Taxonomy of meanings for 禮:　　

Additional information about 禮

說文解字: 【禮】，履也，所以事神致福也。从示、从豊，豊亦聲。 【靈啓切】 【𠃞(礼)】，古文禮。

Criteria
• IMPOLITE
  

  1. The standard word for public impoliteness is wǔ 侮 which enters surprisingly often into descriptive and perhaps intensitive binomes.

  2. The current philosophically explicit phrase is wú lǐ 無禮

• RESPECT
  

  1. The current general word for typically public respectful attitudes and actions is jìng 敬 (ant. màn 慢 "fail to show proper respect for").

  2. Gōng 恭 (ant. jù 倨 "behave in an informal impolite way") refers specifically to private proper polite and respectful attitudes shown to a deserving person.

  3. Zūn 尊 (ant. bǐ 鄙 "consider as not worthy of any veneration or respect") refers to psychological public or private respect for someone in a very exalted social, cultural, religious and/or political position, and the degree of public respect is much greater that that in jìng 敬 and reaches into the past to ancestors.

  4. Chóng 崇 and zōng 宗 refers to distant and typically religious veneration of a spirit or person very highly regarded. SHI 靡神不宗 "there are no spirits which we have not honoured"

  5. Lǐ 禮 (ant. màn 慢 "treat without proper ritual respect") refers to a proper show of public demonstrative respect for someone on the part of a host or a superior.

  6. Wèi 畏 (ant. xiá 狎 "treat without the proper respect due to someone in high position, treat with improper familiarity") refers to awe-struck respect for a person in authority.

  7. Lóng 隆 typically refers to due diligent respect for abstract values.

  8. Qīn 欽 is an archaic courtly word referring to formal conformity with the rules of polite respect for superiors on public occasions.

  9. Zhī 知 focusses on proper appreciation of a person, accompanied by recognition of that person's worth.

• HOSPITALITY
  

  1. The notion of hospitality towards strangers in need and to travellers passing through which is so important in ancient Greece is not as prominent in China as it was in Greece. The closest one can come is hòu 厚 "meet with polite respect and generous hospitality" (ant. báo 薄 "fail to treat with generous hospitality and proper respect").

  2. Lǐ 禮 "show polite respect to" (ant. màn 慢 "treat without proper respect") refers to ritualised respect which is the Chinese Way of hospitality and does connote conviviality. See also RESPECT.

• RITUAL
  

  1. The current general term for everything relating to the system of ritual propriety is lǐ 禮. The term refers concretely to ritual ceremonies, to ritual decorum more generally, then specifically to adherence to explicitly prescribed ritual procedure, and then also informally to any ritual propriety in social behaviour

  2. Yí 儀 refers to prescribed concrete ritual procedures, as typically described in Yí lǐ 儀禮.

• HUMILIATE
  

  1. The general word for personally and demonstratively humiliating and insulting a person is wǔ 侮 (ant. lǐ 禮 "treat politely, show proper politeness towards").

  2. Rǔ 辱 stresses in the notion of humiliating insult that of demonstratively inflicting a lasting public disgrace.

  3. Xiū 羞 is occasionally used to refer to reducing someone to personal and intimate feelings of personal shame.

• CUSTOM
  

  1. The current general word for current (but changeable) customs and habits at all levels of society, indluding the highest echelons of society is fēng 風. There is a current connotation that what are current fēng 風 are at least partly the result of some cultural policy or strategy.

  2. Sú 俗 (and the rarer and much more personal xí 習 ) tend to refer to what is perceived as popular and sometimes even vulgar traditional practices. There is a current conception that the sú 俗 are quintessential in origin and essence, but in spite of this they are conceived of as changeable in principle.

  3. Lǐ 禮 "ritual practice" refers to customary behaviour that is in accordance with the demands of ritual propriety. See RITUAL

• YIELD
  

  1. The dominant general word referring to yielding politely to others or giving precedence to them is ràng 讓 (ant. líng 陵 "treat without proper respect").

  2. Qiān 謙 (ant. jiāo 驕 "arrogant in attitude" and ào 傲 "impolite and arrogant in action") refers to the general attitude or disposition towards giving precedence to others.

