Taxonomy of meanings for 靜:　　

Additional information about 靜

說文解字:

Criteria
• MOVE
  

  1. The current general word for movement of any kind, psychological as well as physical, is dòng 動 (ant. jìng 靜 "remain still").

  2. Yí 移 (ant. dìng 定 "fixed, unoved") refers to any temporary or lasting dislocation to a new place.

  3. Xǐ 徙 (ant. liú 留 "stay put") refers to moving permanently, often but not necessarily over a long distance.

  4. Qiān 遷 (liú 留 ("stay put") refers to moving and/or changing permanently, and particularly moving radically, or over a long distance, and the word often refers to dignified or someohow sanctioned movement.

• PEACEFUL
  

  1. The dominant general word for peacefulness is ān 安 (wēi 危 "in imminent danger"), but in addition the word also often has considerable philosophical depth and commonly refers to a deep state of unruffled inner serenity in harmony with the outer world.

  2. Píng 平 (ant. luàn 亂 "chaos") is prototypically an unruffled smooth surface, and the word refers to a state of harmonious tranquility, particularly in a community of people.

  3. Níng 寧 (ant. yáng 殃 "a totally disastrous state") refers to a state of affairs, primarily in a community of people, where disturbances have ceased.

  4. Yì 佚 / 逸 (ant. láo 勞 "engaged in exhausting effort") refers to restful peace of mind, typically after effort.

  5. Tián 恬 and dàn 淡 (all ant. dòng dàng 動蕩 "be all over the place) refer to serenity in an individual as cultivated, notoriously, by the Taoists.

  6. Jìng 靜 (ant. zào 躁 "flurried), is a state of mind in which one refuses to be rushed into any action and is fully at ease.

  7. Tài 泰 (all ant. jí 急 "be off balance or in urgent need of something, be in a critical state") and yí 夷 (ant. jīng 驚 "be upset") refers to relaxation, the state of being détendu.

• WORRY
  

  1. The current general term for all sorts of troubled states of mind, as well as reasons for such states of mind, is yōu 憂 (ant. xǐ 喜 "be well pleased" and lè 樂 "feel deep joy"), and this word may freely refer to troublesome matters of the present or of the future, and the word typiccally refers to a termporary state of hightened awareness of what is troublesome and concern about what should be done about it.

  2. Lu �慮 (ant. wàng 忘 "refuse to think about, ignore") refers to active reflection upon what one is worried about.

  3. Fán 煩 (ant. jìng 靜 "feel completely at peace") refers to a passive reaction of unsettled anxiousness about something other than oneself.

  4. Zào 躁 (ant. dìng 定 "be well-settled and unruffled") refers to the state of being flustered, restless and upset by worries.

  5. Jí 急 (ant. ān 安 "feel comfortable") refers to urgent and particularly acute temporary worries about something present or immediately imminent.

  6. Jí 疾 (ant. níng 寧 "feel at peace") refers to intense and profound worries about something present (and these worries may or may not be lasting).

  7. Huàn 患 (ant. lè 樂 "feel deeply happy with") refers to intense worry or concern about the possible future effects of something or the possibility of events in the future.

  8. Āi 哀 (ant. lè 樂 "feel perfectly happy with"), when it refers to intense worry rather than grief, connotes despondency and hopelessness and not just worry over possibilities.

  9. Chóu 愁 (ant. yuè 說／悅 "feel pleased"), and the rarer poetic sāo 騷, qiǎo 悄, tì 惕 refer to various shades and degrees of poetically conceived anxiousness.

  10. Shì 事 (ant. zhì 治 "well-ordered situation") can refer to the kinds of matters or affairs that cause one to be anxious or worried.

• SILENCE
  

  1. The current word for the failure of humans to speak where they might be expected to speak is mò 默 (ant. yán 言 "speak up").

  2. Jìng 靜 (ant. xiāo 囂 "noisy") is a strongly positively loaded term which refers with approval to the pleasing absence of sound in a natural environment and does not refer to the failure of humans to produce sounds or speak.

  3. Jì 寂 (ant. xī rang 熙嚷 "be busy and noisy") is a negatively laden term describing the absence of sound as something making a place desolate.

