Taxonomy of meanings for 息:　　

Additional information about 息

說文解字: 【息】，喘也。从心、自，自亦聲。 【相卽切】

Criteria
• WORK
  

  1. The current general term for work is gōng 工 (ant. xiū 休 "rest"), but the word refers specifically to skilled work.

  2. Shì 事 (ant. xián 閒 "be at leisure") refers primarily to an official or regular working effort made on behalf of and in the service of an employer or a ruler.

  3. Zuò 作 (ant. xí 息 "take a rest from work") refers to manual work.

  4. Chǎn 產 refers to the pursuance of a traditional family trade.

  5. Yè 業 refers to the pursuance of one's own professional career or one's career as a skilled artisan, farmer etc..

  6. Wù 務 refers to work imposed on one because of one's public employment.

  7. Shēng 生 can occasionally come to refer to something like one's daily work.

  8. Zhì 治 is mostly used verbally and refers to putting a coherent organised effort into something or work at something.

  9. Gān 干 is only used verbally and refers to the concerted effort or working towards an end.

• STOP
  

  1. The standard current word for ceasing in an activity is zhǐ 止 (ant. xíng 行 "carry on with"), and this word can to any concrete or abstract activity; the ceasing may be final or temporary.

  2. Definitive discontinuation, often of inanimate processes, is yǐ 已 (ant. zuò 作 "break into action"). See FINISH.

  3. Bà 罷 is to deliberately discontinue a course of action one is embarked on, particularly a military action.

  4. Ceasing in a human activity, for a while, is xí 息 and the somewhat rarer xiū 休 (all ant. zuò 作 "break into action").

  5. Jué 絕 (ant. jì 繼 "continue") is to disrupt one's current (human) activity, and fèi 廢 (ant. qín 勤 "continue to make a serioues effort") is to discontinue such an acitivity permanently.

  6. Shě 舍 (often negated) is to relent in a certain activity.

  7. Chuò 輟 (ant.* láo 勞 "put in a continued honest effort") is temporary discontinuation of human action.

  8. Zhì 滯 can be used to refer to the involuntary discontinuation in an activity.

  9. Xiē1 歇 refers to the discontinuation of a process (like that of worrying).

• FLOURISH
  

  1. The current general word for flourishing or thriving of any kind, abstract or concrete is shèng 盛 (ant. shuāi 衰 "decline").

  2. Chāng 昌 and xīng 興 (all ant. wáng 亡 "be ruined"), and lóng 隆 (ant. tì 替 "decline") refer primarily to the flourishing of political institutions and the like.

  3. Xí 息, zhí 殖, and fān 蕃 refer specifically to the flourishing of flora and fauna.

  4. The literal word for luxuriant growth of plants is mào 茂 (ant. diāo 凋 "dried up").

  5. Róng 榮 (ant. kū 枯 "dried up") refers especially to splendid luxuriance of growth as an admirable sight.

  6. Fēng 豐 (ant.* wěi 萎 "dried up and thin on the ground") refers to rich thick growth, often as an asset.

  7. Fān 蕃 and yù 鬱 (mostly reduplicated yù yù 鬱鬱 ) refer to ample thick growth.

  8. Fú shū 扶疏 is a poetic word referring to luxurious growth of plants.

  NB: There is a remarkable abundance of terminology in this semantic field, and in many cases the distinctions are less than clear.

• REST
  

  1. The current general word for resting is xí 息 (ant. zuò 作 "work").

  2. Xiū 休 (ant. láo 勞 "work hard") refers to brief break in a working process.

  3. Yàn 晏 (ant. qín 勤 "work assiduously") refers to relaxing at home.

  4. Qì 憩 (ant. xīn 辛 "work strenuously until exhaustion") is an elevated poetic word for resting.

  NB: Xiē 歇 is post-Han.

