沌

A phono-semantic compound:

水 (water) — semantic component

屯 (둔) — phonetic component, to gather; to be congested

The original sense describes water that is thick, stagnant, or clotted, as if gathered and unable to flow freely. This physical image gave rise to abstract meanings such as confusion, obscurity, and primal undifferentiation.

혼돈 / 혼둔 (混沌 / 渾沌) — chaos; primordial confusion

돈탁 (沌濁) — turbid and unclear (rare, literary)

혼혼돈돈 (渾渾沌沌) — utterly confused and indistinct (literary)

Related characters:

混 — mix; confuse (more common, active verb)

渾 — turbid; whole; undivided

濁 — muddy; impure

清 — clear; pure (semantic opposite)

Semantic relationship with 渾:

沌 emphasizes thickness, obscurity, and primal confusion

渾 emphasizes mixture and wholeness

Thus 渾沌 / 混沌 together describe undifferentiated chaos.

沌 often carries a cosmological meaning rather than a moral one. Unlike 混 (to mix actively), 沌 suggests a passive, natural state.

In classical philosophy, 沌 does not merely mean disorder, but rather a fertile, undifferentiated origin.

《莊子》 (Zhuangzi):

「渾沌未分」

“Chaos before distinctions had emerged.”

In Huainanzi (淮南子) 沌 is associated with the primordial state of the universe, before heaven and earth were separated.