Taxonomy of meanings for 拱:　　

  • 拱 gǒng (OC: koŋʔ MC: kioŋ) 居悚切 上 廣韻：【手抱也又歛手也居悚切十八 】
    • BOW DOWN
      • viactfold hands respectfully in the Chinese fashion as a sign of respect; fold hands (and do nothing)
      • vadVwith hands folded in a relaxed manner; hands down, effortlessly, without making any special effort;
      • vtoNbow to
    • FOOD
      • nmmaterial support (for elders); sustenance
    • HOLD
      • vadNtaking two arms to hold around
      • vtoNhold with both hands (e.g. a piece of jade in order to present it politely); hold with both arms (as firewood)
      • vtoNpassivebe held politely
      • vihold one's arms in front of the chestCH
    • INACTIVE
      • viactfold one's hands in front of one> remain inactive
      • vtoNcausativecause to be inactive > hold still, stop the movement of
      • VPihave one's hands folded and hanging low in front of one's stomach> be inactive
    • LENGTH MEASURES
      • ncpost-V{NUM}.post-Nclassifierone span
      • vadNthe size of a span
      • vibe one span long, be one span in circumference 大拱'amply have the size of a span'
    • EMBRACE
      • SURROUND
        • CURVED
          • OPEN
            • SURNAMES
              • BREAK THROUGH
              • gǒngTHICK
                • vibe so thick as to fill one's embrace: be very substantially thick and roundCH

              Additional information about 拱

              說文解字: 【拱】，斂手也。从手、共聲。 【居竦切】 〔小徐本此字次於「撿」字之後。〕

                Criteria
              • HOLD

                1. The most current general and neutral word for holding something in any way concrete or abstract is chí 持 (ant. shī 失 "lose hold of").

                2. Zhí 執 is often inchoative "take hold of", and then comes to mean "hold on to, keep holding" as one goes along.

                3. Cāo 操 refers to holding and holding onto something, often taking it along as one goes along, sometimes wielding it as a weapon.

                4. Bǐng 秉 refers to clasping something firmly, often solemnly with both hands, and sometimes several things so as to hold and keep them together and not to let go.

                5. Jiá 挾 refers specifically to holding something under one's armpit, but the word also has some more generalised uses.

                6. Wò 握 and bǎ 把 are rather dramatic words referring to gripping something and not letting go of it.

                7. Gǒng 拱 refers to holding something politely in both hands.

              • 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