Taxonomy of meanings for 勸:  

  • 勸 quàn (OC: khons MC: kʰʷiɐn) 去願切 去 廣韻:【獎勸也勉也助也教也又姓 】
    • ENCOURAGE
      • nabactencouragement
      • vt[oN]give encouragment, be encouraging; be supportive [of the good]
      • DELETEencourge to, urge to
      • vtoN.+VtoSencourage somebody by saying
      • vtoNencourage a person N, or by extension an attitude N
      • vtoNobject=behaviourencourage (human behaviour or qualities)
      • vt(oN)encourage the contextually determinate N
      • vtoNpassivebe encouraged (to do something); feel encouraged; feel encouraged towards (meritorious effort) 愈勸
      • vtoNabto encourage the abstract qualities Nab
      • vtt(oN.)+V[0]urge the contextually determinate N to V
      • vttoN.+V[0]pivotencourage somebody to do something
      • vtt[oN.] V[0]encourage people to VCH
      • vtoNderivedpush along, urge along (mechanically, without the use of words)CH
      • intellectual> PERSUADE
        • vtoN(try to) persuade someone to do something
        • vtoNperfectivesuccess verb: manage to encourage someone to do something and to get him to do it
        • pragmatic> ADVISE
            • feature> DILIGENT
              • vifeel encouraged to make strenuous efforts; LY feel enthusiasticSAME AS "DILIGENT" vt-pass delenda (vi should be vt-pass)
              • vtoNbe encouraged to work diligently for (rewards etc); fell impelled to work for
            • feel encouraged to work> EFFORT

        Additional information about 勸

        說文解字: 【勸】,勉也。从力、雚聲。 【去願切】

          Criteria
        • FORBID

          1. The current dominant general word referring to public prohibition is jìn 禁 (ant. quàn 勸 "encourage").

          2. Yù 御 / 禦 (ant. sòng yǒng 慫恿 "leave free to do what one wants") refers to putting an end to practice by authority, but not necessarily through formal public prohibition of the practice.

          3. È 遏 refers more narrowly to putting a legal stop to the further development of something.

        • PERSUADE

          1. The current general words for persuasion are shuì 說 "persuade of a point of view or a course of action" versus quàn 勸 "persuade someone to engage in a certain course of action he or she was not originally planning to enage in".

          2. Jiàn 諫 refers specifically to remonstration or dissuasion of a superior. See REMONSTRATE.

          3. Fěng 諷 refers to persuasion of a superior by subtle indirect means.

          NB: Practical "persuasion" of the quàn 勸 kind differs from quàn 勸 "to encourage" in that it contains a clear element of intellectual persuasion that it is right to do what one is encouraging someone to do.

        • DILIGENT

          1. The current word for (typically respectful) meticulous and almost fastidious diligence is jǐn 謹 (ant. màn 慢 "be neglectful").

          2. Shèn 慎 (ant. hū 忽 "be neglectful") "be careful and cautious" emphasises not only careful attention but also wariness of possible danger.

          3. Lì 力 emphasises total devotion of all one's physical and mental effort, and in this meaning the word is normally adverbial.

          4. Qín 勤 (ant. duò 惰 "without proper strenuous and dutiful effort") emphasises dutiful mental effort.

          5. Quàn 勸 focusses on the externally induced enthusiasm with which something is done.

          6. Miǎn 勉 focusses on externally or internally generated extraordinary enthusiasm for a task.

          7. Què 愨 emphasises the moral appropriateness of the diligence in question.

          8. Yuàn 愿 (not to be confused with yuàn 願 "hope") is an elevated rare word referring to respectful diligence of the people.

          9. Jìng 敬 often refers to respectful diligence in action imposed by one's respect rather than to the attitude or the explicit direct show of respect as such.

        • ADVISE

          [ASCENDING/HORIZONTAL/DESCENDING]

          [BASIC/MARGINAL]

          [[CURRENT/RARE]]

          [NON-OFFICIAL/OFFICIAL]

          1. The current standard word for fairly formal consultation and advice to superiors is móu 謀.

          [ASCENDING], [BASIC], [OFFICIAL]

          2. Jiào 教 sometimes refers to advice close to instruction to inferiors.

          [DESCENDING], [MARGINAL]; [[RARE]]

          3. Quàn 勸 is sometimes used to refer to advice without essential reference to relative status. See ENCOURAGE

          [NON-OFFICIAL]

        • WARN

          1. The current general word for a warning, specific or non-specific, is jǐng 警.

          2. Jiè 誡 / 戒 (ant. quàn 勸 "encourage") refers specifically to a warning against a certain explicitly specified course of action. The direction of this warning is downwards.

          3. Chéng 懲 adds the element of reproof and criticism to that of warning against continued unacceptable action.

          4. Guī 規 refers to a warning which draws attention to the general lawful or proper course of action. The direction of this type of warning can be upwards or downwards.

          5. Zhēn 箴 is an archaic word referring to formal remonstration. The direction of this warning is upwards.

        • ENCOURAGE

          1. The dominant current word is quàn 勸 (ant. jǔ 沮 "try to stop") which refers to all kinds of encouragement, both from inferiors and from superiors.

          2. Miǎn 勉 focusses on the effort needed in doing what one is encouraged to do.

          3. Qū 驅 "drive on hard" refers to "encouragement" by threat of force from the part of superiors.

          4. Lì 勵 refers to a superior encouraging others to strive hard for the ideals they already have.

          5. Cù 趣 refers to encouraging others to make greater speed in doing what they are already doing or aiming to do.

          6. Jí 急 refers to an urgent request to speed up what one is doing in a concrete way.

          7. Xù 勗 is an elavated archaic word which was quite current in SHANGSHU and reappeared as an archaism in Han times.

        • HINDER

          1. The current general word for putting obstacles in the way of something or someone is zǔ 阻 (ant. zhù 助 "help"). See also BLOCK

          2. Jǔ 沮 (ant. quàn 勸 "encourage") refers to failing to support someone else and dissuading him from pursuing an intended course of action.

          3. Zhàng 障 refers to putting a permanent hindrance in the way of something.

          4. Ài 礙 refers to an action designed to prevent another action, but the word gained currency quite late.

          5. Jù 距 / 拒 refers to an action designed to counteract another action that has been undertaken.

          Word relations
        • Result: (ENCOURAGE)賞/REWARD The current general word for rewarding is shǎng 賞 (ant. fá 罰 "punish" and zhū 誅 "punish").
        • Ant: (ENCOURAGE)懲/WARN Chéng 懲 adds the element of reproof and criticism to that of warning against continued unacceptable action.
        • Object: (PERSUADE)心/MIND The general word for the mental sphere of man is xīn 心 "HEART> mind" (ant. xíng 形 "physical shape, body", tǐ 體 "limbs, body").
        • Assoc: (ENCOURAGE)賞/REWARD The current general word for rewarding is shǎng 賞 (ant. fá 罰 "punish" and zhū 誅 "punish").
        • Assoc: (ENCOURAGE)激/STIMULATE Jī 激 refers to prodding something or someone into action.
        • Assoc: (ENCOURAGE)學/STUDY The dominant word is xué 學 (ant. jiào 教 "train teach")which refers primarily to studying or training under another person, and secondarily to the learning by heart texts. Very often, the word retains a tinge of immitation.