Taxonomy of meanings for 身:　　

Additional information about 身

說文解字: 【身】，躳也。 〔小徐本作「躬也。」〕 象人之身。从人、聲。凡身之屬皆从身。 【失人切】

Criteria
• WORD
  

  Note that 辭也 "This is a grammatical particle" is sometimes written 詞也, but never 字也. At this point, the classical Chinese commentators do make something like a distinction between character and word. The matter deserves detailed attention.

  1. On the relatively rare occasions when words rather than characters are referred to, the current general term to use is yán 言.

  Note that the definition of the word is notiously problematic for classical as well as for modern Chinese - as indeed it is for English. A typical illustration for the problem is a modern Chinese word like 合身 "fitting" which does invite categorisation as a word, but which is comfortably expanded into 合我的身 "fits my body", in which the grammatical relation between 合 and 身 remains the same, but where it becomes clear that the construction is not only syntactic but even syntactically productive. Cases of this kind are so many that one needs to find a systematic way of accounting for them in Chinese, and in this connection it is remarkable that in their very long history of reflection on their own language the Chinese never came anywhere near to inventing a notion of a "word". YANG QINGHUI 1995 gives a convenient but analytically unreliable survey of such phenomena for beginning students of modern Chinese.

• PERSON
  

  1. Shēn 身 regularly refers to the embodied person, as something to be cultivated and corrected, and as something to be morally careful about, but the word is originally widely used to refer to the physical body as such, and this usage continues throughout pre-Buddhist times being at times hard to distinguish from the figurative use discussed in this group. Moreover, the word is very often reflexive.

  2. Qū 軀 is a rare poetic word that can be used to refer to one's embodied person.

  3. Jǐ 己 can occasionally refer to one's own person rather than simply to oneself, but the distinction is not marked and should perhaps be disregarded lexically as being imposed by context only.

  For the concept of personality, see CHARACTER, and particularly the concept of 為人 "constitutive features of someone's character".

  NB: The notion of the personality as something inner and disembodied, only inhabiting a physical as something outward, is alien to ancient Chinese thought. See, however, SOUL, where a number of mentalistic terms are in strict opposition to the physical body. The Chinese words for the person are not in this group.

• LIVE
  

  1. The current standard word for being alive is shēng 生 (ant. sǐ 死 "be dead").

  2. Cún 存 (ant. wáng 亡 ) and zài 在 (ant. mò 沒 / 歿 "go under") refer to continuing in the state of being alive, but the word also refers to continued existence in general.

  3. Huó 活 (ant. sǐ 死 ) specifically refers to the state of being alive when one might have been dead, and strongly connotes not only a failure to die but also the continued existence of life energy.

  4. Mìng 命 refers specifically to one's life-span and not to the content of one's life that might be described in a biography.

  5. Shēn 身 comes to refer to the life one conducts as in xíng shēn 行身 "conduct one's life" (Greek bios), and, and to one's lifespan as in zhōng shēn 終身 "all one's life".

  6. Shòu 壽 (yāo 夭 "short life ended by an unnaturally early death") refers specifically to a lifespan as long as it naturally can be and should be.

• EMBELLISH
  

  1. The current general word for embellishment of anything concrete or abstract is shì 飾.

  2. Rùn 潤 refers to adding lustre and giving something a sumptuous appearance, and the word is always used in literal senses.

  3. Xiū 修 refers to an effort of elevated figurative embellishment and cultivation typically of an abstract kind, as in 修身.

• BODY
  

  [[CONGERIES]]

  1. The general word for the body versus the heart and soul is xíng 形 (ant. xīn 心 ) but note that this word also applies generally to non-human physical shape..

  2. Qū 軀 "physical frame" refers to body as seen from the outside, objectively, not as part of the person, and as constituted by flesh and bones.

  3. Shēn 身 (which also means "person") specifically refers to the main trunk of the body typically excluding head, arms and legs.

  4. Tǐ 體 refers to body as constituted by its various parts, in particular the limbs, and when it refers to the body as a whole the reference is to the posture and carriage of the body.

