困

Ideogrammic compound:

囗 (위, to enclose, boundary) – semantic component, showing enclosure.

木 (목, tree) – semantic component.

Original idea: a tree enclosed in a boundary, symbolizing something trapped, unable to grow freely - “to be stuck, to suffer hardship.”

Another interpretation: wood bound into a bundle.

困難 (곤란) — difficulty, trouble

疲困 (피곤) — exhausted, weary

困乏 (곤핍) — destitution, poverty

困守 (곤수) — to hold out in a besieged place

In the Book of Changes (易經, I Ching), 困卦 (Hexagram 47, “Oppression/Exhaustion”) uses 困 to symbolize being hemmed in by adversity. It teaches that hardship is not meaningless, but an opportunity to cultivate inner strength and perseverance.

Confucian texts use 困 to describe the challenges a gentleman (君子) must endure — adversity is seen as a necessary trial that builds virtue.

Daoist writings also employ 困 in the sense of limitation: being trapped within circumstances forces one to yield, adapt, and eventually flow with the Dao.

In Buddhist contexts, 困 can appear in descriptions of the “troubles” or “distresses” (곤란, 苦困) of worldly life, part of the human suffering that practice seeks to overcome.

睏 (U+774F), used with the meaning “to be sleepy.”