信

Composite of 人 (person) + 言 (speech):

人 (person) — semantic, implying human agency.

言 (speech, words) — semantic or phonetic, relating to spoken truth or communication.

Often interpreted as a semantic compound:

“A person’s words (言) are trustworthy (信).”

Alternatively viewed as phono-semantic: 人 as phonetic, 言 as semantic.

Semantic range:

- to trust, to believe (믿다);

- sincerity, honesty, credibility (신용, 진실);

- a letter, message, information (편지, 소식);

- by extension: to transmit, to report.

信用 (신용) — trust, credit

自信 (자신) — self-confidence

信賴 (신뢰) — reliance, trust

通信 (통신) — communication, correspondence

迷信 (미신) — superstition (lit. “false belief”)

朋友有信 (붕우유신) — “between friends there must be trust” (삼강오륜)

In Confucian philosophy, 信 (trust, sincerity) is one of the Five Constant Virtues (五常: 仁義禮智信). It emphasizes that words and actions must be consistent so that others can rely on one’s integrity. Confucius often highlighted that trust is the foundation of social and political order: “If the people have no trust in their rulers, the state cannot stand.”

In Daoism and Buddhism, 信 extends to faith — trust in the Dao, in the Dharma, or in the possibility of awakening. In Buddhist texts, 信心 (신심) means “faithful mind,” an essential starting point on the path toward enlightenment.

In Christianity, 信 is the standard character used to render “faith” or “belief” in East Asian translations of the Bible.

In Classical Chinese Bible translations (文理和合本, 1919), the Greek word πίστις (pistis) is regularly translated as 信.

John 3:16 — “信他的人” (those who believe in Him).

Romans 1:17 — “義人必因信得生” (the righteous shall live by faith).

Compound forms like 信心 (“faith of the heart”) and 信仰 (“religious faith”) are used to capture the idea of inner trust in God.

In Korean Christianity: 믿음 is the native equivalent, and in church contexts, 信 is closely associated with “믿음으로 구원받는다” (salvation by faith).

In Japanese Christianity: 信仰 (しんこう, shinkō) is the established term for “faith” and appears in all major Bible translations.

Thus in Christian theology, 信 does not merely mean “to believe a statement,” but to place one’s trust, loyalty, and life in God and Christ. This usage deepens and transforms the Confucian virtue of sincerity into a theological principle: faith as absolute reliance on divine grace.