 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Hundun" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(April 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
| Part ofa series on |
| Chinese folk religion |
|---|
 |
Internal traditions Major cultural forms Main philosophical traditions: Ritual traditions: Devotional traditions:
 Confucian churches and sects: |
Hundun (Chinese:混沌;pinyin:Hùndùn;Wade–Giles:Hun4-tun4;lit. 'muddled confusion') is both a "legendary faceless being" inChinese mythology and the "primordial and centralchaos" inChinese cosmogony, comparable with theworld egg.
Hundun混沌 was semantically extended from a mythic "primordial chaos; nebulous state of the universe before heaven and earth separated" to mean "unintelligible; chaotic; messy; mentally dense; innocent as a child".
Whilehùndùn "primordial chaos" is usually written as混沌 in contemporary vernacular, it is also written as渾沌—as in the Daoist classicZhuangzi—or渾敦 —as in theZuozhuan.Hùn "chaos; muddled; confused" is written eitherhùn (混; 'abundantly flowing', 'turbid water', 'torrent', 'mix up/in', 'confuse', 'thoughtless', 'senseless') orhún (渾; 'sound of running water', 'muddy', 'muddled', 'confused', 'dull', 'stupid'). These two are interchangeable graphic variants read ashún (混; 'muddy', 'dirty', 'filthy')[a]) andhùn (渾; 'nebulous', 'stupid') (渾沌;hùndùn).Dùn ("dull; confused") is written as eitherdùn (沌; 'dull', 'confused', 'stupid') ordūn (敦; 'thick', 'solid', 'generous', 'earnest', 'honest', 'sincere').
Isabelle Robinet outlines the etymological origins ofhundun.
Semantically, the termhundun is related to several expressions, hardly translatable in Western languages, that indicate the void or a barren and primal immensity – for instance,hunlun (混淪),hundong (混洞),kongdong (空洞),menghong (蒙洪), orhongyuan (洪元). It is also akin to the expression "something confused and yet complete" (混成;huncheng) found in theDaode jing 25, which denotes the state prior to the formation of the world where nothing is perceptible, but which nevertheless contains a cosmic seed. Similarly, the state ofhundun is likened to an egg; in this usage, the term alludes to a complete world round and closed in itself, which is a receptacle like a cavern (洞;dong) or a gourd (壺;hu or壺盧;hulu).[1]
MostChinese characters are written using "radicals" or "semantic elements" and "phonetic elements".Hùndùn (混沌) is written with the "water radical"水 or氵 and phonetics ofkūn (昆) andtún (屯).Hùndùn "primordial chaos" iscognate withWonton (餛飩;húntun) "wonton; dumpling soup" written with the "eat radical"食. Note that the Englishloanwordwonton is borrowed from theCantonese pronunciationwan4tan1.Victor H. Mair suggests a fundamental connection betweenhundun andwonton: "The undifferentiated soup of primordial chaos. As it begins to differentiate, dumpling-blobs of matter coalesce. … With the evolution of human consciousness and reflectiveness, the soup was adopted as a suitable metaphor for chaos".[2] This last assertion appears unsupported, however, since wonton soup is not attested in Chinese sources dating earlier than the Han dynasty,[3] although the linguistic connection of the soup to the larger concept certainly appears real.[3][4][5]
Hundun混沌 has a graphic variant混淪;hunlun (using淪;lún; 'ripples', 'eddying water', 'sink down' see theLiezi below), which etymologically connects to the mountain nameKunlun崑崙 (differentiated with the "mountain radical"山). Robinet says "Kunlun andhundun are the same closed center of the world."[6]
Girardot quotes the Chinese philologist Lo Mengci羅夢冊, who says that reduplicated words likehundun "suggest cyclic movement and transformation", and speculates:[7]
Ritually mumbling the sounds ofhun-tun might, therefore, be said to have a kind on incantatory significance that both phonetically and morphologically invokes the mythological and ontological idea of the Tao as thecreatio continua process of infinitely repeated moments of change and new creation.
TheShuowen Jiezi does not containdun (沌) (which apparently lacked a pre-HanSeal script). It defineshun (混) asfengliu (豐流; 'abundantly flow'),hun (渾) as the sound ofhunliu (混流) "abundantly-flowing flow" or "seemingly impure",dun (敦) as "anger, rage; scolding" or "who", andlun (淪) as "ripples; eddies" or "sink into; disappear".
Englishchaos is a better translation ofhundun in the classical sense ofChaos orKhaos inGreek mythology meaning "gaping void; formless primordial space preceding creation of the universe" than in the common sense of "disorder; confusion". The latter meaning ofhundun is synonymous with Chineseluàn (亂; 'chaos', 'revolt', 'indiscriminate', 'random', 'arbitrary'). Theirlinguistic compoundhùnluàn (混亂; 'chaos-chaos'; "chaos; disorder; confusion") exemplifies the "synonym compound" category in Chinesemorphology.
In the Chinese written record,hundun first appears in classics dating from theWarring States period. The following summary divides them into Confucianist, Daoist, and other categories, and presents them in roughly chronological order, with the caveat that many early textual dates are uncertain.
