Taxonomy of meanings for 惑:　　

  • 惑 huò (OC: ɡʷɯɯɡ MC: ɦʷək) 胡國切 入 廣韻：【迷惑 】
    • CONFUSED
      • nabpsychstate of confusion, delusion
      • vadNunclear; confused (and deluded)
      • vimiddle voicebe misguided, deluded, confused
      • vt+prep+Nbe confused about
      • vtoNcausativecause to become confused; cause to be confused
      • vtoNmiddle voicebe led into confusion; be confused about, be confused by
      • vtoNputativeconsider as thoroughly confused in mind
      • vtoNbe confused about
      • vt prep Ncause N to become confusedCH
      • nab{PRED}be confusionDS
      • viinchoativebecome confusedCH
      • vt+prep+Npassive惑於利"be confused by (the prospect of) profit, be mislead byCH
      • practical>GO ASTRAY
          • causative>CHEAT
            • vtoNpassivebe beguiledLZ
          • abstract>MISTAKE
            • social>CHAOS
              • intensitive>MAD
                • nabpsychmental confusion; madness, mental derangement
                • vichangeget seriously confused or deranged
            • deliberate>SUSPECT
              • vtoNbe suspicious about

          Additional information about 惑

          說文解字: 【惑】，亂也。从心、或聲。 【胡國切】

            Criteria
          • CONFUSED

            1. The standard general word for any kind of confusion is huò 惑 (ant. qīng 清 "be unconfused and clear").

            2. Mí 迷 "be temporarily disorientated" (ant. shí 識 "be familiar with") is in connection with a direction one is intending to take.

            3. Hūn 昏 / 惛 is typically confusion within a certain delimited area. See OBSCURE

            4. Bèi 悖 / 誖 / 勃 refers to confusion in the form of contradictoriness and incoherence of opinions held or of attitudes.

          • SUSPECT

            1. The standard current word for suspicion of any kind is yí 疑.

            2. Huò 惑 is sometimes used to refer to confusion coupled with suspicion regarding a certain matter.

          • WEATHER

            There is no commonly used general concept for the weather in pre-Buddhist Chinese. The closest we come is perhaps qì 氣 as in ZUO 天有六氣, but consider the whole passage:

            天有六氣， (In the same way) there are six heavenly influences,

            降生五味， which descend and produce the five tastes,

            發為五色， go forth in the five colours,

            徵為五聲。 and are verified in the five notes;

            淫生六疾。 but when they are in excess, they produce the six diseases.

            六氣曰陰、陽、風、雨、晦、明也， Those six influences are denominated the yin, the yang, wind, rain, obscurity, and brightness.

            分為四時， In their separation, they form the four seasons;

            序為五節， in their order, they form the five (elementary) terms.

            過則為菑： When any of them is in excess, there ensues calamity.

            陰淫寒疾， An excess of the yin leads to diseases of the cold;

            陽淫熱疾， of the yang, to diseases of heat;

            風淫末疾， of wind, to diseases of the extremities;

            雨淫腹疾， of rain, to diseases of the belly;

            晦淫惑疾， of obscurity, to diseases of delusion;

            明淫心疾。 of brightness to diseases of the mind.

          • UNDERSTAND

            1. The standard current and word for understanding something and knowing how to do something is zhī 知 (ant. mèi 昧 "not have the foggiest idea").

            2. Míng 明 (ant. měng 蒙 "have very confused notions about") refers to incisive clarity of insight.

            3. Tōng 通 (ant. hūn 昏 "be confused about") refers to comprehensive and thorough familiarity with a subject.

            4. Yù 喻 / 諭 (ant. àn 闇 "be in the dark about") typically refers to clarity achieved on the basis of an effort of articulation.

            5. Chá 察 and shěn 審 (ant. mí 迷 "be all lost when it comes to") refer to incisive clarity of understanding coupled with great awareness of the details of a matter.

            6. Jīng 精 (mào 眊 / 耄 "be completely stupid with respect to") refers to a subtle and thorough understanding of something.

            7. Shí 識 refers to familiarity with something concrete, but the word also refers to simple awareness, especially when negated.