  5. Zhī 肢 refers specifically to the limbs and cannot be used to refer to other parts of the body at all. See LIMB

  6. Gōng 躬 is an elevated word which can be used to refer to a person as a whole, but also specifically to the body. See PERSON

  7. Xíng tǐ 形體 is the standard current binome for the physical body of both men and animals, including the body after death, among other things as the container of vital energy qì 氣.

  NB: Shī 尸 refers specifically to the dead body. See CORPSE

• PERSONALLY
  

  1. The current word for doing something personally is zì 自 (ant.* rén 人 "others").

  2. Qīn 親 (ant.* jiè 藉 and píng 憑 "via others") emphasises that a person who might have chosen not to condescend to do something personally actually decided to do it, and the word naturally tends to be limited to subjects of a fairly high social status.

  3. Gōng 躬 refers to doing something oneself demonstratively, and the word emphasises the moral responsibility of the agent for what he or she does rather than (like jǐ 己 "he himself, rather than someone else") laying any contrastive stress on the fact that the agent and not someone else engages in the action concerned.

  4. Qiè 竊 is very often used in polite formal discourse to indicate subjectiveness of attitudes that are being submitted to a superior. Thus this word is highly limited in application and somewhat marginal in the group.

  5. Shēn 身 "in person" hovers between an adverbial and a nominal function and is sometimes hard to distinguish from the meaning "himself" classified under SELF, which is common in contrastive in parallelistic constructions.

• MIND
  

  1. The general word for the mental sphere of man is xīn 心 "HEART> mind" (ant. xíng 形 "physical shape, body", tǐ 體 "limbs, body").

  2. Zhì 志 (ant. shēn 身 "body") never refers to the faculty of the will, but is the agency through which man has his highest aspirations in life.

  3. Qì 氣 can be used to refer specifically to the life-sustaining vital biological energies contained in the body as opposed to the phsyical make-up through bones, flesh, sinews, etc, of the body itself.

• SELF
  

  1. The most general-use word referring to oneself is jǐ 己, and this word refers regularly to the highest subject in the whole sentence in which it occurs. In reflexivising object position of a main verb it serves as a "heavy" reflexive pronoun like German "sich selbst", Latin se ipsum.

  2. Zì 自 is preverbal and typically makes any transitive verb it precedes reflexive, when another object is present it refers to an action being performed not by any other subject than the grammatical subject. As a reflexivising pronoun often glossable as 自己把自己 the pronoun has the double function of emphatic subject AND identical object.

  3. Shēn 身 typically refers to the subject in a contrastive way, and the word is often hard to distinguish from the nominal concept of a PERSON. Adverbially, the word is different from PERSONALLY in that it does not connote distinction in the agent.

