Taxonomy of meanings for 辟:　　

Additional information about 辟

說文解字: 【辟】，法也。从卪、从辛，節制其辠也；从口，用法者也。 〔小徐本「辛」上無「从」。〕 凡辟之屬皆从辟。 【必益切】

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.

• LAW
  

  1. The current general word for a law, a legal system or any legal provision of any kind is fǎ 法.

  2. Lu �律 is far more specialised as a specific term referring to concrete and detailed regulations rather than a legal system as a whole, and the word is also syntactically much less flexible. Thus we have 先王之法 and not 先王之律.

  The complexities of legal terminology can be preliminarily summarised as follows:

  A. The rule may be explicit (chéng 程, diǎn 典, fǎ 法, hào 號, lu �律 ); or it may be primarily conventional (cháng 常, jì 紀, jīng 經, zhì 制 ).

  B. The rule may be conceived as temporary (lìng 令, dù 度, chéng 程, hào 號 ); or it may be conceived as permanent and unchangeable (cháng 常, diǎn 典, jì 紀, jīng 經 ); or it may be conceived as long-term but clearly changeable (fǎ 法, lu �律, xiàn 憲, zhāng 章, zhì 制 ).

  C. The rules may concern legal and economic administration (chéng 程, diǎn 典, dù 度, lu �律, xiàn 憲, zhāng 章, zhì 制, and occasionally fǎ 法 ); or they may concern prohibitions of criminal conduct (fǎ 法, pì 辟, xíng 刑 ); or they may be general moral guidelines on conduct (cháng 常, hào 號, lìng 令, jì 紀 ).

  D. The focus may be on the written documents containing the rules as such (diǎn 典, xiàn 憲, zhāng 章 ); or the focus may be on the content of the rules (cháng 常, chéng 程, dù 度, lìng 令, zhì 制 ); or the primary focus may be on oral promulgation of the rule (hào 號 ).

  E. The rules may be regarded as a collective system (cháng 常, jì 紀, jīng 經, zhì 制 ); or they may be conceived as individual legal prescriptions (all others).

• MYTHICAL ANIMALS
  

  1. Sìlíng 四靈 is a general term for four supernational creatures: dragon lóng 龍, tiger hǔ 虎, phoenix fènghuáng 風凰, and turtle guī 龜. The main source for names of various mythical creatures is the SHJ, with its splendid illustrations.

  2. Lóng 龍 is the most divine of all mythical animals. The dragon brings a happiness and good fortune, and an emperor is viewed as its embodiment.

  3. Jiāo 蛟 is a flood dragon, a mythical creature capable of invoking storms and floods. Also written 鮫.

  4. Shé 蛇 (snake) was worshipped in ancient times. The supernational creature of the north, xuánwǔ 玄武 is depicted as a turtle with a snake, and creators of humankind, Fúxī 伏羲 and Nǚwā 女媧 have both snake tails. The dragon was often viewed as a kind of snake.

  5. Guī 龜 (turtle) is one of the four supernatural creatures. It symbolizes a longevity and good fortune. The turtle was often used in divination and sacrifices, and its images appears as a base of the stelae.

  6. Fènghuáng 風凰 (phoenix) is one of the four supernatural creations, the most elevated of all birds. It symbolizes happiness, good omen, and peace.

  7. Qílín 麒麟 (mythical unicorn) is one of the four supernatural creations. It is a symbol of an extreme humanity of a king or emperor, as well as good fortune and a peace.

  8. Bìxié 辟邪 is a mythical animal resembling a deer with two long horns and a long tail which can expel evil influences.

• PUNISH
  

  1. The general word for punishment is wú xíng 五刑, traditionally in SHU, LYUXING listed as "dà pí 大辟 "decapitation", yuè 刖 "mutilation of foot", yì 劓, gōng 宮 "castration", mò 墨 "branding". The list varied through time and is different in different sources.

  2. Xíng 刑 refers specifically to physical punishment.

  3. Fá 罰 refers to non-physical forms of punishment including typically fines. See FINE

  4. Yù 獄 can be used to refer to any kind of punitive action taken against criminals.

  5. Fǎ 法 can occasionally be used, mainly in early texts, to refer not to criminal law but to the application of such laws to criminals.

  6. Zuò 坐 refers to a condemned person being held responsible for a criminal act and being punished. See CONDEMN

  7. Tǎo 討 is a moralistic term referring to a momentous act of punishment in the name of justice, and the meaning often vascillates between ATTACK and PUNISH, when the reference is a punitive attack. See ATTACK

• CASTRATE
  

  1. Gōng 宮 is the standard word referring to castration.

  2. Gōng bì 宮辟 refers specifically to castration as punishment.

• EXECUTE
  

  1. The current general term for legal execution of a person condemned to death is zhū 誅.

  2. Lù 戮 refers to public and often even summary execution.

  3. Sì 肆 and xùn 徇 refer to public execution followed by exposure of the body to public view, with the focus on the latter.

  4. Zú 族 refers to legal execution of the whole clan of a culprit.

  5. Dà pì 大辟 is the bureaucratic legal term for capital punishment.

  6. Qì shì 棄市 refers to public execution in the market place.

  7. Jiǎo 絞 "strangulation"

  8. Pēng 烹 "boiling alive"

  9. Fēn chǐ 分胣 "cutting up and disembowelling"

  10. Kēng 坑 "burying alive"

  11. Chē liè 車列 "tearing apart between two vehicles"

  12. Zhī jiě 肢解 "dismembering"

  13. Fǔ 脯 "cutting into slices"

  14. Hǎi 醢 "cutting into small pieces"

  15. Zū 菹 "making into minced meat". See also BEHEAD.

• SPLIT
  

  1. The most general word referring to the action of splitting things into several parts is pǒu 剖, and when the dividing is distinctly into two parts the current word is pàn 判 (ant.** bìng 併 "fit together").

  2. Pī 劈 / 辟 as well as the archaic s � 1 斯 refer to a violent act of cleaving or hacking to pieces.

  3. Liè 裂 refers to any process which results in the cleaving of an object and focusses on that result rather than the process itself.

  4.. Pī 披 is to split open without necessarily dividing the object of splitting into two separate parts.

  5. Xī 析 is a mild act of dividing a thing, typically into its proper constituent parts, or separating off constituent parts (often for analysis).

Word relations
• Contrast: (WICKED)亂/CHAOS The very dominant word in this group is luàn 亂 (ant. zhì 治 "state of good government, state of good order") which refers to all kinds of reprehensible lack of order. 1 Attribution
• Assoc: (LAW)度/LAW8 Attributions
• Assoc: (LAW)令/LAW6 Attributions
• Assoc: (LAW)制/LAW2 Attributions
• Assoc: (LAW)律/LAW Lǜ 律 is far more specialised as a specific term referring to concrete and detailed regulations rather than a legal system as a whole, and the word is also syntactically much less flexible. Thus we have 先王之法 and not 先王之律. 2 Attributions
• Assoc: (LAW)禁/FORBID The current dominant general word referring to public prohibition is jìn 禁 (ant. quàn 勸 "encourage"). 4 Attributions
• Assoc: (LAW)式/LAW3 Attributions