癡

Phono-semantic compound:

疒 (illness radical) — semantic, indicating disease or disorder.

疑 (to doubt, to be uncertain) — phonetic, providing the sound chī (Middle Chinese drjie).

Together, they express the idea of mental disorder or confusion, “a sickness of the mind.”

Thus, 癡 originally referred to mental impairment or madness, later broadening to include foolish affection and naïve devotion.

癡心 (치심) — infatuation; foolish heart.

癡情 (치정) — blind love; passion.

癡想 (치상) — foolish or delusional thought.

癡人 (치인) — a fool; a simple-minded person.

痴呆 (치매) — dementia (modern medical usage, written with 痴).

In Buddhist philosophy, 癡 (avidyā or moha) represents ignorance — one of the Three Poisons (三毒) along with greed (貪) and anger (瞋).

It signifies spiritual blindness, the inability to perceive truth, and is considered the root cause of delusion and suffering.

In literary and poetic contexts, however, 癡 may carry a gentler nuance, describing pure, devoted emotion that borders on foolishness — as in 癡情 (foolish love) or 癡心不改 (an unchanging heart).

Thus, it bridges pathology and passion, expressing both madness and sincerity.

A traditional variant 痴 (U+75F4) is widely used in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Japan, while 癡 remains the standard form in Korea and in classical Chinese texts.