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When I came upon the compound 混沌 (konton: confusion, chaos, disorder), I couldn’t fathom why this word had taken on so much water (
). I wondered whether the moisture had anything to do with the “swirling waters of confusion” to which English speakers refer. As it turns out, yes! Check out some of the meanings of these kanji (the second of which happens to be rare):
混: confused
沌: swirling water, to be blocked, primeval chaos
Primeval chaos?! Burbling bodies of water must have terrified some early people!
Henshall says that 混 originally referred to water rushing and swirling with no fixed course, as in a flood. Then “confused waters” came to mean “confused” in a broader sense. He also says the 昆 inside 混 means “multitude” and acts phonetically here to express “to spin, swirl.” The element 昆 even lends its own idea of confusion, because people in a crowd mill around chaotically.
Swirling Waters
Photo credit: eatzycath
If this sounds entirely negative, never fear. The kanji 混 also means “to mix.” This associated meaning came about because impure elements often find their way into the swirling waters of confusion. This idea of “mixing” is not inherently negative. Just consider these appealing mixes:
雨混じりの雪 (ame majiri no yuki: snow mingled with rain) rain + to mix + snow
混合酒 (kongōshu: cocktail, mixed drink, blended liquor)
to mix + to join + alcohol
Actually, the idea of being in snow, rain, or a mixture of the two (which I suppose is sleet or some such) isn’t terribly appealing. But the poetic phrasing, “snow mingled with rain” …. I don’t know. It does something for me. So would a mixed drink right about now! Hey, speaking of mixing, the two compounds almost blend in that Rupert Holmes song: “If you like piña coladas and getting caught in the rain ….”
In the two expressions above, you may have noticed that each instance of 混 has a different yomi: ma(jiri), then KON. In fact, 混 has a host of kun-yomi, all similar. And that’s not all. To find some real yomi chaos (something everyone needs!), check out the next link.
Whatever the yomi, 混 allows for some wonderful mishmashes, such as this one:
虚実混交 (kyojitsu-konkō: mishmash of truth and untruth; mixture of fact and fiction) untruth + truth + to mix + to mix
This reminds me of Stephen Colbert’s “truthiness.” It also reminds me that we’ve seen the first two kanji in past blogs (hence the links).
As to the last two kanji, 混交 (konkō: mixture, mixing up, jumbling together, to mix + to mix), this word also appears inside other four-kanji compounds:
玉石混交 (gyokuseki-konkō: mixture of the good and bad; jumble of wheat and tares) gems + stones + mixture (last 2 chars.)
Again, the first kanji takes us back to an early blog—in fact, my very first one for JPod!
雅俗混交 (gazoku-konkō: mixture of culture and vulgarism; mixture of literary and colloquial (language))
refined + folk custom + mixture (last 2 chars.)神仏混淆 (shinbutsu-konkō: synthesis of Buddhism and Shintoism) god + Buddhism + mixture (last 2 chars.)
Wait, the fourth kanji is 淆, rather than 交. But 混淆 says konkō and means “mixture.” Moreover, 淆 has the kun-yomi of ma(jiru) and the on-yomi of KŌ, contains water, and means “mixed together, turbid.” So this rare character seems to be a doppelganger for the watery 混 (ma(jiru)) on the one hand and for 交 (KŌ, ma(jiru)) on the other. In keeping with the mixing-it-up theme of today’s blog, the various “mix” kanji have intermingled in this one character!
Also of note: Given the definition of this four-kanji compound, the breakdown suggests that 神 is not an equal-opportunity god but rather is more affiliated with Shintoism than Buddhism. Indeed, Halpern confirms that 神 can mean “Shinto deity.” If you meet me round the corner (that is, at the next link), I can share some examples of this.
Otherwise, I’ll meet you at the Verbal Logic Quiz!