  4. Gōng 躬 is a fairly rare archaic and idiomatically restricted word referrring to the agent himself.

• TORSO
  

  幹，特指身體的主要部分，即軀幹。

Word relations
• Ant: (SELF)人/OTHER Rén 人 refers indefinitely to other persons, in the singular (someone else) or in the plural (other people), but never as "the other person" or as "the other people." 6 Attributions
• Ant: (BODY)意/THINK1 Attribution
• Object: (PERSON)修 / 脩/CULTIVATE The current general term for cultivating something or refining it is xiū 修 (from Han times onwards sometimes also miswritten as xiū 脩, ant.* màn 慢 "neglect the cultivation of"). 3 Attributions
• Object: (PERSON)全/SAFEGUARD Quán 全 refers specifically to keeping a thing in perfect undiminished shape. 5 Attributions
• Object: (PERSON)治/GOVERN The general word for governing, administering or ordering things is zhì 治, old reading chí. 4 Attributions
• Contrast: (PERSON)形/BODY The general word for the body versus the heart and soul is xíng 形(ant. xīn 心). 6 Attributions
• Contrast: (BODY)力/STRONG The typically nominal or adverbial lì 力 commonly refers to a permanent property of strength.. 1 Attribution
• Contrast: (SELF)形/BODY The general word for the body versus the heart and soul is xíng 形(ant. xīn 心). 1 Attribution
• Contrast: (PERSON)心/MIND The general word for the mental sphere of man is xīn 心 "HEART> mind" (ant. xíng 形 "physical shape, body", tǐ 體 "limbs, body"). 1 Attribution
• Contrast: (PERSON)志/ASPIRATION The general term for an aspiration is zhì 志 and verbally zhì yú 志於 "aspire to", and this term always refers to life-long highest aim. [GENERAL]; [[COMMON]] 2 Attributions
• Contrast: (PERSON)生/LIVE The current standard word for being alive is shēng 生 (ant. sǐ 死 "be dead"). 2 Attributions
• Contrast: (SELF)生/LIVE The current standard word for being alive is shēng 生 (ant. sǐ 死 "be dead"). 1 Attribution
• Contrast: (SELF)親/PERSONALLY Qīn 親 (ant.* jiè 藉 and píng 憑 "via others") emphasises that a person who might have chosen not to condescend to do something personally actually decided to do it, and the word naturally tends to be limited to subjects of a fairly high social status. 1 Attribution
• Contrast: (BODY)骸/BODY1 Attribution
• Contrast: (PERSON)體/BODY Tǐ 體 refers to body as constituted by its various parts, in particular the limbs, and when it refers to the body as a whole the reference is to the posture and carriage of the body. 2 Attributions
• Contrast: (BODY)筋骨/BODY
• Contrast: (PERSON)軀/BODY Qū 軀 "physical frame" refers to body as seen from the outside, objectively, not as part of the person, and as constituted by flesh and bones. 2 Attributions
• Assoc: (BODY)體/BODY Tǐ 體 refers to body as constituted by its various parts, in particular the limbs, and when it refers to the body as a whole the reference is to the posture and carriage of the body. 3 Attributions
• Oppos: (SELF)國/STATE The dominant word is guó 國, and the word naturally focusses on the capital which defines the identity of the state, but from Warring States times the word does refer to the whole of the territory, as the term guó xiāo 國削 "the state was truncated" shows. 25 Attributions
• Oppos: (PERSON)事/WORK Shì 事 (ant. xián 閒 "be at leisure") refers primarily to an official or regular working effort made on behalf of and in the service of an employer or a ruler. 1 Attribution
• Oppos: (PERSON)位/RANK Wèi 位 and the rarer liè 列 typically refer to relatively elevated official ranks only. 1 Attribution
• Oppos: (BODY)名/NAME The current general word for a name is míng 名 (ant. shí 實 "reality"). 1 Attribution
• Oppos: (PERSON)名/WELL-KNOWN The dominant general term for any kind of reputation, god or bad, is míng 名. 2 Attributions
• Oppos: (SELF)君/RULER Jūn 君 (ant. chén 臣 "minister") refers specifically to someone who is politically or administratively in charge of others as a ruler. 1 Attribution
• Oppos: (PERSON)國/STATE The dominant word is guó 國, and the word naturally focusses on the capital which defines the identity of the state, but from Warring States times the word does refer to the whole of the territory, as the term guó xiāo 國削 "the state was truncated" shows. 4 Attributions
• Oppos: (SELF)壽/LIVE Shòu 壽 (yāo 夭 "short life ended by an unnaturally early death") refers specifically to a lifespan as long as it naturally can be and should be. 1 Attribution
• Oppos: (SELF)妻/WIFE Qī 妻 (ant. fū 夫 "husband") refers to the regular main wife. 2 Attributions
• Oppos: (PERSON)家/FAMILY The current dominant word is jiā 家 which refers to a whole household, including men, domestic animals and utensils as well as the whole clan system that defines its lineage affiliation. 2 Attributions
