Taxonomy of meanings for 馬:　　

  • mǎ (OC: mraaʔ MC: mɯa) 莫下切 上 廣韻：【説文曰怒也武也象頭髦尾四足之形尚書中候曰稷爲大司馬釋名曰大司馬馬武也大揔武事也亦姓扶風人本自伯益之裔趙奢封馬服君後遂氏焉秦滅趙徙奢孫興於咸陽爲右内史遂爲扶風人又漢複姓五氏漢馬宮本姓馬矢氏功臣表有馬適育溝洫志有諌議大夫乗馬延年何氏姓苑云今西陽人孔子弟子有巫馬期風俗通有白馬氏莫下切七 】
    • HORSE
      • nchorse (said to resemble a deer, which goes to show that the horse was more like a pony)
      • nadNhorse- 馬屎; for horses 馬食
      • nadVreference=objectlike a horse
      • npost-Vhorse characterised by the feature VDS

    Additional information about 馬

    說文解字: 【馬】，怒也。武也。象馬頭髦尾四足之形。凡馬之屬皆从馬。 【莫下切】 【𢒠(𢒧)】，古文。 【𢒠(𢒧)】，籒文馬。與𢒠同有髦。

      Criteria
    • PHILOSOPHY

      1. Xué 學 can refer to the systematic study of the fundamentals of life, which is typically taken to involve the emulation of a master.

      2. Jiā 家 can refer to the bibliographic classification of philosophical lineage or school of thought, especially from Han times onwards, as in the six schools (liù jiā 六家 ) of "philosophy" discussed by the father of Chinese historiography, Sīmǎ Tán 司馬談.

      2. Dàoxué 道學 can refer to the pursuit of Taoist or Confucian philosophy (but the term also refers to the pursuit of Taoist religious practices) from Tang times onwards.

    • PISSPOT

      1. There was no pissoir in ancient China. The hǔ zǐ 虎子 was a colloquial term for a tiger-shape flask into which to urinate in one's bedroom.

      NB: Terms like mǎtǒng 馬桶 and mǎzǐ 馬子 as well as biànhú 便壺 are all late.

    • TURN BACK

      The standard word for changing direction and turning to one side is huán 還. 馬還 "the horses turn round" contrasts with tuì 退 "withdraw" in that there is no focus on the turning round in tui 退, and no ultimate aim of the withdrawal is envisaged.

      [THIS NEEDS CAREFUL ANALYSIS AND REVISION]

    • MEET

      1. The current general word for meeting someone by coincidence is yù 遇, and going to meet someone is jiàn 見.

      2. Huì 會 refers to an arranged meeting, usually between more than two persons.

      3. Zāo 遭 refers to being exposed to something or running into someone, and the focus is on the fact that the encounter is generally hostile ( 遭宋司馬，將要而殺之 "ran into the Marshal of Sòng and wanted to kill him").

      4. Féng 逢 seems to be a dialect word for encountering something, but in early times this word has a much more limited range of syntactic functions, while from Han times it tended to replace yù 遇 as the standard word for encountering a person, later to be replaced in colloquial Chinese by its cognate pèng 碰.

      5. Chù 觸 is occasionally used to refer to someone bumping into someone else.

    • MONEY

      1. Probably the most current term for money is qián 錢, but the word became current only in Han times. The word originally referred to the agricultural implement similar to or identical with bù 布 (see below). In the Warring States period, the term was together with bù 布 used for spade-like coins. Later, it began to refer to round money casted by the Qin dynasty, and in Han times it became a current general word for money.

      2. Bì 幣 referred originally to the silk which could be used for sacrifice or as a gift. In the Warring States period, the term refer to precious things (jades, horses) often used as a gift. In Han times, the word was used like a general term for money.

