Taxonomy of meanings for 民:　　

Additional information about 民

說文解字: 【民】，眾萌也。 〔小徐本「萌」作「氓」。〕 从古文之象。 〔小徐本「象」下有「形」。〕 凡民之屬皆从民。 【彌鄰切】 【民】， 〔小徐本古文作「」。〕 古文民。

Criteria
• CITIES
  

  See 曲英結，先秦都城復原研究，黑龍江人民, 1991

• CHINA
  

  睡虎地秦墓竹簡 1978: 226 臣邦人不安秦主而欲去夏者, 勿許. 何謂夏 ? 欲去親屬是謂夏.

  The words for China have this in common that they do NOT designate any one state. 中國 "the central states" is implicitly plural when it does not refer to the capital city. 諸夏 the various Xià (states)" is explicitly plural. The standard Imperium Romanum has no counterpart in Chinese until very late, unless one admits 天下 "all under Heaven" as a designation for the empire. But 天下 does not define any bounded empire. It remains to be seen exactly when a standard term for China was took shape. Compare the problems of finding a term for the Chinese language.

  Based on 顧頡剛 & 王樹民, “ 夏 ” 和 “ 中國 ”— 祖國古代的稱號, Zhongguo lishi dili luncong, Vol. 1 (Xi'an, 1981), 6-22).

  In the Shu and Shi sections relating to the early Zhou, 區夏 (= 夏區 ), 有夏 and 時夏 (= 是夏 ) refers to the place in which the Zhou established their capital after their conquest of Shang, in contradistinction to Zhou 掇 homeland in the West ( 西土 ) and the close Zhou allies ( 一二邦 ). The Zhou referred to their own domain as 烠 he central city-state � ( 中國 ). Since 中國 in this usage refers to the territory directly governed by the Zhou, it is singular and used in exchange with 京師 and in contradistinction with 四方 and 四國. Other states also referred to their capital regions as 啎什縕 (thus Wu in GY 19.09.01/618); a (perhaps late) variant of this word is 啎尹塹 (Yugong).

  After becoming strong, the states enfeoffed by Zhou asserted the community with the 周 by commencing to refer to themselves as 堔 L �, leading to the plural designation 埣悎 L �, used in contrast with designations like 啈 i 狄�. The distinction between the two groups was viewed as cultural, and its precise reference shifted over time, originally excluding states (like 楚 ) from the community of 諸夏 but later including them, or including them in the beginning, whilst later excluding them (like 秦 ). Some of the non- 諸夏 states were viewed as subservient to 諸夏 states, others as their enemies. The membership of 楚 to the 諸夏 circle was always insecure; it was, so to speak, was"always on probation.

  The 東夏 made up a subdivision of the 諸夏, including states such a 齊 and 魯.

  In parallel with the 堔 L � appellations arose the 埽寊 appellations, 埽寊 on its own and 埣捄寊, and, the two words may well be cognate, the common 埽堮 L �.

  In the Warring States period the cultural distinction gave way to a geographical distinction, and the 中國 states were now the state occupying the Central Plain

• BELIEVE
  

  [BASIC/MARGINAL]

  [EXPLICIT/IMPLICIT]

  [GENERAL/SPECIFIC]

  [FALSE/TRUE]

  [FUTURE/PAST/PRESENT]

  [HIGH-DEGREE/LOW-DEGREE]

  [IDIOM/WORD]

  [OBJECTIVE/SUBJECTIVE]

  1. Yǐ wéi 以為 and occasionally also yǐ 以 alone refer to a belief that is typically held to be less than reliable.

  [EXPLICIT], [GENERAL], [SUBJECTIVE], [VERB]

  2. Yǐ 以 alone sometimes refers to a belief that is typically held to be less than reliable, and seems simply short for yǐ wéi 以為.

