Taxonomy of meanings for 頌:　　

Additional information about 頌

說文解字: 【頌】，皃也。从頁、公聲。 【似用切，又余封切】 【𩔜】，籒文。

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.

• 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.

• SCOLD
  

  1. The current general word for scolding someone or swearing at someone is lì 詈 (ant. yú 諛 "speak to in an obsequious way").

  2. Mà 罵 (ant. chǎn 諂 "speak to in a flattering way") refers to venting one's anger with someone through language, but without necessarily being in the immediate physical vicinity of the object of one's abuse.

  3. Chì 叱 and the hē 呵 are colloquial words for swearing or venting one's anger to the face of the object of one's abuse.

  4. Dǐ 詆 (ant. sòng 頌 "sing the praises of") focusses not so much on the venting of anger but on the function of insulting and offending the person scolded.

  5. Gòu 詬 (ant. zàn 讚 "praise publicly") adds to the swearing and scolding strong overtones of public insult.

Word relations
• Contrast: (PRAISE)表/SHOW Biǎo 表 refers to making something publicly visible, by publishing or by display.
• Contrast: (PRAISE)褒/PRAISE Bāo 褒 (ant. biǎn 貶 "make derogatory remarks about") refers to a person with a certain authority passing a positive judgment on someone.
• Contrast: (CHANT)讀/READ The general word for reading (which was probably never silent reading in pre-Buddhist China) was dú 讀. NB: reciting texts for oneself was a way of studying these, so that by Han times the word sometimes came close to meaning "study". 1 Attribution
• Synon: (PRAISE)稱/PRAISE Chēng 稱 (ant. bang 謗"speak ill of behind his back") refers to "honourable mentioning" in public contexts and favourable public assessment of someone.