Taxonomy of meanings for 牧:　　

  • 牧 mù (OC: mɯɡ MC: miuk) 莫六切 入 廣韻：【養也放也使也察也司也食也説文曰養牛人也又姓風俗通云漢有越嶲太守牧稂 】
    • SHEPHERD
      • ncowherd; shepherd
      • vtoNmind cattle or other herd domestic animals; to shepherd
      • vtoNfigurativeshepherd (the people)
      • associated activity>NURTURE
          • nurtured animal>DOMESTIC ANIMAL
            • place of this shepherding>PASTURE
              • nSHI: pasture
              • vtoNuse as pasture; pasture inCH
            • abstract: educate>TEACH
                • abstract>GOVERN
                  • vtoN(of a shepherd) to shepherd, (of a person in charge) take care of (men or animals), take good care of (a population etc), be responsible for the welfare of (the people etc)
                  • submit to being governed>SUBMIT
                    • instrument of governing>LAW
                      • person governing>OFFICIAL
                          • senior>RULER
                            • nLater Han: leader in charge of a zhōu 州.
                            • nadVas a rulerCH
                • SURNAMES

                  Additional information about 牧

                  說文解字:

                    Criteria
                  • GOVERN

                    1. The general word for governing, administering or ordering things is zhì 治, old reading chí.

                    2. Wéi 為, yǒu 有, yòng 用, lín 臨, lì 蒞, lǐ 理 are polite ways of referring to the government by a legitimate ruler.

                    3. Nán miàn 南面, tīng zhèng 聽政, and the late jiàn zuò 踐祚 "ascend the throne and hold control" are polite ways of referring to the occupation of ruler's position by a legitimate incumbent.

                    4. Zhèng 政 refers to the basically bureaucratic administration of a state, practical implementation of governmental measures.

                    5. Shù 術 refers to the "philosophical" and political art of statecraft.

                    6. Xiǎng 享 refers to government of a state as a privilege enjoyed by the legitimate ruler.

                    7. Wàng 王 is the proper government of a state by its legitimate ruler, and term often has "idealising" nuances.

                    8. Jūn 君 refers to de-facto government by a ruler without any idealising or approving nuances being implied.

                    9. Zhuān 專 refers to the (often illegal or not entirely law-based) monopolising of power, and the word often has negative connotations.

                    10. Xiàng 相 refers to senior roles in government bureaucracy other than those of the ruler.

                    11. Sī 司 refers to administration on a scale below that of a state.

                    12. Shǐ 使 refers to leadership, typically of the people.

                    13. Mù 牧 refers to government as a paternalistic responsibility of the ruler.

                  • RULER

                    1. The current general word for a person in charge of or senior to others is zhǔ 主 (ant. pú 僕 "servant").

                    2. Jūn 君 (ant. chén 臣 "minister") refers specifically to someone who is politically or administratively in charge of others as a ruler.

                    3. Wáng 王 (contrast bà 霸 "hegemon basing his role on power rather than moral authority") refers specifically to someone who is enfeoffed as a formal ruler of what counts as a state in ancient China.

                    4. Gōng 公 has many related meaning, but when following after the name of a state the word refers specifically to the ruler of an enfeoffed kingdom under the Son of Heaven who belongs to the royal lineage. After personal names, or used absolutely, the word may generally refer to to rulers of any rank and might be fastidiously translated as "his lordship".

                    5. Hóu 侯 refers specifically to someone who is enfeoffed with a kingdom (or by Han times a minor administrative area) by the Son of Heaven as a hereditary feudal lord.

                    6. Bà 霸 (contr. wáng 王 "regular king"), sometimes also written 伯 refers to a person who is in actual control of an area and specifically to one who acts as the leader of the feudal lords, and the term is sometimes used pejoratively for a "tyrant" caring for his own interests rather than those of his subordinates.

                    7. Lìng 令 refers specifically to someone who is controlling a xiàn 縣 by order of a king.

                    8. Shǒu 守 refers specifically to someone who is controlling a jùn 郡 by order of the emperor.

                    9. Mù 牧 refers specifically to someone who is controlling a zhōu 州 by order of the emperor in Eastern Han times.

                    10. Shàng 上 can refer to any governing authority or ruler, but by Han times the word became a standard polite way of referring to the Han emperor.

                    11. Chán-yú 單于 refers specifically to the ruler of the Xiōngnú 匈奴. Cf. the Tang term kēhān 可汗 "Khan".

                    12. Háo 豪 refers to a person of power but without formally recognised bureaucratic status.

                    13. Kuí 魁 refers to a powerful popular leader unrecognised by government.

                  • SLAVE

                    1. The standard general word for a dependent low-status servant or slave is nú 奴, and this word became quite currrent in Han times.

                    2. Yì 役 tends to focus on the hard labour involved.

                    3. Lǔ 虜 focusses prototypically on the prisoner-origins of a slave.

                    4. Lì 隸 refers to slaves in an administrative bureaucratic way, and prototypically these menial workers are in public employment, being thus of higher status than mere shepherds or stable-boys in the countryside.

                    5. Zānghuò 臧獲 is the standard exampe of the name of a slave.

                    Slavery and servant-hood not always easy to distinguish, and this is for very interesting social reasons. A scheme for the place of menials in the status system is systematised in a crucial ZUO Zhao 7 passage:

                    故王臣公，公臣大夫，大夫臣士，士臣皁，皁臣輿，輿臣隸，隸臣僚，僚臣僕，僕臣臺。

                    馬有圉，牛有牧，

                    Word relations
                  • Object: (GOVERN)民/PEOPLE The dominant current general word for the people is mín 民 (ant. jūn 君 "ruler"), and this term refers to the people particularly insofar as they are ruled by a ruler or belong to a state.