  3. Wèi 謂 typically refers to a mistaken belief.

  [EXPLICIT], [FALSE!], [SUBJECTIVE], [VERB]

  4. Yì 意 refers to guesswork, anticipation and the like. See GUESS

  [FUTURE]

  5. Xìn 信 is sometimes used to refer to conviction, to someone trusting something to be the case or being confident that something is the case.

  [HIGH-DEGREE], [IMPLICIT], [VERB]

  6. Shì yóu 視猶 "look upon as" is occasionally used to refer to a belief attached to an attitude.

  [IDIOM], [IMPLICIT], [SUBJECTIVE], [VERB]

  7. Mín xīn 民心 is public opinion.

  [IDIOM], [IMPLICIT], [NOUN], [SPECIFIC]

  8. Jiàn 見 "view" is very occasionally used figuratively to refer to an opinion.

  [IMPLICIT], [MARGINAL], [NOUN]; [[RARE]]

• HUMAN
  

  1. The dominant term is rén 人 which refers to any human.

  2. Mín 民 is a mass noun referring to the population in general, but the word is also used to refer generically to ordinary citizens. (See PEOPLE)

• BLACK
  

  [[COMMON/RARE]]

  [DRAMATIC/UNDRAMATIC]

  [ELEVATED/FAMILIAR]

  [+FIG/LITERAL]

  [GENERAL/SPECIFIC]

  [IDIOMATIC/NON-IDIOMATIC]

  [POETIC/PROSAIC]

  1.The standard word is hēi 黑 (ant. bái 白 "white") which refers to anything very dark.

  [GENERAL], [LITERAL], [PROSAIC]; [[COMMON]]

  2. Xuán 玄 (ant. sù 素 "pristine unadorned white") refers to a redish mystifying black. SW: 黑而有赤色者

  [ELEVATED], [+FIG], [POETIC!]

  3. Àn 黯 (ant. hào 昊 "shining bright (of sky)") is rare and poetic, and the word refers to the threatening darkness of clouds in a thunderstorm.

  [DRAMATIC], [ELEVATED], [LITERAL], [POETIC]; [[RARE]]

  4. Zī 淄／緇 (ant. sù 素 "plain white") refers to the glossy greyish black appearance of dark silk, like the colour of dark earth, and this word seems limited to the description of clothes.

  [ELEVATED], [LITERAL], [SPECIFIC]

  5. Dài 黛 (ant. hào 皓 "shining whie") refers specifically to the dust-glossy black of make-up.

  [ELEVATED], [LITERAL], [POETIC], [SPECIFIC]; [[RARE]]

  6. Lí 黎 / 黧 (ant. sù 素 "pristine white and un-suntanned") refers to the dark sunburnt complexion of those who work in the open for long periods.

  [IDIOMATIC], [LITERAL], [PROSAIC], [SPECIFIC]

  7. Qián 黔 refers to the dark sunburnt complexion of those who work in the open for long periods, especially in qián mín 黔民 "the common people".

  [IDIOMATIC], [LITERAL], [PROSAIC], [SPECIFIC]

  8. Méi 黴 refers to the facial complexion darkened either by exposure to the sun or by sorrow.

  [ELEVATED], [+FIG], [IDIOMATIC], [POETIC!]; [[RARE]]

  9. Zào 皂 (sù 素 "plain undyed white") is also very rare and refers to the appearance of coarse dyed black non-silken textiles, the original reference of the word being to the plant used to produce the black effect.

  [LITERAL], [PROSAIC]

  10. Mò 墨 is basically ink, and by extension the word can come to refer to a dark black colour.

• PEOPLE
  

  1. The dominant current general word for the people is mín 民 (ant. jūn 君 "ruler"), and this term refers inclusively to all the people particularly insofar as they are ruled by a ruler or belong to a state (xiǎo mín 小民 are the ordinary people). [ 夫民之為言也暝也，萌之為言也（肓）〔盲〕也，故惟上之所扶而以之，民無不化也。故曰：「民萌。」民萌哉！ ( 直言其意而為之名也 ) Xinshu 9

  2. Bǎi xìng 百姓 (ant. jūn zhǔ 君主 "ruler") typically refers to the registered senior families in a state who are under the control of the ruler and contribute taxes as well as military service to him; but from earliest times this term was occasionally used to refer generally to the populace at large.

