Taxonomy of meanings for 起:　　

Additional information about 起

說文解字:

Criteria
• LIE DOWN
  

  1. The current general words are wò 臥 (ant. lì 立 "stand up") which can refer to lying in any position, on the side, on the back, or indeed on the stomach, and the purpose of this action is rest or sleep.

  2. Fú 伏 (ant. qǐ 起 "rise") refers specifically to lying face down on the ground, often with the purpose of hiding, never with the purpose of resting.

  3. Yǎn 偃 refers to reclining and lying on one's back, often so as to rest.

  4. Jiā1ng 僵 is said to refer to lying flat on one's back.

  NB: Tǎng 躺 "lie" is post-Han.

• RISE
  

  1. The most current general word for rising or raising oneself up, or rising to an upright position of any kind is qǐ 起 (ant. jiàng 降 "go down").

  2. Shēng 升 (ant. xià 下 "go down") refers specifically to the rising of something to a higher level, and these levels can be but do not have to be the ranks of a hierarchy.

  3. Jìn 進 (ant. tuì 退 "be demoted") refers specifically to the rising in the ranks of a hierarchy.

  4. Jìn 晉 is a very formal term referring to the rising of something in the ranks of a hierarchy.

• ARISE
  

  [GENERAL/SPECIFIC]

  [HIGH-DEGREE/LOW-DEGREE]

  [INCHOACTIVE/PERFECTIVE]

  1. The most current general word for something arising is probably qǐ 起 (ant. zhǐ 止 "cease to exist").

  [GENERAL]

  2. Méng 萌 is inchoative and refers to the initial stage of arising.

  [INCHOATIVE]

  3. Shēng 生 (ant. miè 滅 "be extinguished (as dinosaurs)") refers to the coming into existence of something which did not previously exist.

  [PERFECTIVE]

  4. Xīng 興 (ant. xí 息 "cease to be virulent") and fā 發 refer to something moving from an "incubatory" state to a state of manifest "virulence" and full development.

  [HIGH-DEGREE], [PERFECTIVE]

  5. Chū 出 (NB: rù 入 cannot be used as an antonym for this meaning.) refers to something that pre-exists emerging or moving from an initial state of hiddenness or non-obviousness to a state of manifest visibility (in analogy with the basic meaning of the word "to come out").

  [SPECIFIC]

  6. Zuò 作 (ant.* xiē 歇 "cease to exist, cease to be active, cease to happen") typically refers to something happening or arising for the first time, but the word can also refer to the emergence of persons like sages.

  [ORIGINAL], [SPECIFIC]

  NB: This group needs to be viewed together with BEGIN, and the line between the two is by no means always clear.

• BEGIN
  

  [ARCHAIC/CURRENT]

  [[COMMON/RARE]]

  [ELEVATED/VULGAR]

  [FORMAL/INFORMAL]

  1. Shǐ 始 (ant. zhōng 終 "bring to an end; come to an end" and chéng 成 "bring to a successful end, complete") refers quite generally to the initiating of any action. But see also ARISE

  [GENERAL]

  2. Zào 造 (all ant. jì 繼 "continue" and chéng 承 "continue") can come to refer to the beginning of an action.

  [ARCHAIC]; [[RARE]]

  3. Chū 初 (ant. mò 末 "end") is purely chronological and refers to the early stage of something that persists, without indicating any lasting influence of that early stage on later developments. See FIRST

  4. Qǐ 起 is sometimes used in a rather formal way for getting underway with a major activity.

  [FORMAL]

  5. Qǐ 啟 typically refers to a deliberate act of initiation, by Heaven as well as by man, and the word generally belongs to the dignified style of historians or rhetoricians.

