Taxonomy of meanings for 忠:　　

  • 忠 zhōng (OC: krluŋ MC: ʈiuŋ) 陟弓切 平 廣韻：【無私也敬也直也厚也亦州名本漢臨江縣屬巴郡後魏置臨州貞觀爲忠州 】
    • FAITHFUL
      • nab{PRED}be devoted effort; be the doing/giving one's best
      • nabact忠臣德也"loyal dedication is the virtue of a minister": loyal devotion; devoted committed effort (in the service of a ruler etc); devoted effort (in support of a ruler etc), duty of loyal devotion; the doing of one's loyal best
      • v[adN]nonreferentialthose who make a devoted effort, those who do their devoted best
      • vadNdevoted, trusty (of persons and of actions); doing his best
      • vadVdoing one's devoted loyal best, with one's utmost devoted loyal effort; loyally and prepared to make every effort on behalf of someone
      • viactdo one's loyal best; be loyal in action
      • vifeelfeel true loyal devotion
      • vt(oN)make a devoted effort for a contextually determinate superior
      • vt+prep+Ndo one's devoted loyal best for N (also, by way of exception, to the people! ZUO 2.6)
      • vtoNdo one's honest and loyal best for (a superior, or the law)
      • vibe faithful to one's superior's interests, do one's best for one's superior
      • vt+prep+Nexpress one's loyalty to NLZ
      • nabpsych(obligatory) loyal psychologial devotion; fealtyCH
      • nabact/psych freefreely chosen personal loyaltyCH
      • abstract> VIRTUE
        • and truthful, from one's heart> HONEST
          • and non-selfish> GENEROUS
              • generalised moral> GOOD
                • vadNtrusty and even-handed (also towards one's inferiors
                • vibe trusty and even-handed (towads the people)
                • nabfeaturetrustiness and unbiased even-handedness (to superiors and inferiors)
                • vt+prep+NN=the peopledeal even-handedly and trustily with (the people etc)
            • exocentric: faithful effort> EFFORT
              • nabactdedication; dedicated effort; giving one's best
              • vadVwith whole-hearted effort
              • viactgive one's best; do as well as one can
              • vt(oN)do one's best for; work wholheartedly for something or someone contextually determinate
              • vtoNgive one's best for someone or something
          • CONFUCIANS
          • 忠 zhang1 康熙字典： 又、叶陟良切，音張。【漢溧陽長潘乾𥓓】彬文烈武，扶弱抑强。龕刈骾雄，流惡顯忠

              Additional information about 忠

              說文解字: 【忠】，敬也。从心、中聲。 【陟弓切】

                Criteria
              • TALENT

                1. The standard word for an unusual promising ability to perform important future tasks of any kind is cái 才／材, and the talents referred to by this word do not need to be of a "higher" kind.

                2. Xián 賢 (ant. bù xiào 不肖 "untalented") often refers to realised talents, and typically includes the nuance of moral worthiness in addition to practical and intellectual talents, and prototypically these talents include moral ones and are excercised in the service of a ruler. (Note the combination 忠賢 "loyal and worthy")

                3. Dé 德 "political charisma; moral integrity" refers especially to the higher talents of the sage or the sage ruler and may perhaps be usefully compared in this synonym group. See VIRTUE.

              • REVOLT

                1. The current general word for staging a revolt against authorities is pàn 叛 (ant. shùn 順 "remain loyal").

                2. Luàn 亂 (ant. zhì 治 "regularly political government") refers to a major political upheaval designed to topple the reigning government.

                3. Biàn 變 (ant. cóng 從 "remain politically obedient") refers rather abstractly and neutrally to large scale or comprehensive political unrest of an unspecified character without the negative evaluation of such action which is inherent in luàn 亂.

                4. Fǎn 反 (ant. zhōng 忠 "show proper loyalty") refers to a political revolt on a lesser scale than luàn 亂, and this word always has negative overtones.

                5. Bèi 背 and bèi 倍 (ant. shùn 順 "remain loyal") refer to a defiant act of disobedience and turning against one's superiors without a necessary intention to topple these authorities.

                6. Nàn 難 (ant. xiào 效 "loyal positive effort") refers rather abstractly to political unrest of an unspecified character and focusses on this as being a threat to the ruler's authority and position.

