Taxonomy of meanings for 草:　　

  • cǎo (OC: tshuuʔ MC: tsʰɑu) 采老切 上 廣韻：【説文作艸百卉也經典相承作草采老切七 】
    • GRASS
      • n{PLACE}adVin the grass
      • n(blade of) grass (countable!)
      • n{PRED}figurativebe (like) grass (without or with 也)
      • nadNthatched; made of grass/straw/hemp
      • nadNhabitatliving in the grass
      • nadVwith a grass/hemp rope; in the grass
      • nadVobjectusing grass (to feed oneself)
      • nmgrass; vegetation; grassy plants, non-tree-like green plants, low bushes, including bamboos, according to SHJ: 其草多竹
      • nmadNmaterialmade of grass
      • action with grass as object:remove grass> CUT
        • viactcut grass
        • dry for feeding> HAY
          • nmlate: hay
          • of animals:grass-eating and not yet grain-eating> YOUNG
            • nadNso young as not yet to eat grain but only grass 草駒
          • dry grass-like> STRAW
        • of medical use:herb> MEDICINE
          • nmmedical herbs
        • abstract> PLANT
          • nplant of any kind, smaller than bush
          • nabstractplant of any kind whatever, including treesCH
        • specific: wild-growing> WEED
          • nmweeds
          • exocentric> LANDSCAPE
            • nmgrassy landscape
          • metonymy:feature> COARSE
            • nadVroughly; coarsly
            • exocentric: coarsely written> WRITTEN CHARACTER
              • vadNdraft (or outline) character form, in opposition to kǎishū 楷書. Just as 楷, 草 did not originally refer to a specific character form, so each character form has its corresponding cǎo 草 character form (章草/小篆; 今草/楷書).
              • exocentric: draft> DOCUMENT
                • nadNdrafted only

      Additional information about 草

      說文解字:

        Criteria
      • BARREN

        [GENERAL/SPECIFIC]

        1. The standard word is huāng 荒 (ant. féi 肥 "rich, fertile" and wò 沃 "fertile") which refers to any barren or uncultivated piece of land.

        [GENERAL], [GENERAL-USE]; [[COMMON]]

        2. Wú 蕪 (ant. fān 蕃 "rich in agricultural vegetation") refers specifically to land overgrown with weads and thus unable to yield agricultural produce.

        [GENERAL-USE]; [[RARE]]

        3. Què 埆 refers to barren soil basically unsuitable for cultivation.

        [TECHNICAL-TERM]; [[RARE]]

        4. Qiāo 墝 refers to stony barren territory unsuitable for cultivation.

        [TECHNICAL-TERM]; [[RARE]]

        5. Cǎo lái 草萊 refers to barren grasslands unsuitable for cultivation.

        [POETIC]; [[RARE]]

        6. Bù máo 不毛 refers simply to the striking absence of all vegetation.

        [ELEVATED], [POETIC]

      • GRASS

        1. The current general term for grass, possibly including some of what we would call flowers, is cǎo 草.

      • PLANT

        1. The general abstract term for a plant, rarely used, is zhí wù 植物.

        2. The current term for plants or vegetation in general is cǎo mù 草木 "grasses and trees".

        3. Cǎo 草 can refer to plants or all sorts, including flowers, but always to plants smaller than bushes.

      • BEAUTIFUL

        [ABSOLUTE/GRADED]

        [ACOUSTIC/VISUAL]

        [ARTIFICIAL/NATURAL]

        [[COMMON/RARE]]

        [ELEVATED/VULGAR]

        [GENERAL/SPECIFIC]

        [HUMAN/NON-HUMAN]

        [POETIC/PROSAIC]

        1. The general word is měi 美 "handsome and admirable" (ant. è 惡 "ugly") which refers to anything concrete or abstract which is attractive or handsome in a dignified way, and the word often retains its primary culinary sense of "tasty".

        [GENERAL], [GRADED]; [[COMMON]]

        2. Lì 麗 (ant. sù 素 "unaodorned") is often restricted to physical objects, prototypically to clothes, and emphasises their balanced symmetric beauty, occasionally also - by analogy - the well-aligned symmetric beauty of mountains.

        [ELEVATED], [NON-HUMAN], [VISUAL!]

        3. Wén 文 (ant. zhì 質 "merely material") emphasises cultivated external as well as internal elegance as well as traditionalism.

        [ARTIFICIAL], [ELEVATED], [NON-HUMAN], [VISUAL!]

        4. Yǎ 雅 (ant. sú 俗 "vulgar") emphasises primarily external elevated elegance.

        [ACOUSTIC!], [ARTIFICIAL], [ELEVATED+], [NON-HUMAN]

        5. Hǎo 好 "comely, handsome" (ant. chǒu 醜 "ugly") refers indiscriminately to men and women, but the word is sometimes more general and even abstract in application and refers to attractive words or attractive moral qualities.

