Taxonomy of meanings for 贊:　　

Additional information about 贊

說文解字:

Criteria
• PRAISE
  

  1. The current general word for praise is yù 譽 (ant. huǐ 毀 "speak ill of"), and the word often refers to straightforward objective praise rather than eulogy..

  2. Chēng 稱 (ant. bang 謗 "speak ill of behind his back") refers to "honourable mentioning" in public contexts and favourable public assessment of someone.

  3. Bāo 褒 (ant. biǎn 貶 "make derogatory remarks about") refers to a person with a certain authority passing a positive judgment on someone.

  4. Jiā 嘉 (ant. sǔn 損 "make belittling remarks about") refers to commending someone for a certain action or for past behaviour.

  5. Zàn 讚／贊 "eulogise" (ant. dǐ 詆 "speak ill of") refers to lyrical, typically exaggerated and overly enthusiastic praise.

  6. Sòng 頌 (ant. zhòu 咒 "make calumniatory remarks about") refers literally to the singing of someone's praises, but as in English, the praising thus described may actually be in ornate prose.

  7. Měi 美 and shàn 善 (all ant. wù 惡 "speak ill of") refer to the bringing out of positive, admirable or morally commendable aspects in something or someone through discourse.

  8. Yáng 揚 (ant. yì 抑 "do down") refers to the spreading of the good name of someone or something.

• CRITICISE
  

  1. The current general term for criticism is fēi 非 (ant. shì 是 "approve of").

  2. Fěi 誹 (ant. zàn 贊 "commend") is to criticise someone's views in a condescending humiliating way. See also SLANDER.

  3. Jī 譏 is part of the historian's standard repertoire and refers typically to historian's censure of the behaviour of historical personalities.

  4. Zuì 罪 may sometimes come to refer to strong criticism of a person's views and achievements. See ACCUSE

  5. Bàng 謗 refers to slanderous criticism, typically not to the fact but behind one's back. See also SLANDER.

• BLAME
  

  [ARCHAIC/CURRENT]

  [DRAMATIC/UNDRAMATIC]

  [ELEVATED/FAMILIAR]

  [FACE-TO-FACE/NOT-FACE-TO-FACE]

  [GENERAL/SPECIFIC]

  [HIGH-DEGREE/LOW-DEGREE]

  [PRIVATE/PUBLIC]

  1. The current general word for declaring someone morally rather than criminally responsible for a misdeed is jiù 咎 (ant. yù 譽 "praise").

  [ARCHAIC?], [NOT-FACE-TO-FACE!], [PRIVATE]

  2. Shǔ 數 refers to the recounting and publicly recounting and listing up of the misdeeds or mistakes someone has made.

  [FACE-TO-FACE], [HIGH-DEGREE]

  3. Zé 責 (ant. chēng 稱 "praise someone for something") often refers to the public apportioning of blame without the threat of legal action. [see ACCUSE]

  [FORMAL], [FACE-TO-FACE]

  4. Ràng 讓 (ant. zàn 贊 "commend strongly, in public") refers to strong public blame and abuse.

  [DRAMATIC], [FACE-TO-FACE], [PUBLIC],

  5. Qiào 誚 refers to a strong and often abusive public reprimand.

  [DRAMATIC], [FACE-TO-FACE], [FAMILIAR]; [[RARE]]

  5. Yóu 尤 often refers to official blame and censure, but there are archaic generalised uses of the word where it simply means "to apportion blame for something".

  [ARCHAIC+], [ELEVATED], [NOT-FACE-TO-FACE]

  6. Jí 疾 (ant. měi 美 "praise the splendid qualities of someone") refers to strong personal stricture.

  [DRAMATIC], [FACE-TO-FACE], [INFORMAL]

  7. Guò 過 (ant. yù 譽 ) typically refers to a mild and/or subjective moral disagreement with someone. See MISTAKE

  [LOW-DEGREE], [MARGINAL]

• SLANDER
  

  1. The standard current word for speaking ill of a person is huǐ 毀 (ant. yù 譽 "praise"), and the slander involved can be of all kinds.

  2. Chán 讒 (ant. zàn 贊 "praise justly") refers to popular slander, sometimes by persons without significant political influence.

  3. Bàng 謗 "vilify a person" (ant. chēng 稱 "praise") refers to public serious criticism, sometimes coming close to public abuse; increasingly, the word tended to refer to unjustified such accusations, i.e. slander, but the word is also used for justified serious criticism in public.

  4. Fěi 誹 (ant. yáng 揚 "spread good reports about") refers to critical comments on a person, and these may come from persons of influence or from the common people. See CRITICISE

  5. Zèn 譖 (ant. zhāng 彰 "be full of public praise for") refers specifically to a secret malicious whispering campaign.

  6. Jī 譏 refers to subtle satirical slander.

  7. Wū 誣 (ant. zàn 贊 "praise justly") refers specifically to unjustified slander.

  8. Shàn 訕 (ant. sòng 頌 "sing the praises of") adds an element of ridicule to that of speaking ill of a person.

  9. Wù 惡 (ant. měi 美 "speak well of") can be used to focus on maligning someone to his superiors.

• CHANT
  

  1. The current word for chanting poetry in a deeply emotional manner for the benefit of others is yǒng 詠;

  2. The current word for chanting prose aloud for the benefit of others is sòng 誦, and the prose chanted normally has to be of high cultural status.

  3. F1ē3ng 諷 refers specifically to (possibly reading out and) reciting what one is familiar with and may even know by heart. (Old reading fèng!)

  4. Fù 賦 refers to the recital of poetry of any kind, commonly even one's own works.

  5. Yín 吟 is to hum and quietly intone something for one's own enjoyment, perhaps as one walks along, typically as an expression of one's emotions, and not primarily for others to listen to, and the word is never used as a transitive verb with an object indicating what exactly is being hummed or intoned.

  6. Shēn 呻 is to mournfully hum poetry to oneself.

  7. Zàn 贊 refers to the ritual reading out of a prescribed liturgical text on formal occasions.

  8. Chàng 唱 refers to dramatic loud and drawn-out recital of prose texts. See SING

  See also READ

Word relations
• Contrast: (HELP)助/HELP The most general current word for helping someone else to perform a task is probably zhù 助 (ant. zǔ 阻 "hinder") which can refer to support given to men or other creatures. 1 Attribution