Taxonomy of meanings for 薄:　　

Additional information about 薄

說文解字: 【薄】，林薄也。一曰：蠶薄。从艸、溥聲。 【㫄各切】

Criteria
• THICK
  

  1. The current general word for thickness of any kind is hòu 厚 (ant. báo 薄 "thin"), read in the Middle Chinese rising tone. The noun thickness is hòu 厚 read in the Middle Chinese falling tone.

• SLIGHTLY
  

  1. The most common word for something happening on a very small scale is shǎo 少 (ant. duō 多 "a great deal").

  2. Guǎ 寡 tends to focus on the excessive nuance, on something happening to a lesser degree than needed.

  3. Báo 薄 (ant. hòu 厚 "intensely") focusses on something happening to a lesser degree than a conventional standard would indicate or prescribe.

• TENUOUS
  

  1. The most current word for what is literally insubstantial and slight is xì 細.

  2. Wēi 微 refers to subtlety predominantly in transferred figurative senses.

  3. Báo 薄 (ant. hòu 厚 "substantial") refers to anything thin or slight.

• GENEROUS
  

  1. Probably the most general word for generosity is huì 惠 (ant. sè 嗇 "stingy, ungenerous"), and this refers to any kind of emotional as well as material munificence by a person of superior status.

  2. Hòu 厚 (ant. báo 薄 "less than ample") refers to generosity of treatment which is not necessarily directed towards inferiors.

  3. Shī 施 focuses on the very activity involved in generous treatment of others, and the subject of this activitiy is normally a person of superior status.

  4. E!n 恩 (ant. chóu 仇 "hostile attitude") refers primarily to an attitude or disposition (typically on the part of a person of superior status) to be generous.

  5. Dé 德 and the rarer zé 澤 refer to graceful and spiritually inspiring munificence, typically from a person of supremely high status.

  6. Kuān 寬 and the rarer guǎng 廣 can refer to a general disposition towards non-narrow and broadly directed generosity.

  7. Zhān 霑 refers to receiving the benefits of generosity and is thus marginal in this group, and the word is rare.

  NB: Kāng kǎi 慷慨 refers to generousity with one's resources, but the usage is first attested in Ming novels.

• 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.

• NEAR
  

  1. The dominant general word is jìn 近 (ant. yuǎn 遠 "far") which refers to any concrete or abstract proximity in space, time or quality.

  2. Jī 幾 typically refers to an abstract closeness or relatedness with relates neither to space nor to time.

  3. Pò 迫 and "precariously close" refer to spatial proximity of a potentially dangerous kind.

  4. Bó 薄 "very close" refers to spatial proximity primarily but is occasionally used in transferred metaphorical senses to refer to abstract proximity.

  5. Lín 鄰 is permanent geographical proxity.

  6. Eψ 邇 is an archaic and elevated general term for closeness.

  7. Proximity to a city can be expressed by the "postposiiton" xià 下.

• APPROACH
  

  [DRAMATIC]/[UNDRAMATIC]

  [ELEVATED/VULGAR]

  [GENERAL/SPECIFIC]

  [HIGH-DEGREE/LOW-DEGREE]

  [LITERAL/TRANSFERRED]

  1. The most current general word for approaching or getting close to anything is jìn 近 (ant. yuàn 遠 "remove oneself far from").

  [GENERAL], [LITERAL!]

  2. Jí 即 and jiù 就 (all ant. lí 離 "leave, move away from") refer neutrally to moving close to a certain place.

  [GENERAL]

  3. Bó 薄 and pò 迫 refers somewhat dramatically to moving (often precariously) close to something.

  [DRAMATIC], [LITERAL]

  4. Fù 附 is to move very close up indeed to something, often getting attached to it.

  [HIGH-DEGREE], [LITERAL]

  5. Qīn 親 (NB: shū 疏 is not used as an antonym for this meaning.) refers primarily to moving intimately close to something.

  [ELEVATED], [TRANSFERRED!]

  6. Lín 臨 is often used in ways characteristic of the dignified court style, but the word also commonly refers to getting close to a place or time in a natural course of events.