            8. Biàn 辨 / 辯 (ant. huò 惑 "be al confused about") refers to discriminating and highly articulate specialised, often professional knowledge about something.

            9. Jué 覺 and the rarer wù 悟 are inchoative and refer to the coming to understand something.

            10. Wēn 溫 refers to the resulting close familiarity after long acquaintance with a subject.

            11. Wén 聞 (ant. wèi zhī wén 未之聞 "have never heard/learnt about any such thing") is sometimes used as a resultative verb meaning "come to understand something because one has been informed of it". But this usage is limited to the idiom wén dào 聞道 "hear about the Way".

            12. Xī 悉 and jìn 盡 refer to presumed completeness in knowledge.

          • MAD

            1. The most general word referring to anything insane or mad is kuáng 狂 (ant. ???: no notion of normality present). Importantly, this word also refers to inspired "madness" in the Greek sense of mainesthai "be raving" which is often used of inspired poets or thinkers. See CRAZY.

            2. Clinical lunacy or mental derangement is rarely referred to, but sometimes diān 顛 seems used to refer to this state..

            3. Stupidity bordering on insanity is chī 癡 (ant. mǐn 敏 "highly sensitive and clever").

            4. Utter confusion of mind bordering on insanity is sometimes referred to by the word huò 惑 (ant. míng 明 "be clear of mind, see things clearly"). See CONFUSED.

            Fēng 瘋 is post-Buddhist, although there are a few cases in which one suspects that 風 may be used to write 瘋.

            Word relations
          • Inconsist: (CONFUSED)知/UNDERSTAND The standard current and word for understanding something and knowing how to do something is zhī 知 (ant. mèi 昧 "not have the foggiest idea")
          • Ant: (CONFUSED)暗 / 闇/STUPID
          • Contrast: (CONFUSED)亂/CONFUSED Luàn 亂 refers to a chaotic state of mind.
          • Contrast: (CONFUSED)蔽 / 弊/STUPID Bì 蔽 and měng 蒙 (all ant. cōng 聰 "clever") , refer to an appearance of stupidity due to limited access to information. a state of stupidity that is typically construed as remediable.
          • Contrast: (CONFUSED)疑/CONFUSED
          • Contrast: (CONFUSED)眩/CONFUSED
          • Contrast: (CONFUSED)迷/CONFUSED Mí 迷 "be temporarily disorientated" (ant. shí 識 "be familiar with") is in connection with a direction one is intending to take.
          • Assoc: (CONFUSED)悖 / 誖 / 悖誖勃/CONFUSED Bèi 悖/誖/勃 refers to confusion in the form of contradictoriness and incoherence of opinions held or of attitudes. xxx
          • Assoc: (CONFUSED)蔽 / 弊/STUPID Bì 蔽 and měng 蒙 (all ant. cōng 聰 "clever") , refer to an appearance of stupidity due to limited access to information. a state of stupidity that is typically construed as remediable.
          • Assoc: (CONFUSED)怳/DISTRESS
          • Assoc: (CONFUSED)愚/STUPID The dominant word is yú 愚 (ant. zhì 智 "clever; wise"), and the word refers to intellectual obtuseness as well as practical ineptitude.
          • Assoc: (CONFUSED)營 / 榮/CONFUSED
          • Assoc: (CONFUSED)蠱/BEWITCH The standard word for bewitchment through supernatural obnoxious influences is gǔ 蠱.
          • Assoc: (CONFUSED)驚/FEAR Jīng 驚 refers to the sudden onset of fear when someone is faced with an unexpected danger.
          • Assoc: (MAD)狂/MAD The most general word referring to anything insane or mad is kuáng 狂 (ant. ???: no notion of normality present). Importantly, this word also refers to inspired "madness" in the Greek sense of mainesthai "be raving" which is often used of inspired poets or thinkers.
          • Assoc: (CONFUSED)狂/MAD The most general word referring to anything insane or mad is kuáng 狂 (ant. ???: no notion of normality present). Importantly, this word also refers to inspired "madness" in the Greek sense of mainesthai "be raving" which is often used of inspired poets or thinkers.