  [ELEVATED], [FORMAL]

  6. Zhāo 肇 is an elevated and archaic word referring to the initiation of rituals and the like.

  [ELEVATED]; [[RARE]]

• BEAUTIFUL
  

  [ABSOLUTE/GRADED]

  [ACOUSTIC/VISUAL]

  [ARTIFICIAL/NATURAL]

  [[COMMON/RARE]]

  [ELEVATED/VULGAR]

  [GENERAL/SPECIFIC]

  [HUMAN/NON-HUMAN]

  [POETIC/PROSAIC]

  1. The general word is měi 美 "handsome and admirable" (ant. è 惡 "ugly") which refers to anything concrete or abstract which is attractive or handsome in a dignified way, and the word often retains its primary culinary sense of "tasty".

  [GENERAL], [GRADED]; [[COMMON]]

  2. Lì 麗 (ant. sù 素 "unaodorned") is often restricted to physical objects, prototypically to clothes, and emphasises their balanced symmetric beauty, occasionally also - by analogy - the well-aligned symmetric beauty of mountains.

  [ELEVATED], [NON-HUMAN], [VISUAL!]

  3. Wén 文 (ant. zhì 質 "merely material") emphasises cultivated external as well as internal elegance as well as traditionalism.

  [ARTIFICIAL], [ELEVATED], [NON-HUMAN], [VISUAL!]

  4. Yǎ 雅 (ant. sú 俗 "vulgar") emphasises primarily external elevated elegance.

  [ACOUSTIC!], [ARTIFICIAL], [ELEVATED+], [NON-HUMAN]

  5. Hǎo 好 "comely, handsome" (ant. chǒu 醜 "ugly") refers indiscriminately to men and women, but the word is sometimes more general and even abstract in application and refers to attractive words or attractive moral qualities.

  [HUMAN!], [NATURAL], [VISUAL]

  6. Xiù 秀 "of vigorous and imposing beauty" focusses on flourishing and flamboyant beauty in analogy with that of flowers.

  [ELEVATED], [NATURAL], [NON-HUMAN], [POETIC], [VISUAL]; [[RARE]]

  7. Huá 華 "of striking and colourful beauty" (ant. sú 俗 "vulgar") focusses on flourishing and flamboyant superficial or only apparent beauty, on the analogy analogy with that of flowers.

  [ARTIFICIAL], [ELEVATED], NON-HUMAN], [SUPERFICIAL], [VISUAL]

  8. Zhuàng 壯 "stately" (ant. ruò 弱 "weak and unsightly") is virile beauty associated with strength and vigour. See STRONG

  [NATURAL], [MARGINAL], [POETIC]; [[RARE]]

  9. Jiā 佳 "of outstanding beauty" (NB: liè 劣 "unremarkable" is the ant. of jiā 佳 "outstanding", and not in the meaning of "outstandingly beautiful") emphasises comparative beauty compared to others in the same group.

  [GRADED], [ELEVATED], [NATURAL], [POETIC]

  10. Dū 都 "urbane and exquisitely beautiful" (ant. bì 鄙 "rustic and inelegant") is a highly poetic word that can only be used in elevated prose.

  [ARCHAIC], [ELEVATED], [POETIC], [VISUAL]; [[RARE]]

  11. Yán 妍 "attractive and exquisite (of humans as well as human products)" (ant. chì 蚩 "unattractive") refers to elaborate beauty. See SEXY.

  [ARCHAIC], [ELEVATED], [HUMAN], [POETIC]; [[RARE]]

  12. Xiū 脩 / 修 "refined moral beauty" refers to moral as well as physical beauty, thus coming close the Greek kalokagathia, but never approaching the latter in importance as a cultural keyword.

