Additional information about 駿
說文解字: 【駿】，馬之良材者。从馬、夋聲。 【子峻切】
- Criteria
- INCOMPETENT
1. The most current and general word for incompetence is bù xiào 不肖 (ant. xián 賢 "distinguished talent").
2. Nú 駑 (ant. jùn 駿 "talented" and jùn 俊 "talented") refers prototypically to the lack of skills in a horse, but is often used metaphorically to refer to lack of outstanding talent in general. [see INFERIOR]
3. Duǎn 短 (ant. cháng 長 "of some excellence") refers to a distinct shortcoming in the form of a specific point of incompetence.
4. Zhuó 拙 refers - typically in polite discourse to one's own - ineptness. [see STUPID]
- EXCELLENT
1. 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").
2. Shàn 善 (ant. zhuó 拙 "inept"), when the word does not mean moral goodness, but is close in meaning to liáng 良, refers to an acquired specific skill or propensity for certain forms of action.
3. Jīng 精 (of general application) (ant. cū 粗 "of only rough quality") and ruì 銳 (typically applied to military prowess) (ant. dùn 鈍 "of lesser quality") refer to above-average performance without suggestion individual excellence.
4. Yōu 優 (ant. liè 劣 "inferior") and cháng 長 (ant. duǎn 短 "of lesser quality") refers to a distinct advantage in excellence compared with some reference group or some point of reference.
5. Gōng 工 (ant. yú 寙 "fumbling, inept") is to be specialised in something concrete or even professional in an area, typically a craft.
6. Jiā 佳 (ant. xià 下 "inferior in quality") implies manifestly recognised striking excellence regarding such qualities such as beauty or moral cultivation.
7. Měi 美 (ant. è 惡 "of bad quality") when it does not have its standard meaning "beauty" indicates striking or admirable high quality of anything concrete or abstract.
8. Jiā 嘉 (ant. yōng 庸 "mediocre") refers to manifestly recognised striking excellence, typically of an abstract kind.
9. Zhǐ 旨 (ant. báo 薄 "of slight quality") refers specifically to excellence in the quality of wine, and sometimes to other foodstuffs.
10. Jùn 駿 (ant. nú 駑 "miserable hag") refers specifically to excellence in horses, and by extension occasionally serves as metaphoric for outstanding personalities.
- BAD
[ABSOLUTE/GRADED]
[[COMMON/RARE]]
[ELEVATED/INFORMAL]
[GENERAL/SPECIFIC]
[HIGH-DEGREE/LOW-DEGREE]
1. The most general word for what is inferior and not commendable, morally, aesthetically or otherwise, is è 惡 (ant. měi 美 "commendable"), but this word is also used to refer more specifically to wickedness. See WICKED
[GENERAL]
2. Xià 下 (ant. shàng 上 "superior") is a colourless general way of referring to something being inferior to something else (which may or may not be specified) in any sense.
[GRADED]
3. Liè 劣 (ant. yōu 優 "of higher quality") refers quite generally to inferior quality, but the word is not very frequent in pre-Buddhist Chinese.
[HIGH-DEGREE]; [[RARE]]
4. Nú 駑 and the rarer tái 駘 (all ant. jùn 駿 "superior horse") refer specifically to inferior horses, and in a rather pictoresque metaphorical way these terms are sometimes used to refer to men of inferior quality.
[ELEVATED], [SUBJ=HUMAN]; [[RARE]]
- 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.