TLS - 漢學文典

Taxonomy of meanings for 于:　　

yú (OC: ɢʷra MC: ɦio) 羽俱切平廣韻：【曰也於也説文本作亏凡從于者作亐同又姓周武王子邘叔子孫以國爲氏其後去邑單爲于漢有丞相東海于定國又望出河南者即後魏書万忸于氏後改爲于氏凡諸姓望在後而稱河南者皆虜姓後魏孝文詔南遷者死不得還北即葬洛陽故虜姓皆稱河南焉又漢複姓五氏後漢特進漁陽鮮于輔袁紹大將軍淳于瓊劉元海太史令宣于修之何氏姓苑有多于氏鬬于氏羽俱切二十】
- BE IN
  - vt[0]oN.postadV(typically in formal or archaic contexts for the different word 於) in, at, on, by; referring to the future in this construction
  - vt+N.postvt'+N:postVtwo prepositional phrasesat (a place)
  - vtoN.+V(to V) in N
  - vt0+N.adStimeV at the time N
  - vt0+N1.postadN2in
  - vt[0]oN.postadVinLZ
  - vtoN.postadVN=placeat the place N (ritual, high style register)CH
  - upper surface of>
    ON
    - vt[0]oN.postadVon
  - continuative>
    REMAIN
    - vtoNremain [watch out if this is not standardly 於!!!]
    - generalising
      CONTINUE
      
      vadVprefixcontinuously; go on V-ing; perhaps also inchoative: go a-V-ing [this may have to be reanalysed as vt+V, in fact! The link with the meaning GO TO is tempting. This needs study.]
- move so as to>
  GO TO
  - vtoNOBI: go to
  - grammaticalised>
    TOWARDS
    - vt[0]oN.postadV:adStemporalas in 自N1至于N2+S
    - vt[0]oN.postadVOBI, archaic: marks indirect object/beneficiary
    - vt[0]oN.postadVOBIOBI mostly: to, in the direction of
    - vt[0]oN.postadVfigurativeaddressing oneself to
    - benefitting>
      FOR
      
      vt0oN.postVfor
  - source>
    FROM
    - vt[0]oN.postadVOBI: from
  - comparative>
    RELATION
    - vtoN.adVin relation to N to V
    - vtoN.postadVV=stativebe V in respect to NDS

Additional information about 于

說文解字:

Criteria

BELL

SEE ILLUSTRATIONS

1. The current general word for a bell of any kind is zhōng 鐘 / 鍾. When hung up singly, it is called tè zhōng 特鐘, with round opening as in illustration SUN JI. Rhythmic instrument. Also, hung up in a series of tuned bells, in two rows of eight bells each. Note that these bells were already rare by Han times. [In use mainly from the Western Zhou till the Warring States.]

[GENERAL]

2. Qìng 磬／罄 refers to music stones rather than bells, however, these "stones" could also be made of bronze.

3. Náo 鐃 small handbell with handle which is held in one hand and beaten with the other hand.

4. Zhēng 鉦 is a small bell with a handle like a náo 鐃, but somewhat larger, and not held in the hand but set up on a stand. It is used to order an army into retreat. (The gǔ 鼓 is used to order an army to attack.)

5. Líng 鈴 refers to a small bell with a handle at the top.

6. Duó 鐸 refers to a bell with a tongue which is similar to líng 鈴 but larger.

7. Chuí 棰 refers to a metal or wooden stick with which to strike bells of any kind from the outside in order sound the bell. See STICK

8. Yǔ 敔 is a rare word referring to a bell in the shape of a crouching tiger which is beaten using a bamboo stick. Apparently, this bell was only struck towards the end of a musical piece. [Mentioned in the YIJI chapter of the SHANGSHU. Description of the shape dates from the SONG. For a Chinese antiquity, I have not found any archaeological or pictorial evidence.]

9. Bó 鎛 refers to a kind of suspended bell which is similar to zhōng 鐘 / 鍾 but even larger. Bó 鎛 were suspended not in sets, but alone or in pairs.

