衆

Originally a pictograph / ideogram rather than a pure phono-semantic compound.

In oracle bone script, depicted as 日 (sun) above three 人 (people) — symbolizing “many people under the sun.”

In bronze script, the top 日 changed into 罒 (net/eye-like form, later resembling 目).

In clerical script (隸書 lìshū), the top further altered toward 血, and the three 人 merged into a compact form 乑.

In standard script (隸書 lìshū), this distorted form became stabilized as 衆.

Variant 眾 preserves the older “eye + people” form, while the Chinese simplification 众 reflects the intuitive idea of “three people together = crowd.”

Common in words denoting crowds, the public, or collective groups:

대중 (大衆) — the masses, the public

중생 (衆生) — all living beings (Buddhist term)

중론 (衆論) — public opinion

중병 (衆病) — many illnesses, or various diseases

In modern Korean, used mainly in Sino-Korean compounds, often with a somewhat formal or Buddhist nuance.