飾

Concrete/Aesthetic: As a verb, to embellish, decorate, or adorn (including carving, painting, and jewelry). In ritual or official contexts, this often refers to the marking of status or rank (regalia). As a noun, an ornament, trinket, fringe, or architectural facade.

Abstract/Moral: Affectation or "polishing" used to hide a deficiency; deception achieved via embellishment or a veneer applied to an existing base.

Transitive verb (e.g., "to adorn [something]").

Noun referring to a physical object of adornment or a conceptual facade.

Stative/Intransitive describing a state of being adorned or appearing in a specific manner.

vs. 妝 (zhuāng): While 妝 is generally restricted to makeup, costume, and the face, 飾 is broader, applying equally to rhetoric, architecture, and physical objects.

vs. 偽 (wěi): Whereas 偽 implies total forgery or fabrication, 飾 suggests deception via the addition of a "gloss" to an existing base.

Contextual Valence: Generally neutral in courtly or descriptive contexts (denoting elegance or status), but typically carries negative connotations of superficiality or hypocrisy in philosophical or moralist texts.

Fanqie reading: 賞職.

Tang-period reading: shiək.

Variants: Semantic variant U+9919; Simplified variant U+9970.

When encountering this glyph in official or ritual contexts, consider whether the "adornment" refers to aesthetic beauty or specifically to the indicators of rank and status.