酸

Formed as a phono-semantic compound combining:

酉 (닭 유) — semantic component representing fermentation or liquid substances (wine, alcohol, or sour brew);

夋 (천천히 걷는 모양 준) — phonetic element providing the sound (suān / 산).

The original sense referred to fermented or spoiled wine, whose sharp taste defined the sour flavor category in Chinese culinary and medicinal theory.

산미 (酸味) — sour taste

산성 (酸性) — acidity; acid nature

초산 (酢酸) — acetic acid

산통 (酸痛) — sore or aching pain (e.g. muscle ache)

In figurative contexts, 산하다(酸-) can describe emotional ache or sentimentality — for example, “가슴이 시리다” or “마음이 쓰리다.”

In traditional East Asian medicine, 酸 (sour) is one of the five fundamental tastes (五味):

甘 (sweet),

苦 (bitter),

辛 (pungent),

鹹 (salty),

酸 (sour).

Each flavor corresponds to one of the Five Elements (五行):

酸 = Wood (木) → Liver (肝) in the Five-Phases system.

Sourness symbolizes contraction, preservation, and containment — believed to help conserve energy and bodily fluids.

Metaphorically, it also represents sensitivity and emotional depth, hence expressions like “酸楚” (bitter-sour sadness) or “酸辛” (life’s hardships).

In classical texts such as the Huangdi Neijing (黃帝內經), sourness is said to “enter the liver” (入肝) and “restrain dispersion” — helping balance excess activity. This dual symbolism of growth and restraint reflects the tension within all living processes: expansion tempered by preservation.

Philosophically, the “sour” taste also became a metaphor for sensitivity, tenderness, and poignant awareness — qualities that “shrink the heart” in empathy or longing. Hence in literature and poetry, 酸 often signifies bittersweet emotion, the feeling of pain softened by understanding.

In this way, 酸 bridges the sensory and the moral, linking taste to temperament, and body to emotion — an enduring emblem of the refined sensitivity central to East Asian aesthetics.