Additional information about 罕
說文解字:
- Criteria
- OFTEN
1. The current general word for high frequency of an event within a certain period of time is shuò 數 " several times in a row" (xī 希 "rarely").
2. Lu# 屢 "quite a few times" (ant. hǎn 罕 "very seldom") indicates that an event has many precursors similar to it in the past, and the word does not emphasise the high frequency.
3. Qì 亟 and pín 頻 "very often" (ant.* ǒu 偶 "on and off") are probably more intensitive than shuò 數.
4. Zòu 驟 "repeatedly, within a short period of time" (ant. shū 疏 "at long intervals") is more temporary in nature.
5. Cháng 常 (ant. xiǎn 鮮 "quite rarely, in the natural course of events") refers to fequency as a symptom of something being ordinary and only to be expected.
6. Duō 多 (ant. shǎo 少 "a few times, few times") is a colourless word indicating that something is of generally frequent occurrence.
- NET
1. The most general term for a net is probably wǎng 网 (originally specifically a fishing net) and gǔ 罟, (originally also specifically a fishing net). It seems that both terms referred originally not only to the fishing net, but to a net in general; already in bone inscriptions and then in SHIJING wǎng 网 is mentioned like a net used to catch animals.
2. Luó 羅, wǎng 罔／網, bì 畢, fú 罘, and jū 罝 (small) are current words for bird nets which can also be used to catch small animals like hares. [Bì 畢 was probably of Y-like shape, and consisted of small net and long handle. The word wǎng 罔／網 is probably only archaic variant of wǎng 网. In SHIJING, the word is used also for a fish net. Fú 罘 can be also used to catch large animals like deers.
3. Zēng 罾, gū 罛, yù 罭 are current names for fish nets.
4. Hǎn 罕 refers to a small bird net with long handle; perhaps it refers to the same implement like bì 畢.
5. Zhāng 張 is usually a verb meaning 'to catch (birds or animals) with a net', but it can also refer to a net for hunting.
6. Weì 罻 refers to a small net for catching birds.
7. Chōng 罿 refers to a small bird net.
8. Juàn 罥 refers to a bird net.
9. Fú CHARACTER??? is a mechanism used to catch birds or animals. It was perhaps a carriage with two shafts, among which was spread a net. Mentioned already in SHIJING. [HUANG 1995: 448 - 449; XIANG 1997: 163]
- RARE
1. The current general word for seldom is hǎn 罕 (ant. lu# 屢 "fairly often), which tends to refer to a very low fequency of occurrence of something.
2. Xiǎn 鮮 (ant. cháng 常 "frequently, in the natural course of events") refer to a dramatic degree of scarcity.
3. Xī 希 / 稀 (ant. shuò 數 "repeatedly, many times, several times") refers to relative scarcity or sparseness both in time and in space.
4. Shǎo 少 (ant. duō 多 "often") is a colourless word frequently used to indicate non-specifically that something is not often seen.
- Word relations
- Ant: (RARE)常/ENDURING
Cháng 常 and the especially emphatic héng 恆 "highly constant and permanent" (ant.* ǒu 偶 "contingency and consequent changeability") emphasise the constancy or constant recurrence of the attributes of what is lasting, and typically - though not always - the constancy is valued positively.