  [ELEVATED!], [GENERAL]

• 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>

• EXCELLENT
  

  1. 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. Shàn 善 (ant. zhuó 拙 "inept"), when the word does not mean moral goodness, but is close in meaning to liáng 良, refers to an acquired specific skill or propensity for certain forms of action.

  3. Jīng 精 (of general application) (ant. cū 粗 "of only rough quality") and ruì 銳 (typically applied to military prowess) (ant. dùn 鈍 "of lesser quality") refer to above-average performance without suggestion individual excellence.

  4. Yōu 優 (ant. liè 劣 "inferior") and cháng 長 (ant. duǎn 短 "of lesser quality") refers to a distinct advantage in excellence compared with some reference group or some point of reference.

  5. Gōng 工 (ant. yú 寙 "fumbling, inept") is to be specialised in something concrete or even professional in an area, typically a craft.

  6. Jiā 佳 (ant. xià 下 "inferior in quality") implies manifestly recognised striking excellence regarding such qualities such as beauty or moral cultivation.

  7. Měi 美 (ant. è 惡 "of bad quality") when it does not have its standard meaning "beauty" indicates striking or admirable high quality of anything concrete or abstract.

  8. Jiā 嘉 (ant. yōng 庸 "mediocre") refers to manifestly recognised striking excellence, typically of an abstract kind.

  9. Zhǐ 旨 (ant. báo 薄 "of slight quality") refers specifically to excellence in the quality of wine, and sometimes to other foodstuffs.

  10. Jùn 駿 (ant. nú 駑 "miserable hag") refers specifically to excellence in horses, and by extension occasionally serves as metaphoric for outstanding personalities.

• THIN
  

  1. The current standard word for thinness of any kind is is báo 薄.

  2. Zhěn 袗 refers to thin cloth that is not lined or double.

  3. Xiān 纖 refers to anything that is slender and thin, or slim. See SLIM.

• DENSE
  

  1. Nóng 濃 (ant. xī 稀 "thin (as of broth)") refers generally to the thickness of liquids and of substances.

  2. Nóng 醲 (ant. báo 薄 "thin (as of wine)"), a writing variant of the preceding, is used specifically for the thickness and undiluted character of liquor or wine.

• ABUNDANT
  

  ABSTRACT/CONCRETE

  ARTIFICIAL/NATURAL

  HIGH-DEGREE/LOW-DEGREE

  SPECIALISED/UNSPECIFIC

  1. The general word for abundance of any kind, man-made or natural, concrete or abstract, is shèng 盛 (ant.*xī 稀 "sparse").

  [GENERAL]

  2. Fēng 豐 (ant.*qiàn 歉 "poor natural harvest") refers primarily to the natural abundance of some feature or resource, but in elevated archaic discourse the word may also refer to abundance of sacrifice and the like. NB: The rare fēng 丰 was not homophonous in ancient times, and the meaning emphasises beauty as well as abundance.

  [NATURAL!]

  3. Hòu 厚 (ant. báo 薄 "meagerly supplied with something") primarily refers to man-made or man-caused generous abundance, prototypically in contexts such as hospitality or exchange of presents.

  [ARTIFICIAL]

  4. Yōu 優 (ant.* liè 劣 "in short supply") refers to special (often commendable) abundance.

  [HIGH DEGREE], [ABSTRACT!]

  5. Ráng 穰 often refers specifically to abundance of harvest. See HARVEST.

  [NATURAL], [SPECIFIC]

  5. Pèi rán 沛然 typically refers to the abundance of a flow of things, prototypically rain.

  7. Yáng 洋 typically refers specifically to abundance of water over a wide area, but the word is occasionally used in transferred senses to refer to wide-spread abundance. The image of water remains distantly present.

  [NATURAL], [SPECIFIC]

  8. Wò 渥 (ant. báo 薄 "not very abundant, poorly supplied with liquid or vital energy etc.") typically refers to an abundance of liquids or gases.