  <div>[ELEVATED], [ARTIFICIAL]; [[RARE]]</div><div><br></div><div>吳蓬，東方審美詞彙集萃，上海文藝出版社，2002 lists the following rough definitions of a variety of terms of aesthetic appreciation by the artist and scholar Wu Peng. Many of these terms express conventional appreciative flattery only. This list does provide one not particularly well-known artist's subjective readings of some basic terms of traditional Chinese aesthetic approbation.</div><div>勃：富有生机之突起。<br>苍：浓的，毛的，老练的。<br>沉：沉着不浮，有重量感。<br>冲：调成和淡之意向。<br>饬：整顿。<br>粗：大而不笨者。<br>淳：清，往往易薄，然而淳是清中滋润之厚。<br>醇：与淳略同，这醇是提炼后的滋润之厚。<br>绰：与"约"字合用，即舒而不纵之意。<br>澹：平静而有幽淡之趣。<br>淡：与浓艳相对。<br>宕：放荡不拘。<br>跌：往往与"宕"字合用，即是起伏明显之状。<br>端：方正而不出偏，有稳实感。<br>敦：很实在的，结实的厚。<br>繁：众而密，有生气。<br>方：与平正同义。<br>丰：饱满而充足。<br>风：审美中之"风"指的是一种气韵格调。<br>飞：大幅度的流动。<br>刚：属于阳性的，有正力的，与柔软相对。</div><div>高：俯视一切的、超然得不一般。<br>工：规矩，不潦草。<br>孤：自我独立。<br>古：旧气，更有历史的抗怀千载之迹象。<br>骨：内在的架子。<br>犷：是跟"雄悍"接近，在粗中发展开来。<br>瑰：不单调的美。<br>乖：不和顺。<br>憨：近于拙朴而敦实。<br>酣：厚润四溢。<br>豪：激动向上之貌，有气魄。<br>宏：大而有气度。<br>厚：有沉积的饱和。<br>华：明亮而艳丽。<br>环：长久圆融之境。<br>荒：与"枯简"接近，不修饰。<br>豁：与开朗接近，然比开朗明显。<br>恢：宽广有余。<br>浑：团然一气之象，有朦胧感。<br>简：经过一番整修的减少。<br>娇：美得可爱。<br>警：审美中用此警字，往往指敏锐、颖达。<br></div><div>劲：能察觉的力。<br>精：很到位。<br>隽：精致而具内涵之美。<br>娟：秀而婉丽。<br>崛：高起而突出。<br>俊：人材杰曲之美。<br>峻：山高而陡。在书画中是浓而锋利之用笔。<br>空：有灵气之空白。<br>枯：干而毛，生的萎缩，然亦是力的显露。<br>宽：大度而畅朗。<br>旷：广阔而空灵。<br>辣：是枯毛爽直的老笔触。<br>朗：明亮而豁然。<br>琅：圆而光润。<br>伦：是同类之意，带有文明意念。<br>冷：跟"淡"与"静”接近，与浓烈相对。<br>炼：精到而有功力。<br>淋：与"漓”往往合用，是无拘束的洒落。<br>流：明显的动感。<br>迈：阔而放的超势。<br>莽：宽广而繁密的，朴直奔放的。<br>袤：与"古"字合用，即悠长久远之趣。<br>茂：有生气的繁密。<br>媚：柔美之趣。<br>宓：安而静。<br>明：清晰有亮度。<br>凝：浓重而不流动。<br>懦：毫无火气之柔软。<br>平：一般的，接近于稳。<br>朴：原始状态，形象较准。<br>嫖：与"姚"字合用，即动疾之状，而有气势。<br>奇：不一般。<br>气：生发的，迎面直扑而来的感觉。<br>清：是混的相对。其间透出一股朗气。<br>峭：山之直而险，在书画中是露锋的侧锋用笔，有明显露<br>尖状态。文章中之峭，是意气直逼。<br>遒：婉转有致，内力强劲。<br>虬：与遒类似，但动感较强，弯曲而有力度。<br>意：诚实谨慎。<br>儒：代表文人之书卷气。<br>洒：散落无拘束。<br>赡：富有与丰实。若与"疏”、"逸”组合即成"澹”或"安"之义。</div><div>骚：审美中之骚字，可引伸为风骚至风流感。<br>韶：美丽有光泽。<br>涩：在不爽快的进程中，流露出内力之美。<br>深：不是浮面的。<br>神：精与气合。高端的。<br>生：不成熟，但比成熟有味。<br>肆：任意放纵。<br>松：松是灵活自然，是一切技巧之本要。<br>瘦：与粗笨相对，在审美中的"瘦"，是指细长而精练。<br>疏：一种稀少秀朗之美。<br>肃：有立即静穆下来之势。<br>率：与潦草随便有别，爽快而直接。<br>邃：深远而悠久。<br>阅：通达之意。<br>给：与"宕"合用，是安详舒放之趣。<br>天:很自然，一片天箱之"天"。<br>恬：安静而坦然。<br>挺：直而有生气。<br>婉：柔和而曲折。<br>温：是一种暖调与缓和的综合。</div><div>巍：往往与"峨"合用，是高大厚实之趣。<br>洗：与"炼”合用，即是"精炼"之意，凡物之洁出于洗。<br>犀：与"利"字合用，即坚利。<br>熙：光明，和乐。<br>细：指细而不纤。<br>娴：文静而雅致。<br>闲：一种高雅的自由。<br>萧：疏少有致。<br>潇：散朗而润泽。<br>馨：很醇厚的香气。<br>篁："篁古”是悠远辽阔之意。<br>雄：强大，有力度，有霸气。<br>秀：灵巧的，有生气的，美好的显露。<br>虚：表象空，但并非真空。<br>雅：文气而不俗。<br>妍：鲜美而柔性。<br>严：认真，不马虎。<br>淹：一种浸沉与精深明达之境。<br>野：超脱、不规范。<br>冶：经过一番精致修饰。<br>逸：悠闲的起伏。</div><div>意：精神倾向。<br>莹：透明而幽亮。<br>雍：往往与“容"字合用，有和顺之貌。<br>幽：静而深。<br>腴：肥润而饱和。<br>郁：厚积而有生气。<br>纤：与"迥"字合用，即弯环回绕之趣。<br>遹：与"瑰"字合用，即纤迥美丽之趣。<br>渊：往往与"懿"合用，是深润而悠美之趣。<br>圆：接近于饱满润滑。<br>蕴：与"藉"合用，即内涵丰富。<br>韵：一种余味不尽之趣。<br>恣：放纵的，无拘束的。<br>滋：湿润感。<br>自：出于本性的流露。<br>质：本体的，实在的。<br>纵：放逸无拘之状。<br>拙：接近朴，形不准。<br>庄：端正之貌。<br>卓：与“荤"合用，是突出明显之状。<br></div><div><br></div><br>

