIFIC], [FORMAL]

            4. Wéi 為 "make into" is a neutral informal term which does not primarily refer to the formal investment or any transferring of the insignia of office.

            [GENERAL], [INFORMAL]

            5. Xiàng 相 is used in a derived sense for an appointment to a specific high position, that of Prime Minister.

            [FORMAL], [SPECIFIC+]

            6. Shǔ 署 is a Hàn dynasty technical buraucratic term.

            [FORMAL], [TECHNICAL-TERM]

            7. Mìng 命 refers specifically to the conferment of the title which goes with an official appointment.

            [FORMAL], [CURRENT-WORD]

            8. 委

            9. 授

          • BOW DOWN

            1. The general word for all kinds of bowing recognised as ritually correct is bài 拜, which involves kneeling on the ground, moving one's head against one's hands joined in the obligatory Confucian manner, and bowing one's torso forward, and this word is often rich in further semantic nuances. It is important to realise that even newly appointed kings bowed in the bài 拜 fashion. By Han times, this kind of bowing often was accompanied by one's pronouncing one's personal name. Standardly, one 再拜 "bowed twice" in ancient China.

            [GENERAL]; [[COMMON+]]

            2. Qǐ 稽 and mostly qǐ shǒu 稽首 refers to the profoundest bow which involves hitting the ground with one's forehead and remaining in that position.

            [ASCENDING++], [ELEVATED], [FORMAL]

            3. Dùn shǒu 頓首 involves knocking the ground and lifting one's head again, thus being not quite as extreme as qǐ shǒu 稽首.

            [ASCENDING+], [ELEVATED], [FORMAL]

            4. Yī 揖 refers to a polite bow with one's hands held against one's chest.

            [HORIZONTAL], [POLITE]

            5. Gǒng 拱 refers to a polite bow where the hands, which are held together in the Confucian (and not the Buddhist) fashion, are removed some distance from the chest and shaken only mildly, or, as in the chuí gǒng 垂拱 variety, in front of one's stomach, typically as a sign of dignified and polite inactivity.

            [ELEVATED], [POLITE]

            6. Fǔ 俯 / 俛 refers to a general deep bowing down from a predominantly physical point of view, without any particular emphasis on the semantics of the bowing, and the action does not involve kneeling or hitting the ground with one's forehead.

            [ELEVATED]; [[CURRENT]]

            7. Yǔ 傴 is to bow deeply so as to reach a position like that of a hunchback, and to remain in that position for a considerable time.

            [ARCHAIC], [FORMAL]; [[RARE]]

            8. Lóu 僂 is to bow slightly so as to reach a position like that of a mildly hunchbacked person, and to remain in that position for a considerable time.

            [ARCHAIC], [FORMAL]; [[RARE]]

            9. Fú 伏 refers to the sustained polite bowing position in which, for example, polite deliberation by superiors had to be seen to proceed in the Han court, and this meaning has to be distinguished from the meaning "to crouch".

            [ASCENDING], [POLITE]

            10. Shì 式 (often written 軾 ) refers to the polite ritual act of stopping one's cart and leaning politely over the railings of that cart to greet someone.

            [ARCHAIC], [ELEVATED], [FORMAL]

            Word relations
          • Epithet: (BOW DOWN)卑/HUMBLE The current general word for objective low social status without any connotation concerning moral worth is bēi 卑 (ant. zūn 尊 "objectively venerable by social standards").
          • Contrast: (APPOINT)封/APPOINT
          • Assoc: (BOW DOWN)送/FAREWELL Sòng 送 (ant. yíng 迎 "go out to welcome") refers standardly to following someone some symbolic part of his way, as a standard ritual of departure.
          • Synon: (APPOINT)封/APPOINT
          • Oppos: (ACCEPT)餽 / 饋/GIVE Kuì 饋 typically refers quite specifically to the conferring of a gift of food.