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:
“Walking, and leaping, and praising God.”
—Bible: New Testament Acts, 3:8.
Referring to the miraculous recovery of a lame man, through the intervention of Peter.
“Usually, when people talk about the “strength” of black women they are referring to the way in which they perceive black women coping with oppression. They ignore the reality that to be strong in the face of oppression is not the same as overcoming oppression, that endurance is not to be confused with transformation.”
—bell hooks (b. c. 1955)
“In France one must adapt oneself to the fragrance of a urinal.”
—Gertrude Stein (1874–1946)