弑

It is a strictly hierarchical and moral term, used when a subject kills a ruler, a child kills a parent, or a subordinate kills a superior.

It does not mean ordinary killing; the crime is defined by violation of social and moral order.

A phono-semantic compound:

殺 (죽일 살, “to kill”) — semantic component, in abbreviated form

式 (법 식) — phonetic component, provides the sound "si"

The character encodes the idea of ritualized or unlawful killing, specifically killing in defiance of established authority or norms.

Killing alone is insufficient for 弑:

The victim must be:

- a ruler

- a parent

- a legitimate superior

The act implies:

- moral outrage

- political disorder

- cosmic imbalance (in Confucian thought)

弑 is never used casually in any language.

In Korean and Chinese, it appears almost exclusively in:

- historical writing

- classical studies

- legal–moral discourse

Modern media may use it metaphorically for extreme betrayal, but this is stylistic, not literal.

弑害 (시해) — murder of a superior

弑君 (시군) — regicide by a subject

弑父 (시부) — patricide (classical usage)

弑逆 (시역) — treasonous murder

弑臣 (시신) — a minister who commits regicide (literary)

Comparison with related characters:

殺 — to kill (neutral, general)

害 — to harm, damage

弑 — to kill a superior (ethically charged)

逆 — rebellion, defiance (often paired with 弑)

弑 is a character of hierarchy, taboo, and moral transgression. It does not simply record a death, but judges an act—marking it as a violation of natural, familial, and political order.

Classical citations:

《春秋》 (Spring and Autumn Annals)

「臣弑其君。」

“A minister murdered his ruler.”

《左傳》 (Zuo Zhuan)

「弑君三十六，亡國五十二。」

“Thirty-six rulers were assassinated by their subjects, and fifty-two states perished.”

《史記》 (Records of the Grand Historian)

「子弑父，臣弑君，天下之大逆也。」

“For a son to kill his father, or a minister his ruler, is the greatest rebellion under Heaven.”

These citations show that 弑 is inseparable from moral condemnation and political chaos.

弑 (U+5F11) — Traditional Chinese (mainland / classical)

弒 (U+5F12) — Traditional Chinese (Taiwan standard)

In Taiwan, 弒 is standard, and the lower-left component is written in the Taiwan form of 朮, with the sixth stroke not flicked upward. This is a glyph standard difference, not a semantic one.