10. Chún yú 錞于 refers to a special kind of bell.

11. Luán 鸞 is a bell fixed on vehicles and knives which was supposed to make a sound like a luán-bird or phoenix.

12. Luán 鑾 refers to a harness bell; probably identical with luán 鸞 : see LIJI.

13. Zhù 柷 refers in SHI to some kind of resonance box used in music, an instrument which was struck in the beginning of a musical piece.
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> </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。 苍：浓的，毛的，老练的。 沉：沉着不浮，有重量感。 冲：调成和淡之意向。 饬：整顿。 粗：大而不笨者。 淳：清，往往易薄，然而淳是清中滋润之厚。 醇：与淳略同，这醇是提炼后的滋润之厚。 绰：与"约"字合用，即舒而不纵之意。 澹：平静而有幽淡之趣。 淡：与浓艳相对。 宕：放荡不拘。 跌：往往与"宕"字合用，即是起伏明显之状。 端：方正而不出偏，有稳实感。 敦：很实在的，结实的厚。 繁：众而密，有生气。 方：与平正同义。 丰：饱满而充足。 风：审美中之"风"指的是一种气韵格调。 飞：大幅度的流动。 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。 工：规矩，不潦草。 孤：自我独立。 古：旧气，更有历史的抗怀千载之迹象。 骨：内在的架子。 犷：是跟"雄悍"接近，在粗中发展开来。 瑰：不单调的美。 乖：不和顺。 憨：近于拙朴而敦实。 酣：厚润四溢。 豪：激动向上之貌，有气魄。 宏：大而有气度。 厚：有沉积的饱和。 华：明亮而艳丽。 环：长久圆融之境。 荒：与"枯简"接近，不修饰。 豁：与开朗接近，然比开朗明显。 恢：宽广有余。 浑：团然一气之象，有朦胧感。 简：经过一番整修的减少。 娇：美得可爱。 警：审美中用此警字，往往指敏锐、颖达。 </div><div>劲：能察觉的力。 精：很到位。 隽：精致而具内涵之美。 娟：秀而婉丽。 崛：高起而突出。 俊：人材杰曲之美。 峻：山高而陡。在书画中是浓而锋利之用笔。 空：有灵气之空白。 枯：干而毛，生的萎缩，然亦是力的显露。 宽：大度而畅朗。 旷：广阔而空灵。 辣：是枯毛爽直的老笔触。 朗：明亮而豁然。 琅：圆而光润。 伦：是同类之意，带有文明意念。 冷：跟"淡"与"静”接近，与浓烈相对。 炼：精到而有功力。 淋：与"漓”往往合用，是无拘束的洒落。 流：明显的动感。 迈：阔而放的超势。 莽：宽广而繁密的，朴直奔放的。 袤：与"古"字合用，即悠长久远之趣。 茂：有生气的繁密。 媚：柔美之趣。 宓：安而静。 明：清晰有亮度。 凝：浓重而不流动。 懦：毫无火气之柔软。 平：一般的，接近于稳。 朴：原始状态，形象较准。 嫖：与"姚"字合用，即动疾之状，而有气势。 奇：不一般。 气：生发的，迎面直扑而来的感觉。 清：是混的相对。其间透出一股朗气。 峭：山之直而险，在书画中是露锋的侧锋用笔，有明显露 尖状态。文章中之峭，是意气直逼。 遒：婉转有致，内力强劲。 虬：与遒类似，但动感较强，弯曲而有力度。 意：诚实谨慎。 儒：代表文人之书卷气。 洒：散落无拘束。 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。 韶：美丽有光泽。 涩：在不爽快的进程中，流露出内力之美。 深：不是浮面的。 神：精与气合。高端的。 生：不成熟，但比成熟有味。 肆：任意放纵。 松：松是灵活自然，是一切技巧之本要。 瘦：与粗笨相对，在审美中的"瘦"，是指细长而精练。 疏：一种稀少秀朗之美。 肃：有立即静穆下来之势。 率：与潦草随便有别，爽快而直接。 邃：深远而悠久。 阅：通达之意。 给：与"宕"合用，是安详舒放之趣。 天:很自然，一片天箱之"天"。 恬：安静而坦然。 挺：直而有生气。 婉：柔和而曲折。 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。 洗：与"炼”合用，即是"精炼"之意，凡物之洁出于洗。 犀：与"利"字合用，即坚利。 熙：光明，和乐。 细：指细而不纤。 娴：文静而雅致。 闲：一种高雅的自由。 萧：疏少有致。 潇：散朗而润泽。 馨：很醇厚的香气。 篁："篁古”是悠远辽阔之意。 雄：强大，有力度，有霸气。 秀：灵巧的，有生气的，美好的显露。 虚：表象空，但并非真空。 雅：文气而不俗。 妍：鲜美而柔性。 严：认真，不马虎。 淹：一种浸沉与精深明达之境。 野：超脱、不规范。 冶：经过一番精致修饰。 逸：悠闲的起伏。</div><div>意：精神倾向。 莹：透明而幽亮。 雍：往往与“容"字合用，有和顺之貌。 幽：静而深。 腴：肥润而饱和。 郁：厚积而有生气。 纤：与"迥"字合用，即弯环回绕之趣。 遹：与"瑰"字合用，即纤迥美丽之趣。 渊：往往与"懿"合用，是深润而悠美之趣。 圆：接近于饱满润滑。 蕴：与"藉"合用，即内涵丰富。 韵：一种余味不尽之趣。 恣：放纵的，无拘束的。 滋：湿润感。 自：出于本性的流露。 质：本体的，实在的。 纵：放逸无拘之状。 拙：接近朴，形不准。 庄：端正之貌。 卓：与“荤"合用，是突出明显之状。 </div><div> </div>
RULER

