難

Phono-semantic compound:

隹 (추, “short-tailed bird”) – provides the meaning (originally referring to a bird)

𦰩 (근/간) – provides the sound

Originally, the character depicted a certain bird, but it was later borrowed to mean “difficult.”

The earliest meaning of 難 was:

- something hard to deal with

- an obstacle that causes suffering

From this, the character developed multiple semantic branches.

난이도 (難易度) — degree of difficulty

곤란 (困難) — hardship

재난 (災難) — disaster

난색 (難色) — reluctance

난해 (難解) — difficult to understand

難 was often used in judicial language meaning:

- to interrogate

- to reproach wrongdoing

Related characters:

艱 — hardship

苦 — suffering

困 — distress

責 — blame

問 — question, interrogate

Do not confuse 難 with 亂 (란, “chaos”) – the characters and meanings are different.

Classical usage:

《論語》 (The Analects)

「君子不以言舉人，不以人廢言，亦不難其人」

“The gentleman does not judge a person by words alone, nor discard words because of the person, nor does he harshly fault others.”