亡

It can describe both physical destruction (망하다) and absence/non-existence (없다).

According to the Shuowen Jiezi, it depicts a person (人) who has “disappeared/hidden” (乚 = 隱).

Some scholars (Qiú Xīguī) interpret the oracle-bone form as the tip of a knife (刀) marked with a dot, originally meaning “blade tip” → “to blunt / ruin” → “to perish.”

Shirakawa Shizuka proposed that it depicts a dried skeleton, symbolizing death.

In early texts it sometimes served as a loan character for 無 (“not, nothing”), hence read 무 in some Classical contexts.

Semantic range:

- to perish, be destroyed (망하다);

- to die, decease (죽다);

- to flee, escape (달아나다);

- to lose, to lack, be absent (잃다, 없다);

- by extension: nothingness, non-existence (無의 통용).

In compounds it often conveys the sense of death, ruin, or loss.

滅亡 (멸망) — destruction, downfall

逃亡 (도망) — escape, flight

死亡 (사망) — death

亡失 (망실) — loss, disappearance

In Chinese thought, 亡 is deeply tied to the transience of life and the inevitability of decline.

In the Analects and other classics, it often appears interchangeably with 無 to emphasize absence or non-being. This dual role—marking both death and emptiness—underscores the fragility of human existence.

In Christian theology, the theme of death (亡) is inseparable from the doctrine of salvation. 亡 parallels the biblical teaching that “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). Yet Christian hope proclaims that physical death is not the end: through Christ’s resurrection, death (亡) is overcome.

Thus, while 亡 signifies perishing and loss in classical usage, in a Christian context it points to the reality of human mortality—and at the same time highlights the promise of eternal life that transforms death into victory.