        [HUMAN!], [NATURAL], [VISUAL]

        6. Xiù 秀 "of vigorous and imposing beauty" focusses on flourishing and flamboyant beauty in analogy with that of flowers.

        [ELEVATED], [NATURAL], [NON-HUMAN], [POETIC], [VISUAL]; [[RARE]]

        7. Huá 華 "of striking and colourful beauty" (ant. sú 俗 "vulgar") focusses on flourishing and flamboyant superficial or only apparent beauty, on the analogy analogy with that of flowers.

        [ARTIFICIAL], [ELEVATED], NON-HUMAN], [SUPERFICIAL], [VISUAL]

        8. Zhuàng 壯 "stately" (ant. ruò 弱 "weak and unsightly") is virile beauty associated with strength and vigour. See STRONG

        [NATURAL], [MARGINAL], [POETIC]; [[RARE]]

        9. Jiā 佳 "of outstanding beauty" (NB: liè 劣 "unremarkable" is the ant. of jiā 佳 "outstanding", and not in the meaning of "outstandingly beautiful") emphasises comparative beauty compared to others in the same group.

        [GRADED], [ELEVATED], [NATURAL], [POETIC]

        10. Dū 都 "urbane and exquisitely beautiful" (ant. bì 鄙 "rustic and inelegant") is a highly poetic word that can only be used in elevated prose.

        [ARCHAIC], [ELEVATED], [POETIC], [VISUAL]; [[RARE]]

        11. Yán 妍 "attractive and exquisite (of humans as well as human products)" (ant. chì 蚩 "unattractive") refers to elaborate beauty. See SEXY.

        [ARCHAIC], [ELEVATED], [HUMAN], [POETIC]; [[RARE]]

        12. Xiū 脩 / 修 "refined moral beauty" refers to moral as well as physical beauty, thus coming close the Greek kalokagathia, but never approaching the latter in importance as a cultural keyword.

