Taxonomy of meanings for 斂:　　

  • 斂 liǎn (OC: ɡ-romʔ MC: liɛm) 良冉切 上 廣韻：【收也又姓姚秦録有輔國將軍斂憲良冉切十三 】
    • BURY
      • vt(oN1.)post-VtoN2bury the contextually determinate N1 V-ing the N2
    • CONFISCATE
      • vtoNcollect (as regular payments due to government)
    • GATHER
      • viactgather things, collect stuff
      • vtoNgather together; [roll up][CA]
    • REAP
      • nabactthe process of harvesting
    • TAX
      • viactimpose taxes
      • vtoNcollect; enforce levies; collect taxes from; impose taxes on
      • nmlevies; tax imposementLZ
    • WRAP
      • vtoNwrap up for proper encoffining and burial
      • vt(oN)wrap up contextually determinate N for proper encoffining and burial; ceremonially dressing the contextually determined N for burialTW
    • STORE
      • RESTRAIN
        • DECREASE
          • SHARP
            • RETURN
              • SURNAMES
                • = 殮
              • 斂 liàn (OC: ɡ-roms MC: liɛm) 力驗切 去 廣韻：【聚也又力琰切 】

                Additional information about 斂

                說文解字:

                  Criteria
                • TAX

                  jijiupian: 斂財曰賦；斂穀曰稅；田稅曰租。 Cambridge Hist. of China vol. 1, p. 595f

                • WASTE

                  1. The current general word for habitual wastefulness is hào 耗 (ant. liǎn 斂 "economical, parsimonious").

                  2. Fèi 費 (ant. jié 節 "be economical in the use of resources") refers specifically to single acts of wastefulness.

                  3. Fèi 廢 (ant. cún 存 "keep and avoid spending") refers to an inclination to use large sums without necessarily indicating that such large expenditure is wasteful.

                  4. Kuàng 曠 "waste" (ant. xī 惜 "make sparing use of") is limited to the combination kuàng rì 曠日 "waste time" (ant. shěng shí 省時 "save time" seems late).

                • GATHER

                  1. The most current general term for the temporary assembling of things is jù 聚 (ant. sàn 散 "spread") which can refer to the gathering together of what does not necessarily belong together and of what is not necessarily of the same kind and what will disperse or be dispersed.

                  2. Liǎn 斂 (ant. sàn 散 "spread") refers to a human action of assembling things, prototypically taxes or the like, for future use.

                  3. Shí 拾 "pick up" and qǔ 取 "pick, take" can come to refer to the gathering together for future use articles of common use, but occasionally these words can also take abstract objects in which case the nuance of gathering these for future use is retained.

                • UNRESTRAINED

                  1. The current general word for lack of restraint and indulgence is zī 恣 (ant. jié 節 "exercise moderation").

                  2. Zòng 縱 (ant. yuē 約 "be limited by constraints") refers pejoratively to lack of restraint.

                  3. Sì 肆 and dàng 蕩 (ant. jū 拘 "be properly restrained") refer often positively to lack of inhibitions and a freedom of behaviour.

                  4. Fàng 放 (ant. liǎn 斂 "be restrained") refers to a deliberate act of removing social or other inhibitions.

                  5. Yín 淫 can come to refer to extravagance as a symptom of general indulgence.

                • CONFISCATE

                  1. The general current term for any kind of confiscation is shōu 收.

                  2. Liǎn 斂 refers to the collecting of dues in an official capacity.

                • REAP

                  1. Huò 穫 and sè 穡 refer to the action of harvesting grain in general.

                  2. Yì 刈 refers to harvesting grain with special focus on the cutting of the grain.

                  3. Shōu 收 and liǎn 斂 refers to harvesting with special focus on the ability to collect, retain and use what is harvested.

                  NB: For the nominal usages see HARVEST.

                • RELEASE

                  1. The most current general word for setting an animal or a person free is shì 釋 (ant. shōu 收 "hold prisoner").

                  2. Zòng 縱 (ant. yuē 約 "restrain") is to give free reins to someone or something that is under constraint with the expectation that this feedom will be used freely and enthusiastically.

                  3. Sì 肆 (ant. jié 節 "restrain, moderate") refers to giving free rein to psychological tendencies and the like, thus going beyond what are natural societal expectations.

                  4. Chū 出 (ant. liú 留 "keep in retention") is a colourless term referring to letting someone out of an enclosure, typically prison.

                  5. Miǎn 免 (ant. jiū 究 "hold definitely responsible for crimes") refers specifically to an act of mercy involving a decision to set someone free who is available for criminal prosecution for a crime assumed committed.

                  6. Fàng 放 (ant. liǎn 斂 "exert a moderating influence on") refers to a removal of constraints on animals or persons, causing these to follow their natural instincts.