咎

// Culpability and Liability: A fault carrying moral or legal liability; the state of being blameworthy. In early texts (such as the //I Ching*), the phrase 無咎 (wú jiù) can denote a state of being cleared of liability or free from adverse consequences.

• Penalty and Censure: The cause of blame, or the resulting penalty and condemnation.
• Calamity: Disaster or misfortune arising from a misalignment with Fate or cosmic agents (e.g., 天咎 "heavenly blame"), regardless of conscious intent.

• Noun: A fault, a cause for blame, or the punishment itself.
• Verb: To blame, to reproach, or to assign guilt to another.

When distinguishing between terms of failure:

• 過 (guò): An oversight, lapse, or "going too far"; often accidental or a matter of degree.
• 罪 (zuì): A formal crime or sin; a specific violation of law or code.
• 咎 (jiù): The burden of culpability; the bridge between the act (過/罪) and the consequence (punishment).