                7. Nì 逆 (ant. shùn 順 "remain loyal") refers to political disobedience and revolt in a disapproving way.

              • FAITHFUL

                1. The current general word for trustiness or good faith is xìn 信.

                2. Chéng 誠 adds to the notion of good faith that of earnestness of effort on behalf of those one is faithful to.

                3. Zhōng 忠 refers to a selfless effort on behalf of the person to whom one takes oneself to owe loyalty, and this person may be either a ruler or a friend.

                4. Zhēn 貞 refers to sturdy moral reliability based on inner conviction.

                5. Shí 實 is occasionally used to refer to reliability of a person's actual performance of duties, particularly to a person's reliability in relation to promises made.

                6. Què 愨 is a rare archaic word referring to trustiness and stolid loyalty as a psychological quality.

                7. Liàng 諒 refers to trustworthiness and fidelity in a more popular mode, sometimes (LY) even with negative overtones of blind faith.

              • VIRTUE

                1. The current general term for salient features and principles of charismatic moral potency, integrity and generosity is dé 德, when used as a term of ethical evalutation.

                2. Other general terms for subjectively construed general moral commendation include měi 美 "point of moral distinction" (ant. è 惡 "point of moral decrepitude"), and occasionally gāo 高 "elevated points, elevated spirit" (ant. jiàn 賤 "point of vulgar decrepitude"). NB that shàn 善 "excellent" is not used as a general term of positive moral appreciation in pre-Buddhist texts.

                3. The most current dé 德 "virtues" recognised in pre-Buddhist China are rén 仁 "kind-heartedness", yì 義 "rectitude", lǐ 禮 "propriety", zhì 智 "wisdom", and xìn 信 "good faith".

                4. Further important virtues are xiào 孝 "filial piety", zhōng 忠 "loyal diligence", tì 悌 / 弟 "brotherly affection", lián 廉 "impeccable probity", jié 節 "moderation", and perhaps yǒng 勇 "the courage of one's moral convictions". ( 說苑 : 百行 (xìng) 孝為先 )

                5. Zhōng yōng 中庸 "the mean in action" may be mentioned as a a central Confucian virtue, jiān ài 兼愛 "unIversal love" as a Mohist virtue, wú wéi 無為 "unobtrusive action" as a non-moralistic Taoist virtue.

                Word relations
              • Inconsist: (FAITHFUL)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.
              • Ant: (FAITHFUL)邪/WICKED Xié 邪 (ant. zhèng 正 "straight and in no way wicked") typically involves nuances of sinister evil influences in addition to plain human depravity.
              • Object: (FAITHFUL)主/RULER The current general word for a person in charge of others are zhǔ 主 (ant. pú 僕 "servant").
              • Epithet: (FAITHFUL)愛/LOVE The clearly dominant word referring to love is ài 愛 (ant. hèn 恨 "dislike"; rarely zēng 憎 "dislike"; and wù 惡 "hate"), and this word refers both to the feelings of love and to the expression of love in loving care for another person as well as in sexual relations. (Occasionally, the word may refer to the emotional preference that a small child feels for its parents. For this meaning see PREFER.)
              • Epithet: (FAITHFUL)臣/MINISTER The general word for a government minister at any level and of any kind is chén 臣, generically rén chén 人臣.
              • Epithet: (FAITHFUL)謀/ADVISE The current standard word for fairly formal consultation and advice to superiors is móu 謀. [ASCENDING], [BASIC], [OFFICIAL]
              • Contrast: (FAITHFUL)信/FAITHFUL The current general word for trustiness or good faith is xìn 信.
              • Assoc: (GOOD)直/GOOD Zhí 直 (ant. qǔ 曲 "devious") refers to moral straightforwardness and uprightness.
              • Assoc: (FAITHFUL)信/FAITHFUL The current general word for trustiness or good faith is xìn 信.
              • Assoc: (FAITHFUL)恕/GOOD
              • Assoc: (FAITHFUL)良/EXCELLENT The standard current general word for anything or anyone who naturally meets certain generally accepted high standards of excellence is liáng 良 (ant. liè 劣 "inferior").
              • Assoc: (FAITHFUL)敬/DILIGENT Jìng 敬 refers to respectful diligence in action.
              • Oppos: (FAITHFUL)禮/RITUAL The current general term for everything relating to the system of ritual propriety is lǐ 禮. However the term can also be used to refer to individual prescribed rituals.