• ARISE
  

  [GENERAL/SPECIFIC]

  [HIGH-DEGREE/LOW-DEGREE]

  [INCHOACTIVE/PERFECTIVE]

  1. The most current general word for something arising is probably qǐ 起 (ant. zhǐ 止 "cease to exist").

  [GENERAL]

  2. Méng 萌 is inchoative and refers to the initial stage of arising.

  [INCHOATIVE]

  3. Shēng 生 (ant. miè 滅 "be extinguished (as dinosaurs)") refers to the coming into existence of something which did not previously exist.

  [PERFECTIVE]

  4. Xīng 興 (ant. xí 息 "cease to be virulent") and fā 發 refer to something moving from an "incubatory" state to a state of manifest "virulence" and full development.

  [HIGH-DEGREE], [PERFECTIVE]

  5. Chū 出 (NB: rù 入 cannot be used as an antonym for this meaning.) refers to something that pre-exists emerging or moving from an initial state of hiddenness or non-obviousness to a state of manifest visibility (in analogy with the basic meaning of the word "to come out").

  [SPECIFIC]

  6. Zuò 作 (ant.* xiē 歇 "cease to exist, cease to be active, cease to happen") typically refers to something happening or arising for the first time, but the word can also refer to the emergence of persons like sages.

  [ORIGINAL], [SPECIFIC]

  NB: This group needs to be viewed together with BEGIN, and the line between the two is by no means always clear.

• EXTINGUISH
  

  1. The standard word for extinguishing a fire is xí 息.

  2. Miè 滅 "destroy" is occasionally used to refer to the extinguishing of fires.

• DISAPPEAR
  

  1. The dominant word for ceasing to exist is wáng 亡 (and there is no early evidence for the reading wú 亡 ).

  2. Mò 沒 "go under" is a dramatic verb referring to the disappearance of something.

  3. Xí 息 "be extinguished" is a politely periphrastic way of referring to the disappearance of something.

  4. Què 闕 can refer to the disappearance of a practice.

• SIGH
  

  1. The current general word for any kind of sigh or groan is tàn 歎.

  2. Tài xí 太息 refers to sighing not as a sign of distress but of any heightened emotion.

  3. Kuì rán 喟然 refers almost onomatopoetically to the sound of sighing.

  4. Shēn 呻 refers to a slow and drawn-out sigh, according to tradition.

  5. Yín 吟 refers, according to tradition, to a somewhat shorter and more eruptive sigh.

  6. Wǎn 惋 refers to a sigh expressive of distress.

  7. Jiē 嗟 refers typically to a demonstrative sigh (or occasionally even lamentation), but this demonstrative sigh can also signify admiration.

  8. Kài 慨 refers to an intense sigh of heightened emotion of any kind.

  9. Xī xū 欷歔 and the earlier xū xī 歔欷 refer to tearful sighs of distress.

• ACT
  

  [AD-HOC/SYSTEMATIC]

  [AIMLESS/PURPOSEFUL]

  [ARTIFICIAL/NATURAL]

  [BASE/NOBLE]

  [BASIC/MARGINAL]

  [COMMENDATORY/DEROGATORY]

  [CONATIVE/PERFECTIVE]

  [DELIBERATE/INVOLUNTARY]

  [GENERAL/SPECIFIC]

  [HABITUAL/OCCASIONAL]

  [HUMBLE/NOBLE]

  [PHYSICAL/MENTAL]

  [PRESCRIBED/SPONTANEOUS]

  [PRIVATE/PUBLIC]

  [RESPONSIBLE/UNACCOUNTABLE]

  1. The current general word for any deliberate behaviour one may be held morally and/or administratively responsible for is xíng 行 (ant. zhǐ 止 "decide not to take action"), and this conduct is typically one engaged in on someone else's behalf.

  [COMMENDATORY!], [GENERAL], [HABITUAL], [PHYSICAL], [RESPONSIBLE]

  2. Wéi 為 (ant. wú wéi 無為 "not engage in purposeful and result-orientated self-assertive action") focusses not on the act itself but primarily on the results achieved or aimed for.

  [OCCASIONAL], [PURPOSEFUL]

  3. Jū 居, when used in this meaning, focusses not on the results of one's actions, or on the effect of one's actions on others, but on the moral character of one's behaviour as such.

