Taxonomy of meanings for 鑒:　　

  • 鑒 jiàn (OC: kraams MC: kɯam) 格懺切 去 廣韻：【同鑑 】
    • INTELLIGENT
      • nabpsychfaculty of discrimination and understanding things
    • LOOK
      • vt+prep+Nlook at something for instruction, look at something in order to learn from it; take one's lessons from
      • vtoNlook at in order to learn from
    • MIRROR
      • nSHU: mirror (also used abstractly)
      • nfigurativeinstructive example from which to learn as in a mirror
      • vt(oN)omto reflect (a contextually defined N) in mirror, to mirror
      • nadVin the mirror
      • vtt(oN1.)+prep+N2mirror the contextually determinate N1 in N2
      • npost-Nfigurativemirror of NCH
      • nab.post-Nfigurativetrue reflector of, true appreciator ofCH
    • WATER VESSEL
      • nlarge water basin for general use
    • LEARN
      • BRIGHT
        • LITERARY GENRE
          • SURNAMES

            Additional information about 鑒

            說文解字:

              Criteria
            • MIRROR

              1. The current general word for a mirror is jìng 鏡. [The word is known since the Warring States. Mirrors for the first time appeared in Central China in Shang times, but became no common prior to the Warring States period. Ancient Chinese mirrors were made of bronze, they were of round shape with a button in the centre to hang it up, and their one side was richly decorated.

              2. Jiàn 鑒 originally referred to a sheet of copper placed under water to obtain a mirroring effect, but from Warring States times onwards the word came to be used as synonymous with jìng 鏡. [Note that the original character was jiān 監. I have not found evidence that it referred to a copper sheet, but the term refers also to the bronze water basin which could be used like a mirror. It is supported by the form of the character, which represents a man looking at the vessel. In ZUO the term already refers to a bronze mirror, and since the Warring States, the word came to be used together with jìng 鏡.

              Word relations
            • Assoc: (LOOK)觀/INVESTIGATE
            • Synon: (MIRROR)鏡/MIRROR The current general word for a mirror is jìng 鏡. [The word is known since the Warring States. Mirrors for the first time appeared in Central China in Shang times, but became no common prior to the Warring States period. Ancient Chinese mirrors were made of bronze, they were of round shape with a button in the centre to hang it up, and their one side was richly decorated.