患

By extension “to suffer from illness” or “a serious trouble or calamity.”

It spans psychological, medical, and political domains, linking inner anxiety with external harm.

A phono-semantic compound:

心 (heart, mind) — semantic component

串 (to string together; to pierce through) — phonetic component

The phonetic 串 originally depicts objects threaded or pierced in a line. When combined with 心, the image suggests:

“Something piercing or threading through the heart.”

This vividly conveys the idea of persistent worry, pain, or affliction that penetrates the mind and body.

Semantic development

1. Psychological sense (primary):

- worry

- anxiety

- concern

- distress

2. Medical sense:

- illness

- chronic ailment

- bodily suffering

3. Social & political sense:

- disaster

- hidden danger

- future calamity

Thus, 患 always implies something ongoing and threatening, not a momentary event.

憂患 (우환) — anxiety; trouble

患者 (환자) — patient; the afflicted

疾患 (질환) — disease; medical condition

患難 (환난) — hardship; calamity

隱患 (은환) — hidden danger

Related characters

Semantic family (worry & emotion):

憂 — deep anxiety, sorrow

愁 — melancholy, grief

慮 — concern, consideration

懼 — fear

Medical & affliction:

疾 — acute illness

病 — disease

痛 — pain

Calamity & danger:

禍 — disaster caused by action

災 — natural disaster

難 — hardship, adversity

Key distinction:

患 emphasizes ongoing, internalized threat

禍 / 災 emphasize external events

Classical citations:

《論語 · 學而》 (Analects 1.4)

「君子不患無位，患所以立；不患莫己知，求為可知也。」

“The noble person does not worry about having no official position;

he worries about whether he has the means to stand. He does not worry about not being recognized; he seeks to be worthy of recognition.”

Here, 患 clearly means “to worry / to be anxious about.”

Confucius redirects concern from external status to moral substance.

《孟子 · 梁惠王上》 (Mencius)

「生於憂患，死於安樂。」

“One survives through worry and hardship, and perishes through comfort and ease.”

This famous line elevates 憂患 (“anxiety and affliction”) into a moral necessity for growth, especially in rulership.

《黃帝內經》 (Huangdi Neijing)

「百病生於氣，怒則氣上，喜則氣緩，悲則氣消，恐則氣下，寒則氣收，熱則氣泄，驚則氣亂，勞則氣耗，思則氣結。」

While 患 is not named explicitly here, later medical texts summarize illness as “內患”—internal affliction caused by emotional imbalance, especially worry (思) and anxiety.

Hence, 患 becomes a technical term for illness itself, as in 患者 — patient (one who suffers).

患 bridges mind and body. It represents:

- worry that pierces the heart

- illness as embodied anxiety

- calamity as unaddressed inner weakness

In classical thought, to govern oneself or a state requires learning what to “worry about” and what not to—making 患 a key ethical concept, not merely a negative emotion.

In Buddhist texts, 患 frequently appears in compounds such as:

苦患 — suffering and affliction

憂患 — anxiety and distress

《法華經》 (Lotus Sutra) uses 患 metaphorically for worldly suffering that binds sentient beings, reinforcing its existential scope.