cheng ming also called Rectification of Names, a Confucian program of language reform advocating a return to traditional language. There is a brief reference to cheng ming in Analects 13:3, but Hsün Tzu presents the most detailed discussion of it. While admitting that new words (ming) will sometimes have to be created, Hsün Tzu fears the proliferation of words, dialects, and idiolects will endanger effective communication. He is also concerned that new ways of speaking may lend themselves to sophistry or fail to serve such purposes as accurately distinguishing the noble from the base. See also CONFUCIANIS.
B.W.V.N.