      3. Dāo bù 刀布 could be used like a general term for money in the Warring States period.

      4. Bù 布 refers to the bronze coins cast in the shape of bù 布 (spade-like implement in ancient China). The earliest exemplars (of remarkably large size and with hollow handle) are known from the states of Jin and Zhou and dates from the end of the sixth century B.C.. During the following Warring States period, this type of coin (usually with a flat handle) was in use particularly in the states of Wei, Han and Zhao, but also in Chu. The coins were usually inscribed with the name of a state or city where they were cast. After Qin unification, bù 布 came out of use, but they were revived for a short time during the reign of the Wang Mang's Xin dynasty.

      5. Dāo 刀 refers to the bronze knife-like coins. They came into use slightly later than bù 布 coins, and were cast particularly in the eastern states of Yan, Qi, but also Zhao. Some exemplars survived till the early Han dynasty; later, shape-like coins were revived for two years (7 - 9 A.D.) by Wang Mang. These knife-like coins from the end of the Western Han dynasty were called cuò dāo 錯刀.

      6. Bèi 貝 originally referred to the cauri shells which were in Shang and Western Zhou times used like primitive money or like a gift. For this purpose, they were joined to péng 朋, consisting of two strings of shells, five pieces each. In the Warring States period, the word also referred to the bronze coins in the shape of cauri which were in use in the state of Chu.

      7. Huán 圜 refers to the round coin with a square hole in a centre which was cast by the states of Qin and Zhou. After Qin unification, it became general currency for a whole empire.

      8. Yuán 爰 refers to the rectangular pieces of gold which were used like money in the state of Chu. It is the earliest golden currency in China.

      9. Bàn liǎng 半兩 refers to the round coin with a central square hole which was for the first time cast by the state of Qin in the late Warring States period and which was then in use till the second half of the second century B.C.. The coin should weight half of liǎng 兩 (i.e. 12 zhū 銖 ), and this weight was recorded in an inscription on the coin; hence the name. In fact, coins of this type known from Qin and early Han times are of very various height; in early Han times, most current were coins weighting four zhu 銖.

      10. Wǔ zhū 五銖 refers to a round coin with a square hole weighting five zhū 銖 which was for the first time cast under Emperor Wudi in 118 B.C. and was then in use during the whole Han dynasty (with a short break about the time of Wang Mang's reign).

      11. Mǎ tí 馬蹄, lù tí 鹿蹄, huán tí 圜蹄, and lín zhǐ 麟趾 are various terms referring to the pieces of gold formed into the shape of horse's, deer's, or qí lín's 麒麟 hoof. This kind of currency was in use under the Han dynasty.

      12. Dà quán 大泉, xiǎo quán 小泉, zhuāng quán 壯泉, xuán quán 玄泉 are all round coins of various size dating from Wang Mang's reign.

      13. Pí bì 皮幣 refers to the money made of deer skin which were in use in the reign of Emperor Wudi (141 - 87 B.C.).

    • OFFICER

      1. Jūn zǐ 君子 (xiǎo rén 小人 "soldier of lower rank") refers generically to the higher grades in the army.

      2. Kuí 魁 is a powerful personality who happens, on account of his power, to obtain military command over an army.

      3. Sīmǎ 司馬 refers to a very senior military official in the bureaucracy of the capital of a state.

      4. tài wèi 太尉 corresponds roughly to the Minister of Defense in the Qin and Han bureaucracy.

      5. Dū weì 都尉 is a senior military official in the Han bureaucracy.

      NB: For official military titles see XXX.

    • SLAVE

      1. The standard general word for a dependent low-status servant or slave is nú 奴, and this word became quite currrent in Han times.

      2. Yì 役 tends to focus on the hard labour involved.

      3. Lǔ 虜 focusses prototypically on the prisoner-origins of a slave.

      4. Lì 隸 refers to slaves in an administrative bureaucratic way, and prototypically these menial workers are in public employment, being thus of higher status than mere shepherds or stable-boys in the countryside.

