Referring To Oneself
When referring to oneself, the regular pronoun "I" was to be avoided in most situations. When addressing a person or persons of a superior status, use of a humble form of "I" was required. For example, servants and slaves must not use the pronoun "I", when speaking to their masters. The same rule applied among royalty, government officials, and commoners based on rank and status. Socially, a person may refer to him/herself humbly in formal exchanges and settings, regardless of status and rank, in order to display virtue and enlightenment. Below is a list of some of the humble substitutes, when referring to oneself or his/her own family or possessions.
Read more about this topic: Chinese Honorifics
Famous quotes containing the words referring to, referring and/or oneself:
“There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
—Bible: New Testament Jesus, in Matthew, 8:12.
Referring to “the children of the kingdom ... cast out into outer darkness.” The words are also used in the parable of the talents, in Matthew 25:30, said of the “unprofitable servant.”
“Meanwhile Snow White held court,
rolling her china-blue doll eyes open and shut
and sometimes referring to her mirror
as women do.”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)
“One would always want to think of oneself as being on the side of love, ready to recognize it and wish it well—but, when confronted with it in others, one so often resented it, questioned its true nature, secretly dismissed the particular instance as folly or promiscuity. Was it merely jealousy, or a reluctance to admit so noble and enviable a sentiment in anyone but oneself?”
—Shirley Hazzard (b. 1931)