  [HABITUAL], [RESPONSIBLE], [SYSTEMATIC]

  4. Shì 事 (ant.* xián 閒 "take it easy") primarily focusses on action as part of the fulfilment of a duty imposed by one's station in life or a task one has set oneself.

  [PRESCRIBED], [PUBLIC!], [RESPONSIBLE]

  5. Gōng 躬 (ant.* shǐ rén 使人 "get others to...") focusses on a person of considerable social status engaging personally in a (typically public) action. See SELF.

  [MARGINAL], [NOBLE], [OCCASIONAL], [PUBLIC!]

  6. Wěi 偽 (ant. tiān 天 "natural") refers to artificial or faked human action. See PRETEND.

  [ARTIFICIAL], [DEROGATORY!]

  7. Dòng 動 (ant. jìng 靜 "decide to remain inactive") typically refers to spontaneous purposeful action and focusses almost philosophically on the autonomous decision of the agent to act.

  [OCCASIONAL], [DELIBERATE]

  8. Zuò 作 (ant. xí 息 "fail to take the initiative, fail to become active") refers to the taking of an initiative for an action which would not have occurred without such a deliberate initiative, and the word is naturally associated with the notion of creativity.

  SPONTANEOUS, OCCASIONAL, PERFECTIVE

  9. Jǔ 舉 refers specifically to the undertaking of a well-considered major act, particularly as part of a political strategy.

  [DELIBERATE], [PURPOSEFUL], [RESPONSIBLE]

  NB: Fēng 風 refers rather generally and abstractly to a person's or a group's way or pattern of behaviour, and the word is usually used as a noun. See CUSTOM

  10. Jiā 加 typically refers to action insofar as it affects others.

  11. Xí 習 refers to the habitual repeated practice of something in order to achieve proficiency in the kind of action concerned.

• BREATHE
  

  1. The current standard words for breathing are xí 息 "breathe" and hū xī 呼吸 "breathe out and in", and the latter word refers also more generally to taking in things liquids through the mouth, ant. tǔ 吐 "spit out".

  2. Chuī 吹 refers to the blowing out of breath either as part of heavy breathing or e.g. in the playing of music. See BLOW.

  3. Chuǎn 喘 refers to heavy panting, including breathing in and out, especially on the occasion of exhaustion or ill health. See PANT.

  4. Xī 吸 refers specifically to breathing in.

  5. Pèn 噴 refers to the breathing out of air including the concurrent spitting out of liquids or indeed food in the mouth, proverbially rice.

  6. Xū 噓 refers to breathing lightly, in and out, without making any noise, but the focus is often on the breathing out rather than in.

  7. Kuì 喟 refers to the breathing out heavily and noisily, in the manner of an intense and demonstrative sigh. See SIGH.

  8. Xǔ 煦 is to breathe (typically warm) air on something, but the word is much more common in the meaning "to shout".

  9. Hū 呼 occasionally refers to the breathing out of air, also including certain light liquids, but the word standardly focusses on the considerable noise being produced on this occasion. See SHOUT.

  NB: that most words for breathing refer primarily to breathing through the mouth and not through the nose.

Word relations
• Ant: (END)作/ARISE Zuò 作 (ant.* xiē 歇 "cease to exist, cease to be active, cease to happen") typically refers to something happening or arising for the first time, but the word can also refer to the emergence of persons like sages. [ORIGINAL], [SPECIFIC]
• Ant: (FLOURISH)耗/POOR
• Contrast: (BREATHE)喘/BREATHE1 Attribution
• Assoc: (REST)休/REST Xiū 休 (ant. láo 勞 "work hard") refers to brief break in a working process. 1 Attribution
• Assoc: (FLOURISH)蕃/FLOURISH Fān 蕃 and yù 鬱 (mostly reduplicated yù yù 鬱鬱) refer to ample thick growth. 4 Attributions
• Synon: (BREATHE)氣/BREATHE1 Attribution
• Synon: (FLOURISH)蕃/FLOURISH Fān 蕃 and yù 鬱 (mostly reduplicated yù yù 鬱鬱) refer to ample thick growth. 1 Attribution