網

Phono-semantic compound consisting of:

糸 (가는실 멱) — semantic component, indicating threads or woven material.

罔 (없을 망) — phonetic component, giving the sound mǎng / mang, and originally meaning “to cover,” “to ensnare,” or “to obscure.”

In Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字), Xu Shen defines:

「網，罟也。从糸罔聲。」

“網 means a net for catching fish; composed of 糸 (silk threads) and the sound 罔.”

The earliest bronze and seal script forms depict a lattice or mesh of interlacing lines, representing the physical structure of a woven net.

網 (그물) — net; web

漁網 (어망) — fishing net

羅網 (라망) — a snare; figuratively, the net of law or fate

電網 (전망) — electric network; internet

天網 (천망) — the heavenly net; divine retribution

網羅 (망라) — to encompass or gather comprehensively

網目 (망목) — mesh; opening between threads

逃網 (도망) — to escape from a net (lit. or fig.)

蜘蛛網 (지주망) — spider web

The character’s earliest meanings centered on the literal woven fishing net, but by the Warring States and Han periods, its use broadened to metaphorical senses of entrapment and connection.

The Laozi (道德經·七十三章) records the famous maxim:

「天網恢恢，疏而不失。」

“The net of Heaven is vast and wide; though its meshes are coarse, nothing slips through.”

Here, 網 symbolizes the all-encompassing moral order of Heaven — invisible yet inescapable.

In later Confucian and legal contexts, 羅網 (snare, net) came to signify the reach of law or political power, while in literary usage it expressed the human condition of being bound by fate, desire, or worldly obligations.

In modern Korean and Chinese usage, 網 further developed the sense of interconnection — hence 電網 (“electrical net,” network) and 網絡 (network, web). The simplified form 网 reverts graphically to early seal script shapes where the lattice structure was more abstract, thus completing a historical cycle from pictograph to simplification.

網 therefore embodies both the tangible craft of weaving and the abstract notion of interconnectedness — from the fisherman’s mesh to the invisible webs of destiny, society, and communication.