AUSPICIOUS    吉祥吉

Of LUCKY OMEN.
PROPITIOUSFAVOURABLEFELICITOUS
Old Chinese Criteria
[ACTION/EVENT] [ARCHAIC/CURRENT] [GENERAL/SPECIFIC] 1. The general term is jí 吉 (ant. xiōng 凶 "inauspicious") and refers to any natural phenomenon or supposed supernatural response that is of good omen, in an everyday almost secular way. [GENERAL] 2. Xiáng 祥 tends to refer to the auspiciousness of human actions, but in its nominal usages it came to be used more generally for all tings that bode well or ill. [ACTION!] 3. The archaising and elevated, mostly nominal, ruì 瑞 has specific religious connotations with rituals and the Will of Heaven. [ARCHAIC] NB: Xìng 幸 (ant. bù xìng 不幸 "unfortunate") is purely "secular", and often coincidental, good luck with no metaphysical or religious significance being attached to the term. See LUCKY
Modern Chinese Criteria
吉兆 嘉祥 彩頭 祥瑞 利市 (coll) refers to a good business omen. 幸運 瑞 祥 禎 rough draft to BEGIN TO identify synonym group members for analysis, based on CL etc. 18.11.2003. CH ／
Antonym
Hypernym
  • LUCK　GOOD BECAUSE IT CAUSES CONTINGENT PROFIT. (anc: 6/0, child: 3)
  • GOOD　EXCELLENT in VIRTUE OR in IMPORTANT SKILL. (anc: 5/0, child: 6)
  • EXCELLENT　FEATURE BECAUSE of which SOMETHING OR SOMEONE IS OR SHOULD BE PREFERRED to OTHERS (anc: 4/0, child: 11)
  • De differentiis ( DIFFERENTIAE I) p.

  • 韓非子同義詞研究 ( HANFEI TONGYI 2004) p. 360

    • Words (13 items)

    祥  xiáng OC: sɢlaŋ MC: zi̯ɐŋ 40 Attributions

    Xiáng 祥 tends to refer to the auspiciousness of human actions, but in its nominal usages it came to be used more generally for all tings that bode well or ill.

      Word relations
    • Ant: 凶/INAUSPICIOUS The current general word for what is of no good omen is xiōng 凶 (ant. jí 吉).
    • Ant: 妖 / 祅/INAUSPICIOUS Yāo 妖/祅 refers to concrete inauspicious events like animal misfosters.
    • Assoc: 吉/AUSPICIOUS The general term is jí 吉 (ant. xiōng 凶 "inauspicious") and refers to any natural phenomenon or supposed supernatural response that is of good omen, in an everyday almost secular way.

      Syntactic words
    • ngood omens (for son); SHI 189.7: auspicious sign; GY 2.1: auspicious acts (are what one pleases the gods with)
    • nab{PRED}be a matter of auspicious supernatural influenceCH
    • vadNSHI 236: lucky (day); auspicious (hearth, carriage for a deceased person)
    • vi(primarily of human actions:)祥"be of good omen; be deserving of good luck"; 不祥"be of evil omen"; be of good omen, be liable to provoke a positive response from the supernatural world
    • vistative(of things or persons) be auspicious; have good prospects
    • vt+prep+Nbe in auspicious blessed harmony with N, be blessed by NCH
    吉  jí OC: kid MC: kit 31 Attributions

    The general term is jí 吉 (ant. xiōng 凶 "inauspicious") and refers to any natural phenomenon or supposed supernatural response that is of good omen, in an everyday almost secular way.

      Word relations
    • Ant: 凶/INAUSPICIOUS The current general word for what is of no good omen is xiōng 凶 (ant. jí 吉).
    • Ant: 禍/DISASTER The most common general word for disasters is huò 禍 (ant. fú 福 "good fortune") which has no connotations of any metaphysical kind. (In OBI the character currently transcribed as huò 禍 - and closely related to 占 - refers not only to disasters as such, but particularly to disastrous omens.)
    • Epithet: 福/LUCK The dominant general word for good fortune is fú 福 (ant. huò 禍 "misfortune"), and the dominant general word for good luck is xìng 幸 (ant. yāng 殃 "misfortune").
    • Assoc: 祥/AUSPICIOUS Xiáng 祥 tends to refer to the auspiciousness of human actions, but in its nominal usages it came to be used more generally for all tings that bode well or ill.

      Syntactic words
    • nabevent(Heaven-sent) auspicious events or good fortune
    • nabstativeauspiciousness (or otherwise)
    • v[adN]what is auspicious, something auspiciousCH
    • vadNSHI 252: excellent (officers) SHI 23: fine, excellent (officer, enticing a woman); SHI 80: auspicious (day); YI: auspicious; LIJI 9.90 and LAO 31: auspicious (i.e. festive, business)
    • vibe auspicious; be lucky; bode well
    • vi0there will be good fortuneCH
    • viprocessturn out auspiciously
    瑞  ruì OC: djols MC: dʑiɛ 28 Attributions

    The archaising and elevated, mostly nominal, ruì 瑞 has specific religious connotations with rituals and the Will of Heaven.

      Syntactic words
    • nauspicious omen; auspicious signs
    • nadNCC, fengyou: auspicious and magic (chart); LIJI 6.72f: auspicious insignia of ran This is very close to xiáng 祥, but more elevated in style and tends to be used nominally.
    吉凶  jí xiōng OC: kid qhoŋ MC: kit hi̯oŋ 11 Attributions

    Jí xiōng 吉凶 refers to the abstract dimension of auspiciousness versus inauspiciousness.

      Syntactic words
    • NPabfeatureauspiciousness or otherwise> auspiciousness
    • NPab{nab1ant.nab2}conceptthe dimension of auspiciousness versus inauspiciousness; auspiciousness or otherwise
    元  yuán OC: ŋɡon MC: ŋi̯ɐn 4 Attributions
      Syntactic words
    • vadNauspicious (day)
    妖祥  yāo xiáng MC: 'jew zjang OC: qrow sɢlaŋ 2 Attributions
      Syntactic words
    • NPabfeatureauspiciousness or inauspiciousnessLZ
    禎  zhēn OC: teŋ MC: ʈiɛŋ 2 Attributions
      Syntactic words
    • nabmetaphysicalauspiciousness; good fortune
    造  zào 1 Attribution
      Syntactic words
    • nabpromising potentialCH
    善吉  shàn jí OC: ɡjenʔ kid MC: dʑiɛn kit 1 Attribution
      Syntactic words
    • NPabstativeauspicious, good state; good form (of a person)
    日  rì OC: mljiɡ MC: ȵit 1 Attribution
      Syntactic words
    • nauspicious day
    • viwork with the auspiciousness of days/dates 日者 "calendar specialist"
    良吉  liáng jí OC: ɡ-raŋ kid MC: li̯ɐŋ kit 0 Attributions
      Syntactic words
    • VPiIt is auspicious
    利  lì OC: rids MC: li 0 Attributions
      Syntactic words
    • vtoNputativefind auspicious
    幸  xìng OC: ɢreeŋʔ MC: ɦɣɛŋ 0 Attributions
      Syntactic words