遇

Phono-semantic compound combining:

辵 (쉬엄쉬엄 갈 착) — “to walk slowly,” indicating movement or travel, contributing the semantic idea of motion or journey.

禺 (긴꼬리원숭이 우) — phonetic component, providing the sound yù and suggesting an extended or prolonged encounter.

Originally, the character depicted a traveler who happens upon another on the road, and by extension came to mean “to meet,” “to encounter,” or “to come across.”

In later usage, it also came to describe the treatment or reception one receives upon such meetings — whether by people or by fate.

만날 우 (遇) — to meet, to encounter

조우 (遭遇) — to come across, especially in hardship

대우 (待遇) — treatment or reception

우연 (偶然) — coincidence, chance meeting (shares “meet” element)

기우 (奇遇) — extraordinary or fateful encounter

In literary Korean, 遇 carries both the literal sense of “to meet” and the figurative meaning “to experience” or “to be met with.”

In classical East Asian philosophy and literature, 遇 is closely linked with fate (運命) and opportunity (機遇) — moments when one “meets” fortune, challenge, or a kindred soul.

良遇 (good encounter) — meeting a benefactor or soulmate.

奇遇 (strange meeting) — destiny revealing itself in an unexpected form.

不遇 (ill-fated, unrecognized) — a scholar who “does not meet with understanding” or is “not properly received” by the world.

Thus, 遇 carries both external and internal implications: it is about who or what we meet, and how the encounter transforms us.

In Confucian ethics, “to treat others with proper courtesy” (善遇人) is a sign of cultivated virtue.