▲ | kragen 8 days ago | |
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E9%99%B0#Traditional_Chinese (陰) lists the following definitions: 1. cloudy; overcast; gloomy 2. hidden; secret 3. negative [of electrical charge] 4. the Moon 5. shade; shadow 6. north of a mountain or south of a river 7. back side 8. of the nether world; of ghosts 9. (philosophy) "female" principle; yin in yin-yang 10. in intaglio 11. treacherous; deceitful; cheating 12. (dialectal) to deceive; to trick; to trap 13. (Chinese phonetics, of a syllable) open; not having a consonant coda 14. (Cantonese) bangs; fringe 15. genitalia (of humans) 16. a surname The one (American) person I know who has 陰 as a surname reports that Chinese people are often shocked at her surname upon meeting her. I think it might be a bit like having the surname Death in English (https://www.ancestry.com/last-name-meaning/death?geo-lang=en...). That is to say, black kind of does mean "bad" here, in the popular conception anyway. Taoism and Buddhism promote a worldview that sees birth and death, creation and destruction, as neither good nor bad, simply inseparable parts of a larger whole. But most everyday people try to avoid darkness, death, destruction, cloudiness, gloominess, shadows, ghosts, treachery, traps, and so on, most of the time. It's more that Taoism teaches that this attempt is foolish. Not all the senses are unpopular; plenty of people like human genitalia, the Moon, and intaglio, and the shady side of a river can be nicer when it's hot out. |