無明

See also: 无明

Chinese

		not have	clear; bright; to understand clear; bright; to understand; next; the Ming dynasty
trad. (無明)		無	明
simp. (无明)		无	明

Etymology

ignorant; unintelligent

Calque of Sanskrit अविद्या (avidyā).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): wúmíng

  (Zhuyin): ㄨˊ ㄇㄧㄥˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): mou⁴ ming⁴
• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): mò-mìn
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): bû-bêng

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)
    • Hanyu Pinyin: wúmíng
    • Zhuyin: ㄨˊ ㄇㄧㄥˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: wúmíng
    • Wade–Giles: wu²-ming²
    • Yale: wú-míng
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: wuming
    • Palladius: умин (umin)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /u³⁵ miŋ³⁵/
    • Homophones:

      edit edit 無名 / 无名 無明 / 无明

• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
    • Jyutping: mou⁴ ming⁴
    • Yale: mòuh mìhng
    • Cantonese Pinyin: mou⁴ ming⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: mou⁴ ming⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /mou̯²¹ mɪŋ²¹/
    • Homophones:

      edit edit 無名 / 无名 無明 / 无明

• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: mò-mìn
    • Hakka Romanization System: mo^ˇ min^ˇ
    • Hagfa Pinyim: mo² min²
    • Sinological IPA: /mo¹¹ min¹¹/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bû-bêng
    • Tâi-lô: bû-bîng
    • Phofsit Daibuun: bu'beeng
    • Sinological IPA (Xiamen): /bu²⁴⁻²² biɪŋ²⁴/
    • Sinological IPA (Quanzhou): /bu²⁴⁻²² biɪŋ²⁴/
    • Sinological IPA (Zhangzhou): /bu¹³⁻²² biɪŋ¹³/
    • Sinological IPA (Taipei): /bu²⁴⁻¹¹ biɪŋ²⁴/
    • Sinological IPA (Kaohsiung): /bu²³⁻³³ biɪŋ²³/

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• Middle Chinese: mju mjaeng

Rime
Character	無	明
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	明 (4)	明 (4)
Final (韻)	虞 (24)	庚 (111)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Closed	Open
Division (等)	III	III
Fanqie	武夫切	武兵切
Baxter	mju	mjaeng
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/mɨo/	/mˠiæŋ/
Pan Wuyun	/mio/	/mᵚiaŋ/
Shao Rongfen	/mio/	/miaŋ/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/muə̆/	/miajŋ/
Li Rong	/mio/	/miɐŋ/
Wang Li	/mĭu/	/mĭɐŋ/
Bernhard Karlgren	/mi̯u/	/mi̯ɐŋ/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	wú	míng
Expected Cantonese Reflex	mou4	ming4

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*ma|mo  mraŋ/

  (Zhengzhang): /*ma  mraŋ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	無	無	無	明
Reading #	1/3	2/3	3/3	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	wú	wú	wú	míng
Middle Chinese	‹ mju ›	‹ mju ›	‹ mju ›	‹ mjæng ›
Old Chinese	/*ma/	/*ma/	/*mo/	/*mraŋ/
English	not have	volitional prefix	don’t	bright
Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system: * Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence; * Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. *[t] as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p; * Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix; * Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary; * Period "." indicates syllable boundary.

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	無	明
Reading #	1/1	1/1
No.	13117	9188
Phonetic component	無	明
Rime group	魚	陽
Rime subdivision	0	0
Corresponding MC rime	無	明
Old Chinese	/*ma/	/*mraŋ/

Adjective

無明

1. (archaic) unable to see; blind
2. (Buddhism) ignorant; nescience

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (無明):

• → Japanese: 無明(むみょう) (mumyō)
• → Korean: 무명(無明) (mumyeong)
• → Vietnamese: vô minh (無明)

Japanese

Kanji in this term
無	明
む Grade: 4	みょう Grade: 2
on'yomi

Etymology

From Chinese. See there for more.

Noun

無(む)明(みょう) • (mumyō) 

1. (religion, Buddhism): avidyā: unenlightenment, ignorance of nirvana and of the fundamental state of existence

Further reading

• 無明 on the Japanese Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^ja
• Avidyā on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

References

• “無明”, in 漢字ぺディア [Kanjipedia]‎^[1] (in Japanese), The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, 2015–2026

Korean

Hanja in this term
無	明

Noun

無明 • (mumyeong) (hangeul 무명)

1. hanja form^? of 무명 (“avidyā: unenlightenment, ignorance of nirvana and of the fundamental state of existence”)

Vietnamese

chữ Hán Nôm in this term
無	明

Noun

無明

1. chữ Hán form of vô minh (“avidyā: unenlightenment, ignorance of nirvana and of the fundamental state of existence”)