  3. Rén 人 (ant. wáng 王 "king") is sometimes used generically for those people who were taken to have a political voice, as in Yīn rén 殷人 "the people of Yīn".

  4. Méng 氓 / 萌 (ant.* shì mín 士民 "citizens") refers specifically to the common people belonging to the lower echelons of society.

  5. Zhòng 眾, shù 庶 and the rarer and more rarified words 蒸 and lí 黎 refer to the masses of the people under the aspect of their numerousness.

  6. Qián shǒu 黔首 "black-headed people" is the current word for the people especially promoted by the Qin dynasty.

  7. Shì mín 士民 refers to senior registered citizens with a certain political influence; but the term can also be used collectively to refer to the freemen/gentleman shì 士 on the one hand, and the common people mín 民 on the other.

  8. Guó rén 國人 refers not to the people in a state, but specifically to the senior citizens in the capital.

  9. Mín rén 民人 is a very current way of referring to the people without suggesting any low or high status.

  10. Shù rén 庶人 is the technical term for the non-office-holding commoners in a country.

• ENJOY
  

  1. The current general word for active enjoyment and delighting in something is lè 樂 (ant. bēi 悲 "be saddened by"), as in 與民同樂 "share one's enjoyings/enjoyments with the people".

  2. Xiǎng 享 refers to enjoying material benefits or - when applied to gods and spirits - to the enjoyment of sacrifices.

  3. Lì 利 refers to the use and enjoyment of what one regards as profitable.

  4. NB: Hān 酣 refers to enjoying (prototypically alcohol) with gusto and enthusiasm, or in a transferred sense enjoying anything else in the way one might enjoy alcohol. The word is marginal to the group.