1. The current general word for a person in charge of or senior to others is zhǔ 主 (ant. pú 僕 "servant").

2. Jūn 君 (ant. chén 臣 "minister") refers specifically to someone who is politically or administratively in charge of others as a ruler.

3. Wáng 王 (contrast bà 霸 "hegemon basing his role on power rather than moral authority") refers specifically to someone who is enfeoffed as a formal ruler of what counts as a state in ancient China.

4. Gōng 公 has many related meaning, but when following after the name of a state the word refers specifically to the ruler of an enfeoffed kingdom under the Son of Heaven who belongs to the royal lineage. After personal names, or used absolutely, the word may generally refer to to rulers of any rank and might be fastidiously translated as "his lordship".

5. Hóu 侯 refers specifically to someone who is enfeoffed with a kingdom (or by Han times a minor administrative area) by the Son of Heaven as a hereditary feudal lord.

6. Bà 霸 (contr. wáng 王 "regular king"), sometimes also written 伯 refers to a person who is in actual control of an area and specifically to one who acts as the leader of the feudal lords, and the term is sometimes used pejoratively for a "tyrant" caring for his own interests rather than those of his subordinates.

7. Lìng 令 refers specifically to someone who is controlling a xiàn 縣 by order of a king.

8. Shǒu 守 refers specifically to someone who is controlling a jùn 郡 by order of the emperor.

9. Mù 牧 refers specifically to someone who is controlling a zhōu 州 by order of the emperor in Eastern Han times.

10. Shàng 上 can refer to any governing authority or ruler, but by Han times the word became a standard polite way of referring to the Han emperor.

11. Chán-yú 單于 refers specifically to the ruler of the Xiōngnú 匈奴. Cf. the Tang term kēhān 可汗 "Khan".

12. Háo 豪 refers to a person of power but without formally recognised bureaucratic status.

13. Kuí 魁 refers to a powerful popular leader unrecognised by government.
DREAM

1. The current standard word for a dream is mèng 夢.

2. Xiōng mèng 凶夢 refers to a nightmare.

ZHOULI 3 占夢：掌其歲時，觀天地之會，辨陰陽之氣。以日月星辰占六夢之吉凶，一曰正夢，二曰噩夢，三曰思夢，四曰寤夢，五曰喜夢，六曰懼夢。季冬，聘王夢，獻吉夢于王，王拜而受之。乃舍萌于四方，以贈惡夢，遂令始難驅疫。

Word relations

Synon: (BE IN)乎/BE IN
Synon: (BE IN)於/BE IN Yú 於 is grammaticalised as a preposition but can come to function as a main verb "be in", and this verbal use may perhaps be taken to be etymologically primary. [GRAMMATICALISED]