• ACT
  

  [AD-HOC/SYSTEMATIC]

  [AIMLESS/PURPOSEFUL]

  [ARTIFICIAL/NATURAL]

  [BASE/NOBLE]

  [BASIC/MARGINAL]

  [COMMENDATORY/DEROGATORY]

  [CONATIVE/PERFECTIVE]

  [DELIBERATE/INVOLUNTARY]

  [GENERAL/SPECIFIC]

  [HABITUAL/OCCASIONAL]

  [HUMBLE/NOBLE]

  [PHYSICAL/MENTAL]

  [PRESCRIBED/SPONTANEOUS]

  [PRIVATE/PUBLIC]

  [RESPONSIBLE/UNACCOUNTABLE]

  1. The current general word for any deliberate behaviour one may be held morally and/or administratively responsible for is xíng 行 (ant. zhǐ 止 "decide not to take action"), and this conduct is typically one engaged in on someone else's behalf.

  [COMMENDATORY!], [GENERAL], [HABITUAL], [PHYSICAL], [RESPONSIBLE]

  2. Wéi 為 (ant. wú wéi 無為 "not engage in purposeful and result-orientated self-assertive action") focusses not on the act itself but primarily on the results achieved or aimed for.

  [OCCASIONAL], [PURPOSEFUL]

  3. Jū 居, when used in this meaning, focusses not on the results of one's actions, or on the effect of one's actions on others, but on the moral character of one's behaviour as such.

  [HABITUAL], [RESPONSIBLE], [SYSTEMATIC]

  4. Shì 事 (ant.* xián 閒 "take it easy") primarily focusses on action as part of the fulfilment of a duty imposed by one's station in life or a task one has set oneself.

  [PRESCRIBED], [PUBLIC!], [RESPONSIBLE]

  5. Gōng 躬 (ant.* shǐ rén 使人 "get others to...") focusses on a person of considerable social status engaging personally in a (typically public) action. See SELF.

  [MARGINAL], [NOBLE], [OCCASIONAL], [PUBLIC!]

  6. Wěi 偽 (ant. tiān 天 "natural") refers to artificial or faked human action. See PRETEND.

  [ARTIFICIAL], [DEROGATORY!]

  7. Dòng 動 (ant. jìng 靜 "decide to remain inactive") typically refers to spontaneous purposeful action and focusses almost philosophically on the autonomous decision of the agent to act.

  [OCCASIONAL], [DELIBERATE]

  8. Zuò 作 (ant. xí 息 "fail to take the initiative, fail to become active") refers to the taking of an initiative for an action which would not have occurred without such a deliberate initiative, and the word is naturally associated with the notion of creativity.

  SPONTANEOUS, OCCASIONAL, PERFECTIVE

  9. Jǔ 舉 refers specifically to the undertaking of a well-considered major act, particularly as part of a political strategy.

  [DELIBERATE], [PURPOSEFUL], [RESPONSIBLE]

  NB: Fēng 風 refers rather generally and abstractly to a person's or a group's way or pattern of behaviour, and the word is usually used as a noun. See CUSTOM

  10. Jiā 加 typically refers to action insofar as it affects others.

  11. Xí 習 refers to the habitual repeated practice of something in order to achieve proficiency in the kind of action concerned.

• INACTIVE
  

  1. The standard general word for remaining inactive is jìng 靜 (ant. dòng 動 "take an initiative")

  2. Wú wéi 無為 (ant. yǒu suǒ wéi 有所為 "engage in assertive action") is a technical philosophical term referring to the refusal to take assertive action.

Word relations
• Ant: (INACTIVE)動/MOVE The current general word for movement of any kind, psychological as well as physical, is dòng 動 (ant. jìng 靜 "remain still"). 6 Attributions
• Ant: (PEACEFUL)躁/HURRY Zào 躁 is to be rushed and flurried. 2 Attributions
• Ant: (PEACEFUL)亂/CONFUSED Luàn 亂 refers to a chaotic state of mind. 1 Attribution
• Contrast: (PEACEFUL)定/PEACEFUL1 Attribution
• Assoc: (PEACEFUL)安/PEACEFUL The dominant general word for peacefulness is ān 安 (wēi 危 "in imminent danger"), but in addition the word also often has considerable philosophical depth and commonly refers to a deep state of unruffled inner serenity in harmony with the outer world.
• Assoc: (INACTIVE)虛/EMPTY The most geneal word is xū 虛 (ant. shí 實 "substantial and full") which can refer both to physical emptiness of a space and to abstract emptiness or tenuousness as a philosophical concept. 2 Attributions
• Assoc: (PEACEFUL)退/PEACEFUL1 Attribution