倒

Phono-semantic compound:

人 (亻, person radical) - semantic, indicating human action or condition.

到 (to arrive, reach) - phonetic, lending sound and the sense of “reaching a point, coming to an end.”

Together, 倒 expresses the idea of a person (or thing) reaching a point where it falls or is overturned.

Semantic range:

- to fall, collapse, topple (넘어지다, 쓰러지다);

- to invert, turn upside down, reverse (뒤집다, 거꾸로 하다);

- to change, exchange, replace (바꾸다, 교체하다);

- by extension, “contrary to expectation,” “on the contrary.”

倒下 (도하) — to fall down, collapse

倒立 (도립) — handstand, standing upside down

顛倒 (전도) — inversion, confusion, being upside down

推倒 (추도) — to knock down, overthrow

倒産 (도산) — bankruptcy, collapse of a business

In classical Chinese texts, 倒 often symbolizes the reversal of the natural or moral order. Expressions such as 顛倒 (전도) describe a world turned upside down, where values and norms are distorted.

In Buddhist philosophy, “顛倒夢想” (전도몽상) refers to deluded or inverted thinking — mistaking the impermanent for permanent, suffering for joy, or the impure for pure.

Thus, 倒 is not just physical falling, but also a metaphor for spiritual confusion, moral collapse, or the inversion of truth and falsehood.