醉

Phono-semantic compound composed of:

酉 — the semantic component, meaning wine or alcohol, often used in characters related to fermentation or drinking.

卒 — the phonetic component, providing the sound zuì and also evoking loss of control, end, death, reflecting the state of drunken stupor.

However, early forms of the character reveal two distinct origins:

Ideogrammatic compound: 酉 (alcohol) + 舌 (tongue) + 水 (water) — “a person so drunk he loses control of his tongue and continually drinks.”

Pictograph: depicting a staggering figure holding a wine vessel — a physical portrayal of drunkenness.

Over time, these merged into the current form with 酉 on the left and 卒 (simplified phonetic) on the right.

醉酒 (취주) — drunkenness; to drink excessively

陶醉 (도취) — to be intoxicated with joy or beauty

心醉 (심취) — to be deeply fascinated, mentally enraptured

沈醉 (침취) — to sink into drunkenness or obsession

酩酊大醉 (명정대취) — dead drunk

醉翁 (취옹) — a poetic epithet, “the drunken old man”

醉態 (취태) — drunken behavior, drunken manner

醉夢 (취몽) — drunken dream; illusion of intoxication

In classical Chinese literature, 醉 transcends mere drunkenness to express absorption in emotion, art, or the Dao (道).

A sage or poet “醉” not only from wine but from the beauty of nature, the flow of poetry, or the contemplation of truth.

醉月眠雲 — “Drunk with the moon, sleeping among clouds.”

(Tang poetry; symbol of poetic rapture and freedom.)

心醉於道 — “The heart is intoxicated with the Way.”

(Zhuangzi-style mystical expression.)

Thus, 醉 became a metaphor for transcendent joy — losing oneself in something sublime, where distinction between self and object disappears.

Confucian view: drunkenness is often treated as a moral lapse or loss of self-control.

“酒以成禮，不以亂性” — “Wine is for completing rites, not for disordering the mind.”

Daoist view: drunkenness symbolizes freedom from rigid norms, a return to spontaneity (自然).

“酒中有真意” — “In wine there is true meaning.” — Li Bai (李白)

For Daoist poets like Li Bai, 醉 meant liberation — to transcend form and merge with the cosmos.

In contrast, Confucian texts warn that 醉 should be tempered with 禮 (propriety) and 度 (measure).

In aesthetics, 醉 expresses being captivated beyond reason:

陶醉於音樂 — “immersed in music.”

詩以醉人，酒以醉心。 — “Poetry intoxicates the mind as wine intoxicates the heart.”

Here 醉 symbolizes the dissolving of boundaries — between the subject and the beauty perceived.