  3. Cí 辭 (ant. shòu 受 "accept") refers to declining politely an offer that has been made to one.

  4. Xiè 謝 (ant. shòu 受 "accept") refers to informally but politely declining something offered to one in private context.

  5. Shàn 禪 refers specifically to declining the high office of an emperor.

  NB: Lǐ 禮 "treat with proper yielding politeness" is marginal in this group.

• VIRTUE
  

  1. The current general term for salient features and principles of charismatic moral potency, integrity and generosity is dé 德, when used as a term of ethical evalutation.

  2. Other general terms for subjectively construed general moral commendation include měi 美 "point of moral distinction" (ant. è 惡 "point of moral decrepitude"), and occasionally gāo 高 "elevated points, elevated spirit" (ant. jiàn 賤 "point of vulgar decrepitude"). NB that shàn 善 "excellent" is not used as a general term of positive moral appreciation in pre-Buddhist texts.

  3. The most current dé 德 "virtues" recognised in pre-Buddhist China are rén 仁 "kind-heartedness", yì 義 "rectitude", lǐ 禮 "propriety", zhì 智 "wisdom", and xìn 信 "good faith".

  4. Further important virtues are xiào 孝 "filial piety", zhōng 忠 "loyal diligence", tì 悌 / 弟 "brotherly affection", lián 廉 "impeccable probity", jié 節 "moderation", and perhaps yǒng 勇 "the courage of one's moral convictions". ( 說苑 : 百行 (xìng) 孝為先 )

  5. Zhōng yōng 中庸 "the mean in action" may be mentioned as a a central Confucian virtue, jiān ài 兼愛 "unIversal love" as a Mohist virtue, wú wéi 無為 "unobtrusive action" as a non-moralistic Taoist virtue.

Word relations
• Result: (RITUAL)義/RECTITUDE The most general word is yì 義 "rectitude" which is often used to refer to what is proper and what is one's proper duty in general and also duties in particular. 1 Attribution
• Object: (RITUAL)立/ESTABLISH The current general word for setting up anything abstract or concrete is lì 立 and the almost equally common shè 設. 1 Attribution
• Object: (RITUAL)學/STUDY The dominant word is xué 學 (ant. jiào 教 "train teach")which refers primarily to studying or training under another person, and secondarily to the learning by heart texts. Very often, the word retains a tinge of immitation. 3 Attributions
• Object: (RITUAL)拘/RESTRAIN1 Attribution
• Epithet: (RITUAL)敬/RESPECT The current general word for respectful attitudes and actions is jìng 敬 (ant. màn 慢 "fail to show proper respect for"). 1 Attribution
• Contrast: (RITUAL)德/VIRTUE The current general term for salient features and principles of charismatic moral integrity and generosity is dé 德, when used as a term of ethical evalutation; but this word has many other philosophically important meanings. 1 Attribution
• Contrast: (RITUAL)文/ARTS Wén 文 (ant. wǔ 武 "martial arts) refers to higher literary fine arts including belles lettres as well as ritual. [AESTHETIC], [ELEVATED], [SPECIALISED]; [[CURRENT]] 1 Attribution
• Contrast: (RITUAL)義/JUSTICE4 Attributions
• Assoc: (RITUAL)樂/MUSIC The current general term for music, including dance, is yuè 樂. 9 Attributions
• Assoc: (RITUAL)義/JUSTICE5 Attributions
• Assoc: (RITUAL)節/RESTRAIN Jié 節 (ant. sì 肆 "be unrestrained") always refers to abstract restraint and moderation, typically the restraint is directed towards oneself. 2 Attributions
• Assoc: (POLITE)讓/YIELD The dominant general word referring to yielding politely to others or giving precedence to them is ràng 讓 (ant. líng 陵 "treat without proper respect"). 2 Attributions
• Assoc: (RITUAL)非/NOT1 Attribution
• Assoc: (RITUAL)義/RECTITUDE The most general word is yì 義 "rectitude" which is often used to refer to what is proper and what is one's proper duty in general and also duties in particular. 1 Attribution
• Oppos: (RITUAL)忠/FAITHFUL Zhōng 忠 refers to a selfless effort on behalf of the person to whom one takes oneself to owe loyalty, and this person may be either a ruler or a friend. 1 Attribution
• Oppos: (RITUAL)泰/ARROGANT1 Attribution
• Oppos: (RITUAL)法/LAW The current general word for a law, a legal system or any legal provision of any kind is fǎ 法. 1 Attribution