  [NATURAL], SPECIFIC]

  9. Duō 多 is the general word for a large number or a large amount of things. See MANY

• WEAK
  

  1. The current general word for weakness of any physical or abstract kind, and of anything including states, persons, and animals is ruò 弱 (ant. qiáng 強 "strong").

  2. Léi 羸 (ant. jiàn 健 "strong and healthy") typically refers to physical weakness in humans.

  3. Bào 薄 (ant. zhuàng 壯 "strong and vigorous") can refer to a low or weak intensity of something.

  4. Cuì 脆 / 膬 (ant. jiān 堅 "strong and hard") refers to physical weakness as a result of brittleness and a propensity to break easily.

  5. Chí 弛 (ant. jiān 堅 "strong and hard") refers to weakness as a result of abstract or physical slackening.

  6. Shuāi 衰 (ant. shèng 盛 "strong and flourishing") refers to the process of weakening that attends any kind of decline.

  7. Hào 耗 (ant. kāng 康 "increasingly vigorous and healthy") refers to the process of weakening that results from using up available resources.

  8. Huǎ3n 緩 (ant. jié 捷 "nimble and vigorous in one's effort") is somewhat marginal in the group but can refer to habitual weakness of effort through slowness and lack of urgent and decisive action.

Word relations
• Ant: (THIN)厚/THICK The current general word for thickness of any kind is hòu 厚 (ant. báo 薄 "thin"). 2 Attributions
• Ant: (TENUOUS)厚/ABUNDANT Hòu 厚 (ant. báo 薄 "meagerly supplied with something") primarily refers to man-made or man-caused generous abundance, prototypically in contexts such as hospitality or exchange of presents. >>ARTIFICIAL 1 Attribution
• Ant: (TENUOUS)渥/ABUNDANT Wò 渥 (ant. báo 薄 "not very abundant, poorly supplied with liquid or vital energy etc.") typically refers to an abundance of liquids or gases.
• Ant: (WEAK)高/SUPERIOR
• Ant: (SLIGHTLY)厚/INTENSELY Hòu 厚 typically refers to a high degree or high intensity of something positive. 2 Attributions
• Ant: (TENUOUS)厚/ABUNDANT Hòu 厚 (ant. báo 薄 "meagerly supplied with something") primarily refers to man-made or man-caused generous abundance, prototypically in contexts such as hospitality or exchange of presents. >>ARTIFICIAL 8 Attributions
• Ant: (WEAK)厚/GENEROUS Hòu 厚 (ant. báo 薄 "less than ample") refers to generosity of treatment which is not necessarily directed towards inferiors. 1 Attribution
• Ant: (UNIMPORTANT)厚/IMPORTANT5 Attributions
• Ant: (TENUOUS)高/SUPERIOR
• Ant: (DESPISE)重/RESPECT1 Attribution
• Ant: (STINGY)厚/GENEROUS Hòu 厚 (ant. báo 薄 "less than ample") refers to generosity of treatment which is not necessarily directed towards inferiors. 1 Attribution
• Contrast: (TENUOUS)寡/LITTLE The standard word for a small quantity of some stuff is guǎ 寡. 2 Attributions
• Contrast: (SLIGHTLY)省/FRUGAL The neutral terms for thrift are shěng 省 (ant. fèi 費 "spend freely"), jiǎn 簡, and yuē 約. 1 Attribution
• Contrast: (TENUOUS)少/LITTLE Shǎo 少 can also be used to a small quantity of stuff.
• Contrast: (TENUOUS)疏/DISTANT Shū 疏 (ant. qīn 親 "close") often refers to distance of relation in a more than purely physical sense.
• Contrast: (DESPISE)賤/DESPISE Jiàn 賤 (guì 貴 "hold in high esteem" and jìng 敬 "respect") are to regard someone as vulgar, and typically as of slight moral worth.
• Assoc: (WEAK)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]]
• Assoc: (TENUOUS)靡/TENUOUS
• Synon: (THIN)微/TENUOUS Wēi 微 refers to subtlety predominantly in transferred figurative senses.
• Oppos: (UNIMPORTANT)美 / 媄 / 媺/BEAUTIFUL 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]] 1 Attribution