• SLEEP
  

  1. Wò 臥 (ant. qǐ 起 "get up") is often used as a very general term referring to any form of sleep or rest whatsoever, but specifically the word does also refer to taking a brief nap, typically leaning on an object like a low table.

  2. Mèi 寐 (ant. jué 覺 "wake up") is to fall fast asleep.

  3. Qǐn 寢 (ant. xǐng 醒 "be wide awake") is to go to bed (typically in a designated bedroom) in order to rest or sleep, and the word does not indicate to what extent one actually does fall asleep or merely rests.

  4. Mián 眠 refers to the action of closing one's eyes in order to fall asleep anywhere, at any time, and in any position.

  5. Shuì 睡 (ant. wù 悟 "wake up") refers specifically to falling asleep, typically not in bed, and for a short time, in ancient Chinese.

  6. Zhé 蟄 is to hibernate.

• MORE
  

  1. The most current and general word expressing the idea of something becoming more rather than less is yì 益 (ant. sǔn 損 "less and less").

  2. Mí 彌 focusses a difference in degree or number rather than on a process of increase.

  3. Yù 愈 (NB: shǎo 少 does not function as an antonym "less and less".) typically refers to a continuous or continuing dynamic increase or process.

  4. Gèng 更 and the rarer words fù 復 and yòu 又 "even more" indicate that the increase is from a level that is already high.

  5. Jiā 加 typically refers to an increase not in the intensity of something, but in the quantity or number.

  6. Yóu 尤 "particularly" singles out an item as instantiating something with particular intensity, more than most other comparable things.

  NB: 愈 may precede non-comparative verbs. Thus yù qǐ 愈起 "tend even more to occur" GUAN 47 could not have yì qǐ 益起. HF 19 has yù wáng 愈亡 "will tend ever more to fail". 愈至 "tend even more to arrive".

