廢

Phono-semantic compound consists of:

广 (집 엄) — semantic, building, shelter, a place where something is stored or abandoned

發 (필 발) — phonetic, gives the sound (pye / fèi / 폐)

Originally, in early Zhou 灋 served double duty:

- “law” (modern 法)

- “to discard, to throw away”

The archaic words for “law” and “to discard” were homophones.

During the Warring States period, the word for “to discard” changed pronunciation, diverging from the word “law.”

To preserve the distinction:

- 灋 for law shifted to 法,

- and the discard meaning adopted 發 as phonetic, becoming 廢.

From its earliest meaning “collapse, fall apart,” 廢 extended to:

collapse → abandonment → abolition → uselessness → disability

A full semantic chain demonstrating typical Chinese semantic drift.

廢(폐) is widely used in formal, legal, academic, and administrative vocabulary.

Abolishment / discontinuation:

廢止 (폐지) — abolition; discontinuation

廢棄 (폐기) — discarding; scrapping; abolishment

廢用 (폐용) — abolish usage; stop use

廢除 (폐제) — remove; do away with

Ruination / becoming useless:

廢墟 (폐허) — ruins; destroyed remains

廢疾 (폐질) — serious illness; disability

廢人 (폐인) — person made useless/infirm

廢弛 (폐이) — slackening; loosening; neglect

Political / historical:

廢位 (폐위) — depose; removal from throne

廢后 (폐후) — deposed empress

廢妃 (폐비) — deposed queen/consort

Colloquial modern contexts:

신체 기능이 폐(廢) 되다 — become useless

습관이 폐지되다 — a practice is abolished

서류 폐기 — document disposal

Classical citations:

《史記·平準書》 (Records of the Grand Historian)

「田廢而民散。」

“The fields fell into ruin, and the people dispersed” — 廢 = fall into ruin

《漢書·食貨志》 (Book of Han)

「廢疾者賦薄。」

“Those disabled or infirm are taxed lightly” — 廢 = debilitated, incapacitated

《後漢書·光武帝紀》 (Book of the Later Han Dynasty)

「廢其舊制。」

“He abolished the old regulations” — 廢 = abolish

《禮記·王制》 (The Book of Rites)

「不廢其親。」

“One must not cast aside one’s kin” — 廢 = abandon, reject

《孟子·萬章下》 (Mencius)

「廢疾之民，則養之。」

“As for the disabled, they must be cared for” — 廢 = disabled; unfit for labor

In Buddhist texts 廢 often contrasts with 興 (흥 = arise, flourish):

廢興 (폐흥) — decline and rise

Used to describe Dharma, kingdoms, peoples, teachings.

Confusion with 閉 (폐):

Korean pronounces both 廢 and 閉 as “폐,” which causes frequent confusion.

But:

廢 = abolish, discard

閉 = close, shut

In Middle Chinese phonology:

• 廢 = pjiejH (上聲)

• 閉 = pejH (去聲)

clearly different historically.

Japanese also preserves this distinction:

廃 = はい

閉 = へい