| Common Alphabetic |
Wade-Giles |
Pinyin |
Chinese Character |
Translations |
| chì |
ch'i |
qì |
 |
breath, air, ether |
|
| dàu |
tao |
dào |
 |
way |
|
| dv |
te |
dé |
 |
virtue; charisma; power |
|
| jywndz |
chün-tzu |
jûnzi |
 |
gentleman |
- Originally "noble son," it primarily has an ethical meaning, though occasionally still highlighting its social connection.
|
| lì |
li |
lì |
 |
profit, benefit, advantage |
- In Analects and Mencius, usually used in the sense of personal, partial profit or benefit; a derogatory term. See Analects IV.12, IV.16. In IV.2, though, it is used in a more neutral sense. See also Mencius I.A.1.
- In Mozi, lì is the ultimate standard at which people ought to aim: the benefit or utility of all.
|
| lï |
li |
lï |
 |
ritual; rite(s); propriety |
|
| lï |
li |
lï |
 |
order; pattern |
|
| míng |
ming |
míng |
 |
name; fame |
- "Fame" is an early extension of the core meaning of "name"; eventually comes to be used as a technical linguistic term. Whether (and where) it has this latter meaning in the Dao De Jing is a matter of some controversy.
|
| mìng |
ming |
míng |
 |
order; mandate; fate |
|
| rvn |
jen |
rén |
 |
nobility; benevolence, humaneness |
- According to Brooks & Brooks, this term undergoes a significant shift in meaning over the course of the Analects. Compare uses in Book 4 with 3:3 and esp. 12:22 and thereafter.
|
| shàn |
shan |
shàn |
 |
good |
- Often contrasted with "v [e]," on which see below.
|
| shr-fei |
shi-fei |
shì-fei |
  |
right/wrong (including "considers right/wrong") |
- In Mozi, generally used as a verb, "to affirm/deny"; see Watson’s "What the superior considers right, all shall consider right…," which is really "What the superior affirms, all shall affirm” [p. 35].
- Lau also translates it as "right/wrong"; see, for example, Mencius II.A.6.
|
| shr |
shih |
shì |
 |
knight; Gentleman (as opposed to "gentleman," on whom see above, "jywndz") |
- Primarily a social/role term, rather than an ethical judgment (cp. jywndz), but often with ethical overtones; see, e.g., Mencius 1a:7.
|
| syîn |
hsin |
xîn |
 |
mind; heart |
|
| syìn |
hsin |
xìn |
 |
fidelity; confidence |
- For "confidence," see Original Analects p. 91 (12:7).
|
| tyên |
t'ien |
tiân |
 |
heaven |
- While the original meaning of this term is difficult to pin down (see [Eno 1990, Appendix A]), it came to refer to the god of the Zhou kings. By the later Zhou, though, it was used in a number of different ways, possibly as many as five: (1) physical sky; (2) ruler or god; (3) fate; (4) nature; (5) ethical principle [Eno 1990, p. 4].
- The authors we'll read draw on many of these different aspects of the concept, so choosing one as a translation would be misleading. I will leave it romanized, avoiding the standard translation of "Heaven" since that just makes the situation more confusing by adding other associations from Western religions.
|
| v |
e |
è |
 |
bad |
- Bad, as opposed to good (shan) is a far better translation than Watson’s use of "evil." See Mo-tzu, p. 35, and Hsun-Tzu "Human Nature is Evil."
|
| yì |
yi |
yì |
 |
righteous(ness); right; view of things; ethical |
- See Mozi, p. 34, for "view of things." Mozi defines yi as "(hierarchical) order," though this doesn’t come out in Watson’s rendering; see pp. 79, 84.
|