        <div>[ELEVATED], [ARTIFICIAL]; [[RARE]]</div><div><br></div><div>吳蓬，東方審美詞彙集萃，上海文藝出版社，2002 lists the following rough definitions of a variety of terms of aesthetic appreciation by the artist and scholar Wu Peng. Many of these terms express conventional appreciative flattery only. This list does provide one not particularly well-known artist's subjective readings of some basic terms of traditional Chinese aesthetic approbation.</div><div>勃：富有生机之突起。<br>苍：浓的，毛的，老练的。<br>沉：沉着不浮，有重量感。<br>冲：调成和淡之意向。<br>饬：整顿。<br>粗：大而不笨者。<br>淳：清，往往易薄，然而淳是清中滋润之厚。<br>醇：与淳略同，这醇是提炼后的滋润之厚。<br>绰：与"约"字合用，即舒而不纵之意。<br>澹：平静而有幽淡之趣。<br>淡：与浓艳相对。<br>宕：放荡不拘。<br>跌：往往与"宕"字合用，即是起伏明显之状。<br>端：方正而不出偏，有稳实感。<br>敦：很实在的，结实的厚。<br>繁：众而密，有生气。<br>方：与平正同义。<br>丰：饱满而充足。<br>风：审美中之"风"指的是一种气韵格调。<br>飞：大幅度的流动。<br>刚：属于阳性的，有正力的，与柔软相对。</div><div>高：俯视一切的、超然得不一般。<br>工：规矩，不潦草。<br>孤：自我独立。<br>古：旧气，更有历史的抗怀千载之迹象。<br>骨：内在的架子。<br>犷：是跟"雄悍"接近，在粗中发展开来。<br>瑰：不单调的美。<br>乖：不和顺。<br>憨：近于拙朴而敦实。<br>酣：厚润四溢。<br>豪：激动向上之貌，有气魄。<br>宏：大而有气度。<br>厚：有沉积的饱和。<br>华：明亮而艳丽。<br>环：长久圆融之境。<br>荒：与"枯简"接近，不修饰。<br>豁：与开朗接近，然比开朗明显。<br>恢：宽广有余。<br>浑：团然一气之象，有朦胧感。<br>简：经过一番整修的减少。<br>娇：美得可爱。<br>警：审美中用此警字，往往指敏锐、颖达。<br></div><div>劲：能察觉的力。<br>精：很到位。<br>隽：精致而具内涵之美。<br>娟：秀而婉丽。<br>崛：高起而突出。<br>俊：人材杰曲之美。<br>峻：山高而陡。在书画中是浓而锋利之用笔。<br>空：有灵气之空白。<br>枯：干而毛，生的萎缩，然亦是力的显露。<br>宽：大度而畅朗。<br>旷：广阔而空灵。<br>辣：是枯毛爽直的老笔触。<br>朗：明亮而豁然。<br>琅：圆而光润。<br>伦：是同类之意，带有文明意念。<br>冷：跟"淡"与"静”接近，与浓烈相对。<br>炼：精到而有功力。<br>淋：与"漓”往往合用，是无拘束的洒落。<br>流：明显的动感。<br>迈：阔而放的超势。<br>莽：宽广而繁密的，朴直奔放的。<br>袤：与"古"字合用，即悠长久远之趣。<br>茂：有生气的繁密。<br>媚：柔美之趣。<br>宓：安而静。<br>明：清晰有亮度。<br>凝：浓重而不流动。<br>懦：毫无火气之柔软。<br>平：一般的，接近于稳。<br>朴：原始状态，形象较准。<br>嫖：与"姚"字合用，即动疾之状，而有气势。<br>奇：不一般。<br>气：生发的，迎面直扑而来的感觉。<br>清：是混的相对。其间透出一股朗气。<br>峭：山之直而险，在书画中是露锋的侧锋用笔，有明显露<br>尖状态。文章中之峭，是意气直逼。<br>遒：婉转有致，内力强劲。<br>虬：与遒类似，但动感较强，弯曲而有力度。<br>意：诚实谨慎。<br>儒：代表文人之书卷气。<br>洒：散落无拘束。<br>赡：富有与丰实。若与"疏”、"逸”组合即成"澹”或"安"之义。</div><div>骚：审美中之骚字，可引伸为风骚至风流感。<br>韶：美丽有光泽。<br>涩：在不爽快的进程中，流露出内力之美。<br>深：不是浮面的。<br>神：精与气合。高端的。<br>生：不成熟，但比成熟有味。<br>肆：任意放纵。<br>松：松是灵活自然，是一切技巧之本要。<br>瘦：与粗笨相对，在审美中的"瘦"，是指细长而精练。<br>疏：一种稀少秀朗之美。<br>肃：有立即静穆下来之势。<br>率：与潦草随便有别，爽快而直接。<br>邃：深远而悠久。<br>阅：通达之意。<br>给：与"宕"合用，是安详舒放之趣。<br>天:很自然，一片天箱之"天"。<br>恬：安静而坦然。<br>挺：直而有生气。<br>婉：柔和而曲折。<br>温：是一种暖调与缓和的综合。</div><div>巍：往往与"峨"合用，是高大厚实之趣。<br>洗：与"炼”合用，即是"精炼"之意，凡物之洁出于洗。<br>犀：与"利"字合用，即坚利。<br>熙：光明，和乐。<br>细：指细而不纤。<br>娴：文静而雅致。<br>闲：一种高雅的自由。<br>萧：疏少有致。<br>潇：散朗而润泽。<br>馨：很醇厚的香气。<br>篁："篁古”是悠远辽阔之意。<br>雄：强大，有力度，有霸气。<br>秀：灵巧的，有生气的，美好的显露。<br>虚：表象空，但并非真空。<br>雅：文气而不俗。<br>妍：鲜美而柔性。<br>严：认真，不马虎。<br>淹：一种浸沉与精深明达之境。<br>野：超脱、不规范。<br>冶：经过一番精致修饰。<br>逸：悠闲的起伏。</div><div>意：精神倾向。<br>莹：透明而幽亮。<br>雍：往往与“容"字合用，有和顺之貌。<br>幽：静而深。<br>腴：肥润而饱和。<br>郁：厚积而有生气。<br>纤：与"迥"字合用，即弯环回绕之趣。<br>遹：与"瑰"字合用，即纤迥美丽之趣。<br>渊：往往与"懿"合用，是深润而悠美之趣。<br>圆：接近于饱满润滑。<br>蕴：与"藉"合用，即内涵丰富。<br>韵：一种余味不尽之趣。<br>恣：放纵的，无拘束的。<br>滋：湿润感。<br>自：出于本性的流露。<br>质：本体的，实在的。<br>纵：放逸无拘之状。<br>拙：接近朴，形不准。<br>庄：端正之貌。<br>卓：与“荤"合用，是突出明显之状。<br></div><div><br></div><br>

        Word relations
      • Epithet: (GRASS)廬/HUT The general word for a hut is lú 廬.
      • Epithet: (GRASS)野/WILD
      • Assoc: (GRASS)木/TREE The current word for a tree is mù 木. In Shang times times this word was a count noun for trees, later it also referred to felled trees and in particular to timber as a material. Thus in Warring States times the special feature of this word is that it is a mass noun as well as a count noun.
      • Assoc: (GRASS)薦/HAY
      • Oppos: (WEED)稼/GRAIN