• Oppos: (SELF)家/FAMILY The current dominant word is jiā 家 which refers to a whole household, including men, domestic animals and utensils as well as the whole clan system that defines its lineage affiliation. 9 Attributions
• Oppos: (BODY)心/MIND The general word for the mental sphere of man is xīn 心 "HEART> mind" (ant. xíng 形 "physical shape, body", tǐ 體 "limbs, body"). 13 Attributions
• Oppos: (EGO)意/THINK2 Attributions
• Oppos: (PERSONALLY)施/DISTRIBUTE Shī 施 is to give away to a general group of recipients, and as an act of generosity.
• Oppos: (SELF)民/PEOPLE The dominant current general word for the people is mín 民 (ant. jūn 君 "ruler"), and this term refers to the people particularly insofar as they are ruled by a ruler or belong to a state. 3 Attributions
• Oppos: (PERSON)物/THING The current standard word for any physical or non-physical object or creature is wù 物.　GUODIAN 158 凡見者謂之物 2 Attributions
• Oppos: (BODY)神/SOUL Shén 神 is primarily a subtle physical substance which gives man his spiritual dimension (ant. xíng 形 "body")), and the body xíngtǐ 形體 is the abode shè 舍 of the soul. 1 Attribution
• Oppos: (PERSON)祿/SALARY The general word for apanages, emoluments or salaries received by any person of high status is lù 祿. 4 Attributions
• Oppos: (BODY)聲/VOICE1 Attribution
• Oppos: (PERSON)行/ACT The current general word for any deliberate action one may be held morally and/or administratively responsible for is xíng 行 (ant. zhǐ 止 "decide not to take action"). The nominal entries have the old reading xìng. [COMMENDATORY!], [GENERAL], [HABITUAL], [RESPONSIBLE] 11 Attributions
• Oppos: (SELF)言/SPEAK Yán 言 is to speak up, propose, typically in public, and on one's own initiative, to maintain something, and the word can indroduce direct speech as well as occasionally very limited indirect speech. 1 Attribution
• Oppos: (SELF)軍/ARMY Jūn 軍 is a complete army as a unit, from Spring and Autumn times onwards, normally attached to an army camp. Complete parts of an army are always jūn 軍, rarely shī 師. Hence the expressions sān jūn 三軍, zhōng jūn 中軍, shàng jūn 上軍, xià jūn 下軍. An army is counted by the number of jūn 軍 in it, where each jūn 軍 is said to be 10 000 men, at least in the Qi system. Systems have varied in different states. For detals of the early history see the monograph by KOLB. [IMPERSONAL], [LARGE], [OFFICIAL] 2 Attributions
• Oppos: (PERSON)道/METHOD Dào 道 is a way of being, of functioning, as well as a way of doing things, and this Way may be either exoteric or esoteric. 2 Attributions
• Oppos: (BODY)魂/SOUL Hún 魂 "male soul which returns to Heaven at death" and pò 魄 "female soul which returns to Earth at death" (all ant. xíng 形 "body") inhabit man in the general mode of spiritual possession. 1 Attribution
• Oppos: (SELF)他人/OTHER2 Attributions
• Oppos: (SELF)國家/NATION The current standard word for the nation as represented by the leading families, and opposed to the state as mere territory and inhabitants, is guó jiā 國家. 1 Attribution
• Oppos: (PERSON)天下/WORLD The current term for the inhabited earth is tiān xià 天下 "All under Heaven", the Greek oikoumenē. 7 Attributions
• Oppos: (SELF)天下/ALL Tiān xià 天下 is a quantifying noun phrase that refers universally to all mankind. >>NOMINAL; COLLECTIVE 5 Attributions
• Oppos: (SELF)支屬/FAMILY1 Attribution
• Oppos: (SELF)社稷/NATION Shè jì 社稷 refers to the altars of the land and grain as symbols of the nation. 2 Attributions
• Oppos: (BODY)精神/SOUL1 Attribution
• Oppos: (PERSON)功/MERIT The current general word for achievements of any kind is gōng 功. 1 Attribution
• Oppos: (PERSON)貨/PROPERTY Huò 貨 refers to property, particularly precious metals or jade etc, insofar as these may be traded or is considered as being a possible object for trading. 1 Attribution
• Oppos: (SELF)邦/STATE Bāng 邦 is an area-orientated old word referring to an extended state without emphasising the leading role of a capital in that state, and the word was increasingly replaced by guó 國 even before taboo rules related to the name of Liú Bāng had their impact. 1 Attribution
• Oppos: (BODY)首/HEAD The standard word for the head is shǒu 首. 2 Attributions
• Oppos: (PERSON)體/BODY Tǐ 體 refers to body as constituted by its various parts, in particular the limbs, and when it refers to the body as a whole the reference is to the posture and carriage of the body.
• Oppos: (BODY)魂魄/SOUL1 Attribution
• Oppos: (EGO)天下/STATE Tiān xià 天下 refers to the inhabited earth construed as dominated by the emperor or Son of Heaven. (NOTE THAT THE EMPIRE OF CHINA WAS NOT REGARDED AS A STATE.) 1 Attribution