Additional information about 淑
說文解字: 【淑】，清湛也。从水、叔聲。 【殊六切】
- Criteria
- DECENT
1. The current word in general use is jié 節 (ant. yín 淫 "unrestrained") which refers primarily to decency in behaviour.
2. Liáng 良 (ant.* bào 暴 "recklessness") is decency of attitude as well as decency in action.
3. Jiǎn 儉 (ant. chǐ 侈 "excessiveness") is the important virtue of decent restraint in Confucian moral spirituality and it is something cultivated by a moral effort.
4. Shú 淑 refers in a poetic way to the proper unassuming modesty of a person, especially of attractive women in ancient Chinese society.
5. Ràng 讓 (ant. màn 慢 "be impolite to") is marginal in this group and refers to polite deference in interaction with others. See YIELD
- GOOD
1. The general term for positive appraisal of human capacities of any kind is shàn 善 (ant. è 惡 "bad").
2. Rén 仁 (ant. cán 殘 "unfeeling") refers to kind-heartedness as an attitude directed towards moral behaviour. See BENEVOLENCE
3. Lián 廉 (ant. tān 貪 "greedy for bribery gifts") refers to moral probity and impeccability.
4. Zhí 直 (ant. qǔ 曲 "devious") refers to moral straightforwardness and uprightness.
5. Zhōng 衷 (ant. xié 邪 "wicked") refers to devoted uprightness of character. See also EARNEST
6. Qīng 清 (ant. zhuó 濁 "defiled and corrupt") can be used to refer to moral purity.
7. Shú 淑 is a highly poetic word referring to admirable moral qualities in general, typically in women.
8. Jūn zǐ 君子 (ant. xiǎo rén 小人 "petty man") refers to high moral qualities and capacities, especially in men.
<div>9. Zāng 臧 (pí 否 "good-for-nothing") is an archaic neutral unemotional objective term for goodness.</div><div><br></div><div>10. Rén yì 仁義, when it is not simply listing benevolence and righteousness, commonly refers quite generally (by synecdoche) to moral goodness or the moral virtues LIKE benevolence and righteousness and not in fact to just two of the virtues.<br></div><br>