雌

1. Biological: Female, specifically referring to animals (counterpart to 雄).

2. Philosophical/Ontological: The feminine principle; yielding or receptive. In metaphysical contexts (notably Taoist), denotes the Yin aspect—such as the void, the valley, or a strategic state of receptivity used to overcome rigidity.

Primarily functions as a noun or adjective identifying sex. In philosophical prose, it can function as a quality or a mode of being (e.g., "remaining in the female [state]").

Contrast with 牝 (pìn): both denote "female animal," but 牝 is generally older and more frequently refers to livestock or beasts of burden, whereas 雌 serves as a broader term that became the standard for "female."

Composed of 女 (woman) and 秋 (autumn). The radical 女 anchors the glyph within the feminine domain, while 秋 provides the phonetic element.

When encountering glosses such as "gentle" or "soft," note that these rarely refer to personality; they typically describe an ontological state. In contexts of power dynamics or metaphysics, "yielding" or "receptive" is generally more accurate. If both 雌 and 牝 appear in a single passage, check for a distinction between domestic livestock (牝) and wild animals or a generalized category of femininity (雌).