Fan (Daoism)
| Fan | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Shang dynasty Oracle bone script for fan (反) | |||
| Chinese name | |||
| Chinese | 反 | ||
| Literal meaning | return / reverse / repeat | ||
| |||
| Vietnamese name | |||
| Vietnamese | phản | ||
| Korean name | |||
| Hangul | 반 | ||
| Hanja | 反 | ||
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| Japanese name | |||
| Kanji | 反 | ||
| Hiragana | はん | ||
| Katakana | ハン | ||
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The ancient Chinese term fǎn (反, "return; reversion; inversion") is a basic concept of Daoism. The Daodejing says "Reversal is the movement of the Way ... Being is born from nonbeing." Daoist texts use fan in three interconnected meanings: "return to the root", "cyclical return", and "return to the contrary". In Chinese cosmology, everything in the universe emerges from the primordial Dao, continually transforms, and inevitably returns to it, which parallels the eternal return in philosophy or cyclic model in physical cosmology. Fan is also significant in Chinese alchemy and Daoist meditation.
Terminology[]
The common Chinese word fǎn (反) is semantically complex. A dictionary of pre-modern Chinese lists five translated meanings.
- turn over, invert, turn upward
- turn back, reverse, go back, revert, return, turn round; repeat, do again
- go counter to, contrary, opposite, oppose; rebel, revolt
- look inside, introspection
- on the contrary, nevertheless; despite (the foregoing)
The second meaning is also unambiguously written fǎn (返) with a "radical-phonetic character" combining the same fǎn (反) phonetic element with the "go" radical (辶 or 辵). This fǎn (反) character has two alternate pronunciations: fān (反, "annul, reverse, overturn (a decision") and fǎn (反, "trade, peddle, traffic in, buy cheap and sell dear")—also written (販) with the "shell" radical (⾙) (Kroll 2017: 106).
The Chinese character for fǎn (反, "return; turn over") was originally a compound ideograph with a yòu (又, "hand") and a line (