Word relations
• Subject: (PEOPLE)苦/DISTRESS Kǔ 苦 and the much rarer xīn 辛 (ant. lè 樂 "be in a joyful state") refer to a lasting objective state of distress caused by identifiable external conditions. 1 Attribution
• Subject: (PEOPLE)從/OBEY The most current general word for obedience is probably cóng 從 (ant. jù 拒 "refuse to carry out an order"), which refers literally to the following of orders on particular occasions, and more generally to showing obedience to a person. 1 Attribution
• Inconsist: (PEOPLE)智 / 知/WISE The current general word for wisdom is zhì 智 (ant. yú 愚 "devoid of wisdom") and this may refer to any superior intellectual ability beyond the realm of memorisation or mundane knowledge, the quality which enables one to móu 謀 give good advice.. 1 Attribution
• Ant: (PEOPLE)上/RULER 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. 2 Attributions
• Object: (PEOPLE)使/GOVERN Shǐ 使 refers to leadership, typically of the people. 1 Attribution
• Object: (PEOPLE)僇 / 戮/KILL1 Attribution
• Object: (PEOPLE)牧/GOVERN Mù 牧 refers to government as a paternalistic responsibility of the ruler. 1 Attribution
• Object: (PEOPLE)虐/OPPRESS The most common general word for oppression is probably nŸè 虐 (ant. cí 慈 "show loving care for"). 2 Attributions
• Object: (PEOPLE)治/GOVERN The general word for governing, administering or ordering things is zhì 治, old reading chí. 2 Attributions
• Epithet: (PEOPLE)心/ATTITUDE The general word for the attitude of an individual or of a group of people is xīn 心, and the attitude denoted by this word may change in the course of time. [GENERAL], [VAGUE] 2 Attributions
• Epithet: (PEOPLE)下/HUMBLE Xià 下 refers to low status in absolute terms. 1 Attribution
• Epithet: (PEOPLE)愚/STUPID The dominant word is yú 愚 (ant. zhì 智 "clever; wise"), and the word refers to intellectual obtuseness as well as practical ineptitude. 3 Attributions
• Epithet: (PEOPLE)小/HUMBLE Xiǎo 小and shào 少 (all ant. zhǎng 長 "senior") refers to relatively junior status in the bureaucratic hierarchy. 1 Attribution
• Epithet: (PEOPLE)黎/BLACK Lí 黎/黧 (ant. sù 素 "pristine white and un-suntanned") refers to the dark sunburnt complexion of those who work in the open for long periods. [IDIOMATIC], [LITERAL], [PROSAIC], [SPECIFIC] 1 Attribution
• Epithet: (PEOPLE)父母/PARENT Fù mǔ 父母 refers to parents. 1 Attribution
• Epithet: (PEOPLE)俗/CUSTOM Sú 俗 (and the rarer and much more personal xí 習) tend to refer to what is perceived as popular and sometimes even vulgar traditional practices. There is a current conception that the sú 俗 are quintessential in origin and essence, but in spite of this they are conceived of as changeable in principle. 2 Attributions
• Contrast: (PEOPLE)士/GENTLEMAN The current general term for a person of a certain social standing is shì 士 and this word often connotes specifically a certain level of education, particularly literacy. See INTELLECTUAL. 4 Attributions
• Contrast: (PEOPLE)工/ARTISAN2 Attributions
• Assoc: (PEOPLE)士/GENTLEMAN The current general term for a person of a certain social standing is shì 士 and this word often connotes specifically a certain level of education, particularly literacy. See INTELLECTUAL. 5 Attributions
• Assoc: (PEOPLE)氓 / 氓 / 萌/PEOPLE Méng 氓/萌 (ant.* shì mín 士民 "citizens") refers specifically to the common people belonging to the lower echelons of society.
• Assoc: (PEOPLE)鳥獸/ANIMAL Niǎo shòu 鳥獸 refers specifically to all birds and beasts. [SPECIFIC] 3 Attributions
• Synon: (PEOPLE)眾/PEOPLE Zhòng 眾, shù 庶 and the rarer and more rarified words 蒸 and lí 黎 refer to the masses of the people under the aspect of their numerousness. 1 Attribution
• Oppos: (PEOPLE)君/RULER Jūn 君 (ant. chén 臣 "minister") refers specifically to someone who is politically or administratively in charge of others as a ruler. 1 Attribution
• Oppos: (PEOPLE)官/OFFICIAL Guān 官 refers quite generally to the persons in charge of an office. 1 Attribution
• Oppos: (VULGAR)我/EGO Wǒ 我 is contrastive and emphatic by Warring States times (in OBI it was not yet in opposition to wú 吾 and was the standard unmarked pronoun during earlier stages of the language). The word freely occurs in subject, mofifying, and object position and often has an idiomatic meaning like "I for my part" and the formal slightly depersonalised "our party". NB: The word also serves as an impersonal pronoun meaning "one", German man, French on. 2 Attributions
• Oppos: (PEOPLE)我/EGO Wǒ 我 is contrastive and emphatic by Warring States times (in OBI it was not yet in opposition to wú 吾 and was the standard unmarked pronoun during earlier stages of the language). The word freely occurs in subject, mofifying, and object position and often has an idiomatic meaning like "I for my part" and the formal slightly depersonalised "our party". NB: The word also serves as an impersonal pronoun meaning "one", German man, French on. 4 Attributions
• Oppos: (PEOPLE)我/ONESELF 自我 2 Attributions
• Oppos: (PEOPLE)身/SELF Shēn 身 typically refers to the subject in a contrastive way, and the word is often hard to distinguish from the nominal concept of a person. Adverbially, the word is different from PERSONALLY in that it does not connote distinction in the agent. 3 Attributions