Taxonomy of meanings for 臣:　　

Additional information about 臣

說文解字: 【臣】，牽也。事君也。象屈服之形。凡臣之屬皆从臣。 【植鄰切】

Criteria
• FLATTER
  

  1. The current word for active flattery is chǎn 諂 and the word refers to all kinds discourse exclusively designed to win favour but also includes ingratiating behaviour of other kinds, as notoriously in LY.

  2. Yú 諛 focusses on the use of language in "reactive" sycophancy adapting oneself to perceived desires on the part of a superior, and there seem to be no clear examples of non-linguistic sycophancy described as yú 諛.

  3. E! 阿 is vulgar one-sided pandering to the tastes or ideas of superiors in words and also in action, and the word refers also to other forms of partiality and favouritism and is thus more general in application than the other words in the group.

  4. Mèi 媚 is sycophancy also in words but particularly in attitude, dress and demeanour.

  5. Pián bì 便辟 (ant. zhēng chén 諍臣 "cantankerous or obstreporous minister") is a customary engrained form sycophancy leading to a permanent status of favour with those who are being flattered.

  6. Nìng 佞 refers to rhetorically skilful sycophancy, and very often the meanings "rhetorically skilful" and "sycophantic" are hard to distinguish in context.

• SUBJECT
  

  1. The current general word for a subject is chén 臣.

  2. Xià 下 is used in elevated court language to refer to subjects.

• CHINA
  

  睡虎地秦墓竹簡 1978: 226 臣邦人不安秦主而欲去夏者, 勿許. 何謂夏 ? 欲去親屬是謂夏.

  The words for China have this in common that they do NOT designate any one state. 中國 "the central states" is implicitly plural when it does not refer to the capital city. 諸夏 the various Xià (states)" is explicitly plural. The standard Imperium Romanum has no counterpart in Chinese until very late, unless one admits 天下 "all under Heaven" as a designation for the empire. But 天下 does not define any bounded empire. It remains to be seen exactly when a standard term for China was took shape. Compare the problems of finding a term for the Chinese language.

  Based on 顧頡剛 & 王樹民, “ 夏 ” 和 “ 中國 ”— 祖國古代的稱號, Zhongguo lishi dili luncong, Vol. 1 (Xi'an, 1981), 6-22).

  In the Shu and Shi sections relating to the early Zhou, 區夏 (= 夏區 ), 有夏 and 時夏 (= 是夏 ) refers to the place in which the Zhou established their capital after their conquest of Shang, in contradistinction to Zhou 掇 homeland in the West ( 西土 ) and the close Zhou allies ( 一二邦 ). The Zhou referred to their own domain as 烠 he central city-state � ( 中國 ). Since 中國 in this usage refers to the territory directly governed by the Zhou, it is singular and used in exchange with 京師 and in contradistinction with 四方 and 四國. Other states also referred to their capital regions as 啎什縕 (thus Wu in GY 19.09.01/618); a (perhaps late) variant of this word is 啎尹塹 (Yugong).

  After becoming strong, the states enfeoffed by Zhou asserted the community with the 周 by commencing to refer to themselves as 堔 L �, leading to the plural designation 埣悎 L �, used in contrast with designations like 啈 i 狄�. The distinction between the two groups was viewed as cultural, and its precise reference shifted over time, originally excluding states (like 楚 ) from the community of 諸夏 but later including them, or including them in the beginning, whilst later excluding them (like 秦 ). Some of the non- 諸夏 states were viewed as subservient to 諸夏 states, others as their enemies. The membership of 楚 to the 諸夏 circle was always insecure; it was, so to speak, was"always on probation.

  The 東夏 made up a subdivision of the 諸夏, including states such a 齊 and 魯.

  In parallel with the 堔 L � appellations arose the 埽寊 appellations, 埽寊 on its own and 埣捄寊, and, the two words may well be cognate, the common 埽堮 L �.

  In the Warring States period the cultural distinction gave way to a geographical distinction, and the 中國 states were now the state occupying the Central Plain

• SERVANT
  

  1. The general word for a servant is chén 臣. But the meaning of this term is typically general. See SUBJECT.

  2. Shì 仕 is a permanent employee of some status, normally a literate person.

  3. Lì 吏 is an executive official.

  4. Huàn 宦 refers at an early stage to the person in charge of the servant corps in a household; in imperial times the word came to refer to the head of the imperial household. In later Han times the word came to refer to eunuchs.

  5. Zǎi 宰 refers to the position of the head of a senior household in early times, in charge of the various huàn 宦. The title was also used in the imperial hierarchy as a vague bureaucratic title, translatable perhaps as "political secretary".

• MINISTER
  

  1. The general word for a government minister at any level and of any kind is chén 臣, generically rén chén 人臣.

  2. Zuǒ yòu 左右 refers to the senior ministers in the immediate environment of a king or duke who were able, ex officio, to speak up in court.

  3. Xiàng 相 refers to the head of the group of ministers, the prime minister, also called yǐn 尹 or lìng yǐn 令尹 in the southern state of Chǔ.

  4. Qīng 卿 refers to a member of the group fo senior ministers, variously defined.

  The list of senior official titles in ancient China is long indeed. See Hucker and Zuo Yandong's monograph.

• EGO
  

  1. The umarked current first person pronoun most current by Warring States times is wú 吾, and the word is never emphatic in constructions like 吾實 "It was I who...". (Not in OBI. Note the Jinwen variant graphs for the same word 𫊣 and 䱷.) This word does not normally occur in object position and is highly idiomatic in a possessive pre-nominal position. Significantly, this pronoun can never be used emphatically or contrastively. (NB: The word also serves as an impersonal pronoun meaning "we" in the sense close to "one", German man, French on.) 我亦 "I too", versus 予亦 "I shall moreover V".