      5. Zānghuò 臧獲 is the standard exampe of the name of a slave.

      Slavery and servant-hood not always easy to distinguish, and this is for very interesting social reasons. A scheme for the place of menials in the status system is systematised in a crucial ZUO Zhao 7 passage:

      故王臣公，公臣大夫，大夫臣士，士臣皁，皁臣輿，輿臣隸，隸臣僚，僚臣僕，僕臣臺。

      馬有圉，牛有牧，

    • HORSE

      1. The dominant word for a horse is mǎ 馬.

      2. Jì 驥 refers to a fast steed.

      3. Jùn 駿 refers to a stallion of outstanding talents.

      4. Qí 騏 refers to a fine horse of any kind.

      5. Nú 駑 is the standard word for an inferior horse, a stag.

      6. Tái 駘 is a rarer word for an inferior kind of horse which it is dangerous to use.

      NB: There is a rich variety of terms for all manner of horses in Ěryǎ 爾雅, but this terminology is not widely employed in the literature.

    • TOOTH

      1. Chǐ 齒 refers to the visible front teeth, thus when one smiles one shows one's chǐ 齒, xiàn chǐ 見齒, and only if one were vampire-like would one show any yá 牙. Chǐ 齒 does not typically refer to the teeth as weapons of aggressive action. The teeth by which one judges age are always chǐ 齒, and the teeth with which one commonly chews tend quite as often to be chǐ 齒. The front teeth that get cold when the lips are gone, are chǐ 齒 in classical Chinese, and they are not seen in that common saying as aggressive weapons. The admirable white teeth of a lady are the chǐ 齒, only in the case of vampires yá 牙. We have goǔ yá 狗牙 but mǎ chí 馬齒. One grinds one's chǐ 齒, 切齒, not one's yá 牙. The first teeth of a child are never yá 牙 and regularly chǐ 齒, and similarly for the teeth that an old man loses, when chǐ duò 齒墮 "the teeth fall out". Interestingly, the elephant has chǐ 齒, never yá 牙, presumably because these tusks were taken to be a threat to his own survival, not to man.

      2. Yá 牙 can occasionally generally refer to teeth, even the exquisite teeth of a woman, but the word typically refers to the large side teeth or fangs of an animal with which it bites, and which are seen as a threat. The threatening teeth of an animal, the teeth with which a rat attacks one's home, are yá 牙. Thus one speaks of the zhuǎ yá 爪牙 "the claws and fangs" as metaphors for weapons. Theses are sharp like fangs, and as such they lend themselves to metaphorical use to indicate dented patterns in ornaments.

      Word relations
    • Object: (HORSE)放/RELEASE Fàng 放 (ant. liǎn 斂 "exert a moderating influence on") refers to a removal of constraints on animals or persons, causing these to follow their natural instincts.
    • Object: (HORSE)服/TAME Fú 服 "submit" (ant. jiàng 強 "headstrong") is sometimes used referring to animals becoming or being tame.
    • Object: (HORSE)牽 / 牽/PULL Qiān 牽 refers to pulling and leading something in a desired direction.
    • Epithet: (HORSE)肥/FAT The current general word for sleekness or obesity is féi 肥 (ant. qū 臞 "emaciated", jí 瘠 "thin") , and it must be noted that the term has positive connotations in ancient China.
    • Epithet: (HORSE)良/EXCELLENT The standard current general word for anything or anyone who naturally meets certain generally accepted high standards of excellence is liáng 良 (ant. liè 劣 "inferior").
    • Epithet: (HORSE)走/QUICK
    • Epithet: (HORSE)戎/WARFARE Róng 戎 refers to military service or military action.
    • Epithet: (HORSE)馯/WILD
    • Contrast: (HORSE)牛/BOVINE The current general word for bovines of any kind is niú 牛.
    • Contrast: (HORSE)人/HUMAN The dominant term is rén 人 which refers to any human.
    • Assoc: (HORSE)牛/BOVINE The current general word for bovines of any kind is niú 牛.
    • Assoc: (HORSE)犬/DOG The current general literary word for a dog is quǎn 犬.
    • Assoc: (HORSE)狗/DOG Gǒu 狗is a colloquial word for a dog (according to some early commentators a small dog, and it is plausible that the colloquial word may have referred to the small dog in particular).
    • Assoc: (HORSE)子女/GIRL Zǐ nǚ 子女 refers to post-puberty girls often used as gifts or as bribes.