• BUILD
  

  1. The general current word for erecting or rebuilding a permanent structure of any kind is zhú 築.

  2. Lì 立 "to erect" focuses on the resulting uprightness of the structure, but the word.

  3. Xiū 脩 focusses on the careful finishing work of construction, and the word also applies to reconstruction with careful attention paid to the finish. [See REPAIR]

  4. Gòu 構 "make a structure" focusses on the fitting together of different parts, Lothar Ledderose's modules, to make a structured whole.

  5. Qǐ 起 "raise (a building)" is an administrative neutral term that can refer to the building of any larger structure, and the word become current in this meaning in Han times.

  6. Wéi 為 is currently used to refer specifically to the building of houses or capitals. See PRODUCE

  7. Zuò 作 "take the initiative to build" a very general word to use which can refer to all sorts of making of things. See PRODUCE.

  8. Jiàn 建 "to establish" is mostly used abstractly and not for concrete physical structures. See ESTABLISH

  9. Jīng 經 and yíng 營 are archaic and poetic words focussing on a concerted large-scale public effort.

• MOBILISE
  

  1. The current general term for raising an army was qǐ 起. The army may be of any size, and the person raising the army may or may not be raising the army in an official capacity.

  2. Sōu 蒐 is current in CHUNQIU and ZUO and refers to a military review combined with a raising of an army.

  3. Xīng 興 refers to a large scale mobilisation of an armed force which may or may not be used in military action.

  4. Jǔ 舉 always refers to an administrative official act of raising an army of some size and/or deploying this force.

  5. Fā 發 refers to a political act of deploying a military force that is all ready to be deployed.

Word relations
• Ant: (RISE)臥 / 臥卧/SLEEP Wò 臥 (ant. qǐ 起 "get up") is often used as a very general term referring to any form of sleep or rest whatsoever, but specifically the word does also refer to taking a brief nap, typically leaning on a low table. 5 Attributions
• Ant: (RISE)居/SIT The current word for sitting is not properly zuò 坐 (see KNEEL) but probably jū 居 "sit down", which is a decorous thing to do, although it is not clear in which position, exactly, one ends up, and the suspicion is that one ends up, in fact, kneeling politely in the zuò 坐 fashion.
• Ant: (RISE)廢/COLLAPSE
• Ant: (ARISE)止/STOP The standard current word for ceasing in an activity is zhǐ 止 (ant. xíng 行 "carry on with"), and this word can to any concrete or abstract activity; the ceasing may be final or temporary. 1 Attribution
• Ant: (FLOURISH)衰/DECLINE1 Attribution
• Object: (MOBILISE)卒/SOLDIER Zú 卒 and the archaic tú 徒 refer to an ordinary infantry soldier, and these footsoldiers never ride chariots. 1 Attribution
• Object: (MOBILISE)兵/ARMY Bīng 兵 "armed force" focusses on the weapons ready for use and may refer to any military grouping. [GENERAL] 1 Attribution
• Epithet: (ARISE)初/ORIGINALLY Chū 初 (ant. jīn 今 "nowadays") is purely chronological and does not imply any formative influence of the beginning stage. 1 Attribution
• Contrast: (ARISE)感/STIMULATE The current general word for stimulating a sentient being into action, or causing feelings, is gǎn 感 (ant. yìng 應 "respond").
• Synon: (ARISE)作/ARISE Zuò 作 (ant.* xiē 歇 "cease to exist, cease to be active, cease to happen") typically refers to something happening or arising for the first time, but the word can also refer to the emergence of persons like sages. [ORIGINAL], [SPECIFIC] 1 Attribution
• Synon: (ARISE)發/ARISE Xīng 興 (ant. xí 息 "cease to be virulent") and fā 發 refer to something moving from an "incubatory" state to a state of manifest "virulence" and full development. [HIGH-DEGREE], [PERFECTIVE]
• Synon: (ARISE)生/ARISE Shēng 生 (ant. miè 滅 "be extinguished (as dinosaurs)") refers to the coming into existence of something which did not previously exist. [PERFECTIVE] 1 Attribution