  2. Wǒ 我 (which can be used in the emphatic construction 我實 "It was I who...") is contrastive and emphatic by Warring States times, as in wǒ zé 我則 "I on the other hand...". (In OBI 我 was not yet in opposition to wú 吾 and was the standard unmarked pronoun during earlier stages of the language). The word freely occurs in subject, modifying, and object position and often has an idiomatic meaning like "I for my part" and the formal slightly depersonalised "our party". NB: The word also serves as a derived impersonal pronoun meaning "one", German "man", French "on". 我亦 "I too", versus 予亦 "I shall moreover V".

  3. Yú 予／余 is personal and often autobiographical, speaking of the author in the past. It it a preferred pronoun used by poets.

  4. Zhèn 朕 is an ordinary southern dialect first person pronoun in CC, but by decree the word came to be limited to use by the emperor alone after the unification of the Chinese Empire in 221 BC.

  NB 1: Many official titles - but by no means all - function as quasi pronouns. For example, no king could call himself wáng 王 "king", but all ministers will normally refer to themselves as chén 臣 in the presence of their king, and not by the more assertive pronoun wǒ 我. Thus most quasi-pronouns serve a self-deprecatory function and are not usable in contexts where no self-deprecation is called for. A fascinating exception is fūzǐ 夫子 "the master" which is apparently used in self-reference meaning "I, your master" by Confucius.

  For the internal complexity of the notion of the EGO in German see C. Harbsmeier, "Ueber den inneren Schweinehund, das bessere Ich und die rausgelassene Sau" [On lack of will-power and one's better Self???]

• SERVE
  

  1. The current general word for serving another is shì 事 (ant. shǐ 使 "deploy").

  2. Chén 臣 emphasises the subservience of the servant and his lasting employment in a subservient position.

  3. Shì 侍 and the rare and more elevated yù 御 refers specifically to physical attentance to the daily needs of a master, and it involves physical presence near him. See ACCOMPANY

  4. Shǐ 使 refers specifically to serving in a formal mission on behalf of a master.

  5. Fú 服 refers to the devoted service to a master.

  6. Cóng 從 refers to someone having decided to belong to the entourage or following of a master.

  7. Huàn 宦 refers to filling a typically menial position in a household.

• GROOM
  

  1. The most current general word for a groom is yǔ 圉, often expanded to yǔ rén 圉人 or sometimes even yǔ chén 圉臣.

  2. The high-status official in charge of the horses, administratively was zōu 騶.

• 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
• Epithet: (MINISTER)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. 9 Attributions
• Epithet: (MINISTER)良/EXCELLENT The standard current general word for anything or anyone who naturally meets certain generally accepted high standards of excellence is liáng 良 (ant. liè 劣 "inferior"). 2 Attributions
• Epithet: (MINISTER)賤/HUMBLE Jiàn 賤 (ant. 貴 "objectively of high standard, but also personally and subjectively judged to deserve this high status") typically adds to the notion of objectively judged low status that of subjectively appreciated moral decrepitude. 2 Attributions
• Epithet: (MINISTER)姦/WICKED Jiān 姦 (ant. liáng 良 "of the good sort, decent") refers to sheer human depravity and moral incompetence with no supernatural or sinister overtones. 10 Attributions
• Epithet: (MINISTER)大/GREAT Dà 大 (ant. xiǎo 小 "insignificant") is often used to refer to generally recognised awe-inspiring status (for example of a king etc) rather than mere size. 3 Attributions
• Epithet: (MINISTER)人/HUMAN The dominant term is rén 人 which refers to any human. 15 Attributions
• Epithet: (MINISTER)群/ALL Qún 群 is a quantifier which indicates that the whole of the flock or group of items designated by the noun it precedes are referred to [COLLECTIVE]; [nadN] 19 Attributions
• Epithet: (MINISTER)功/MERIT The current general word for achievements of any kind is gōng 功.
• Epithet: (MINISTER)才 / 材/TALENT The standard word for an unusual promising ability to perform important future tasks of any kind is cái 才／材, and the talents referred to by this word do not need to be of a "higher" kind. 1 Attribution
• Epithet: (MINISTER)邪/WICKED Xié 邪 (ant. zhèng 正 "straight and in no way wicked") typically involves nuances of sinister evil influences in addition to plain human depravity. 1 Attribution
• Epithet: (MINISTER)謀/ADVISE The current standard word for fairly formal consultation and advice to superiors is móu 謀. [ASCENDING], [BASIC], [OFFICIAL] 4 Attributions
• Epithet: (MINISTER)事/SERVE The current general word for serving another is shì 事 (ant. shǐ 使 "deploy"). 1 Attribution
• Epithet: (MINISTER)大/SENIOR1 Attribution
• Contrast: (MINISTER)吏/OFFICIAL Lì 吏 refers to officials in charge of concrete practical matters, often policing and the like.
• Oppos: (MINISTER)主/RULER The current general word for a person in charge of others are zhǔ 主 (ant. pú 僕 "servant").
• Oppos: (MINISTER)君/RULER Jūn 君 (ant. chén 臣 "minister") refers specifically to someone who is politically or administratively in charge of others as a ruler. 8 Attributions
• Oppos: (EGO)君/YOU1 Attribution
• Oppos: (SERVANT)官/OFFICIAL Guān 官 refers quite generally to the persons in charge of an office.
• Oppos: (MINISTER)人主/RULER2 Attributions
• Oppos: (MINISTER)君人者/RULER1 Attribution