俳

Phono-semantic compound:

人 (사람 인) — semantic, referring to a person

非 (아닐 비) — phonetic, providing the sound pai / bae

Originally, 俳 referred to a performer engaging in exaggerated gestures, possibly linked to the idea of acting “not as oneself” (非).

The sense evolved toward actors, jesters, comic performers, eventually acquiring highly positive cultural uses.

Because 非 “not” is the phonetic element, many scholars interpret a metaphorical connection:

— Actors perform roles that are not themselves.

Though etymologically accidental, it became symbolically meaningful in East Asian literary discussions.

In Korean, 俳(배) appears mainly in Sino-Korean terms relating to actors and performing arts.

Performing arts:

俳優 (배우) — actor; performer

俳劇 (배극) — drama; theatrical performance (rare)

俳人 (배인) — actor / performer (largely literary)

Humor / comic performance (rare/learned forms):

俳戲 (배희) — farce; comic act

俳諧 (배해) — comic verse; witty composition (borrowed from Japanese haikai tradition)

Japanese cultural influence (loanwords in Korean scholarship):

俳句 (배구) — haiku

俳諧 (배해) — haikai, humorous linked verse

These are used in Korean mainly in Japanese literature studies.

Contrast with 儛 / 儿 / 儡:

俳 refers to performers, while other performing-arts characters may reflect dance, puppetry, or ritual performance.

Major difference between Chinese, Korean, and Japanese usage:

Korean — mainly means “actor” (俳優) in modern vocabulary.

Chinese — rare in modern Mandarin; the standard word for actor is 演員. 俳優 appears only in literary/archaic contexts.

Japanese — highly active:

俳優（はいゆう）— actor (everyday word)

俳句（はいく）— haiku

俳諧（はいかい）— comic linked verse

Japanese preserved the artistic-cultural sense most strongly.

Classical citations:

俳 is not extremely common in pre-Qin classics but appears in medieval and later literature, especially in theatrical contexts.

《隋書·音樂志》 (Book of Sui – “Treatise on Music”)

「俳優以戲笑為務。」

“Actors made it their task to perform plays and evoke laughter” — Strong connection to theatrical entertainers.

《舊唐書·禮樂志》 (Old Book of Tang – “Rites and Music”)

「俳人雜戲，或歌或舞。」

“Entertainers performed mixed acts — some sang, some danced.”

《明史·樂志》 (History of the Ming – “Music”)

「俳優之屬，皆供娛戲。」

“Those in the class of actors existed entirely to provide entertainment.”

Japanese Classical Reference:

《俳諧七部集》 (The Seven Anthologies of Haikai) – Edo period

俳 as “comic, playful” in the poetic tradition.

This textual tradition directly led to 俳句 (haiku).