Chinese honorifics: Encyclopedia II - Chinese honorifics - Referring to oneself

Chinese honorifics - Referring to oneself

• 愚 (yú): I, the not so smart
• 鄙 (bǐ): I, the less educated
• 敝 (bì): I, the not good
• 卑 (bēi): I, from a lower class
• 窃 (qiè): I, the intruding
• 僕 (pú): I, who serves you
• 妾 (qiè): I, your wife
• 在下 (zàixià): I, who is humbler and lower than you
• 贫僧 (pínsēng): I, the poor monk
• 贫尼 (pínní): I, the poor nun

Chinese honorifics - For older people

• 老朽 (lǎoxiǔ): I, who is old and unable
• 老夫 (lǎofū): I, who is old and respected
• 老汉 (lǎohàn): I, who is an old man
• 老拙 (lǎozhuó): I, who is old and clumsy
• 老衲 (lǎonà): I, the old monk

Chinese honorifics - For kings

• 孤 (gū): I, the ruler of a kingdom
• 寡 (guǎ): I, the ruler of a kingdom and with lesser virtue
• 不谷 (bù gǔ): I, the ruler of a kingdom who's not virtuous
• 朕 (zhèn): I, the ruler of the empire

Chinese honorifics - For government officials

• I, the lower ranked and insignificant official (used in front of a higher-ranked official to show humbleness):
  • 臣 (chén)
  • 下官 (xiàguān)
  • 末官 (mòguān)
  • 小吏 (xiǎolì)
  • 卑职 (bēizhí)

Chinese honorifics - For scholars

• I, who started my education later than you:
  • 小生 (xiǎoshēng)
  • 晚生 (wǎnshēng)
  • 晚学 (wǎnxué)
• I, who is without talent:
  • 不才 (bùcái)
  • 不佞 (bùnìng)
• 不肖 (bùxiào): I, who did not respect you

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Referring to oneself", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki