亂

Translingual

Stroke order

Han character

亂 (Kangxi radical 5, 乙+12, 13 strokes, cangjie input 月月山 (BBU), four-corner 2221₀, composition ⿰𤔔乚)

Derived characters

• 𠏢, 薍, 𥂽

Descendants

• 乱 (Japanese shinjitai and simplified Chinese)

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 84, character 33
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 214
• Dae Jaweon: page 173, character 8
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 57, character 10
• Unihan data for U+4E82

• Unihan data for U+F91B

Chinese

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 亂
Bronze inscriptions b20264 Small seal script s10943
References: Mostly from Richard Sears' Chinese Etymology site (authorisation), which in turn draws data from various collections of ancient forms of Chinese characters, including: Shuowen Jiezi (small seal), Jinwen Bian (bronze inscriptions), Liushutong (Liushutong characters) and Yinxu Jiaguwen Bian (oracle bone script).

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *roːns) : phonetic 𤔔 (*ˁo-s) + semantic 乚. The left-side component 𤔔 is itself ideogrammatic, depicting the effort to comb a tangle of threads, hence the semantic link to order and disorder.

Etymology

Area word of Austroasiatic origin. Compare Khmer ប្រួល (pruəl, “changing; unstable”) < Khmer រួល (ruəl, “to cook; to grill”), and also Khmer កំរោល (kɑmraol, “to go berserk; to become excited”) < Khmer រោល (rool, “to burn; to roast”) (Schuessler, 2007). Burmese ရုန်း (run:, “to struggle, to warp, to cause chaos”) and Tibetan ཁྲལ་ཁྲུལ (khral khrul, “fragments; scattered”) are Austroasiatic loans. Compare also Vietnamese lộn (“to turn the inside out, upside down, to reverse, to return, etc.”) and trộn (“to mix; to blend; to turn upside down”).

Pronunciation 1

Definitions

亂

1. disorderly; chaotic

   添亂／添乱  ―  tiānluàn  ―  to add trouble

   你的頭髮很亂。／你的头发很乱。  ―  Nǐ de tóufà hěn luàn.  ―  Your hair is very messy.

   亂到狗竇噉／乱到狗窦噉 [Cantonese]  ―  lyun⁶ dou³ gau² dau³ gam²   ―  as messy as a dog's nest

2. unstable; volatile; turbulent

   天下大亂／天下大乱  ―  tiānxiàdàluàn  ―  the world is in utter chaos

3. unrest; uprising; revolt; rebellion

   內亂／内乱  ―  nèiluàn  ―  domestic turmoil

   安史之亂／安史之乱  ―  ānshǐzhīluàn  ―  An Lushan Rebellion

   • 自云先世避秦時亂，率妻子邑人來此絕境，不復出焉，遂與外人間隔。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     自云先世避秦时乱，率妻子邑人来此绝境，不复出焉，遂与外人间隔。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: 421, Tao Yuanming, 桃花源記 (The Peach Blossom Spring)

     Zì yún xiānshì bì Qín shí luàn, lǜ qīzǐ yìrén lái cǐ juéjìng, bù fù chū yān, suì yǔ wàirén jiāngé.

     They told the fisherman that their ancestors had fled the chaos of the Qin Dynasty, and had led their wives and fellow villagers to this isolated area. No one had left since. As a result, they had become completely cut off from the outside world.

4. confused; befuddled
5. distraught; upset

   慌亂／慌乱  ―  huāngluàn  ―  flurried; flustered

   我現在心裡很亂。 [MSC, trad.]
   我现在心里很乱。 [MSC, simp.]

   Wǒ xiànzài xīnlǐ hěn luàn.

   My mind is in turmoil right now.

6. promiscuous

   淫亂／淫乱  ―  yínluàn  ―  to be promiscuous; to be licentious

7. wildly; in an uncontrolled way; without order or reason; at random; haphazardly; having no direction or coherence; recklessly; arbitrarily

   亂說／乱说  ―  luànshuō  ―  to say whatever is on one's mind

   亂舞／乱舞  ―  luànwǔ  ―  to dance in an unorganized, uncoordinated way

8. to obscure; to blur; to mix up

   以假亂真／以假乱真  ―  yǐjiǎluànzhēn  ―  to pass off fake items as genuine or mix the fake with the genuine

9. to destroy; to ruin; to throw into disorder; to upset

   自亂陣腳／自乱阵脚  ―  zì luàn zhènjiǎo  ―  (please add an English translation of this usage example)

   • 子曰：「巧言亂德，小不忍則亂大謀。」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     子曰：「巧言乱德，小不忍则乱大谋。」 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Analects of Confucius, c. 475 – 221 BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

     Zǐyuē: “Qiǎoyán luàn dé, xiǎo bù rěn zé luàn dà móu.”

     The Master said, "Specious words confound virtue. Want of forbearance in small matters confounds great plans."

10. (obsolete, literary, music or poetry) coda; finale; conclusion of a piece

    • 子曰：「師摯之始，《關雎》之亂，洋洋乎盈耳哉！」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
      子曰：「师挚之始，《关雎》之乱，洋洋乎盈耳哉！」 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

      From: The Analects of Confucius, c. 475 – 221 BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

      Zǐyuē: “Shī Zhì zhī shǐ, “Guānjū” zhī luàn, yángyáng hū yíng ěr zāi!”

      The Master said, "When the music master Zhi first entered on his office, the finish of the Guan Ju was magnificent — how it filled the ears!"

11. (Classical) to administer; to govern; to manage

    • 眇眇予末小子，其能而亂四方以敬忌天威。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
      眇眇予末小子，其能而乱四方以敬忌天威。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

      From: The Book of Documents, circa 4^th – 3^rd century BCE

      Miǎomiǎo yǔmòxiǎozǐ, qí néng ér luàn sìfāng yǐ jìngjì tiānwēi.

      I am utterly insignificant and but a child, how should I be able to govern the four quarters (of the kingdom) with a corresponding reverent awe of the dread majesty of Heaven!

12. (rare and obsolete) to cross a body of water

    • 西傾因桓是來，浮于潛，逾于沔，入于渭，亂于河。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
      西倾因桓是来，浮于潜，逾于沔，入于渭，乱于河。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

      From: The Book of Documents, circa 4^th – 3^rd century BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

      Xīqīng yīn Huán shì lái, fú yú Qián, yú yú Miǎn, rù yú Wèi, luàn yú hé.

      From Xi-qing they came by the course of the Huan; floated along the Qian, and then crossed the country to the Mian; passed to the Wei, and finally ferried across the He.

Synonyms

• (disorderly):

• (unstable):

• (distraught): 煩亂／烦乱 (fánluàn)
• (wildly):

• (to obscure):

• (to damage):

• (to administer): 管理 (guǎnlǐ), (literary, or in compounds) 理 (lǐ), 統治／统治 (tǒngzhì), 治理 (zhìlǐ)
• (wildly): (Teochew) 四散 (si³ suan²), (Taiwanese Hokkien) 烏白／乌白 (o͘-pe̍h)

Compounds

Pronunciation 2

Definitions

亂

1. (Teochew) casually; as one pleases

Synonyms

Japanese

Kanji

(uncommon “Hyōgai” kanji, kyūjitai kanji, shinjitai form 乱)

1. turbulent

Readings

• Go-on: らん (ran)
• Kan-on: らん (ran)
• Kan’yō-on: ろん (ron)
• Kun: みだれる (midareru, 亂れる); みだす (midasu, 亂す); みだりに (midarini, 亂りに)

Korean

Hanja

亂 (eumhun 어지러울 란 (eojireoul ran), South Korea 어지러울 난 (eojireoul nan))

1. Hanja form^? of 란/난 (“confusion, state of chaos”).
2. Hanja form^? of 란/난 (“create chaos, revolt”).

Vietnamese

Han character

亂: Hán Nôm readings: loạn, trộn, lộn

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

References

• Nom Foundation