Hundun only occurs in one Confucian classic, theZuo zhuan commentary to theSpring and Autumn Annals. Most early Confucianist ancient texts (Lunyu,Book of Documents,I Ching, etc.) do not usehun, with four exceptions. One, theMengzi, useshun in its original meaning "sound of flowing water". Mencius explains why Confucius praised water, "There is a spring of water; how it gushes out!".[8] The other three usehun as what Girardot calls "a term of opprobrium and condemnation related to the suppression of the "barbarians" or the "legendary rebels"."[9]
TheShijing (237) mentionsHunyi (混夷) "ancientHunni tribe inTuran". WhenKing Wen of Zhou opened up the roads, "The hordes of the Keun [sic] disappeared, Startled and panting".[10] TheChunqiu mentions the Luhun陸渾 tribe of theRong戎 people, "the Jung of Luh-hwăn"[11] TheZuozhuan commentary to theChunqiu notes they were originally from westernGansu and forced into northernHenan.
AnotherZuozhuan context refers toHundun (渾敦) as a worthless son of theYellow Emperor, one of the mythicalSixiong (四凶) "Four Perils" banished byShun.
The ancient emperor Hung [Hwang-te] had a descendant devoid of ability [and virtue]. He hid righteousness from himself, and was a villain at heart; he delighted in the practice of the worst vices; he was shameless and vile, obstinate, stupid, and unfriendly, cultivating only the intimacy of such as himself. All the people under heaven called him Chaos. … When Shun became Yaou's minister, he received the nobles from the four quarters of the empire, and banished these four wicked ones, Chaos, Monster, Block, and Glutton, casting them out into the four distant regions, to meet the spite of the sprites and evil things.[12]
The other "Perils" areQiongqi (窮奇),Taowu (檮杌), andTaotie (饕餮). Legge notes this passage "is worthy of careful study in many respects."
Girardot contrasts these rare Confucian usages ofhundun pejoratively suggesting the forces thwarting civilization, "the "birds and beasts," barbarian tribes, banished ministers, and legendary rebels)" with the common Daoist usages in a "paradise lost theme".[13]
Hundun commonly occurs in classics of philosophical Taoism. TheDaodejing does not mentionhundun but uses bothhun graphic variants. One section useshun (渾; 'bemuddle'): "The sage is self-effacing in his dealings with all under heaven, and bemuddles his mind for the sake of all under heaven".[14] Three other sections usehun (混; 'bound together', 'muddled', 'featureless'):
TheZhuangzi (ca. 3rd-2nd centuries BCE) has a famous parable involving emperorsHundun (渾沌),Shu (儵; 'a fish name', 'abrupt', 'quick'), andHu (忽; 'ignore', 'neglect', 'sudden').[18] Girardot citesMarcel Granet on Shu and Hu synonymously meaning "suddenness; quickness" and "etymologically appear to be linked to the images of lightning and thunder, or analogously, flaming arrows."[19] The "Heavenly Questions" chapter of theChu Ci uses Shu and Hu as one name: "Where are the hornless dragons which carry bears on their backs for sport? Where is the great serpent with nine heads and where is the Shu-Hu?"[20]
The emperor of the South Sea was called Shu [Brief], the emperor of the North Sea was called Hu [Sudden], and the emperor of the central region was called Hun-tun [Chaos]. Shu and Hu from time to time came together for a meeting in the territory of Hun-tun, and Hun-tun treated them very generously. Shu and Hu discussed how they could repay his kindness. "All men," they said, "have seven openings so they can see, hear, eat, and breathe. But Hun-tun alone doesn't have any. Let's trying boring him some!" Every day they bored another hole, and on the seventh day Hun-tun died.[21]
Compare Watson's renderings of the three characters with otherZhuangzi translators.
Two otherZhuangzi contexts usehundun. Chapter 11 has an allegory aboutHong Meng鴻蒙; "Big Concealment" or "Silly Goose", who "was amusing himself by slapping his thighs and hopping around like a sparrow", which Girardot interprets as shamanic dancing comparable with theShanhaijing below. Hong Meng poetically reduplicateshunhun-dundun (渾渾沌沌; 'dark and undifferentiated chaos') in describing Daoist "mind-nourishment" meditation.[23]
"You have only to rest in inaction and things will transform themselves. Smash your form and body, spit out hearing and eyesight, forget you are a thing among other things, and you may join in great unity with the deep and boundless. Undo the mind, slough off spirit, be blank and soulless, and the ten thousand things one by one will return to the root – return to the root and not know why. Dark and undifferentiated chaos – to the end of life none will depart from it. But if you try to know it, you have already departed from it. Do not ask what its name is, do not try to observe its form. Things will live naturally and of themselves."[24]
Chapter 12 tells a story about the Confucian discipleZigong becoming dumbfounded after meeting a Daoist sage. He reported back to Confucius, who denigratedHundun Shi zhi shu (渾沌氏之術; "the arts of Mr. Chaos [Hundun]"):
"He is one of those bogus practitioners of the arts of Mr. Chaos. He knows the first thing but doesn't understand the second. He looks after what is on the inside but doesn't look after what is on the outside. A man of true brightness and purity who can enter into simplicity, who can return to the primitive through inaction, give body to his inborn nature, and embrace his spirit, and in this way wander through the everyday world – if you had met one like that, you would have had real cause for astonishment. As for the arts of Mr. Chaos, you and I need not bother to find out about them."[25]
TheHuainanzi has one occurrence ofhundun (渾沌) in a cosmological description.
Heaven and earth were perfectly joined [tung-t'ung洞同], all was chaotically unformed [hun-tun wei p'u渾沌為樸]; and things were complete [ch'eng成] yet not created. This is called [the time or condition] of the Great One. [t'ai-i太一]. All came from this unity which gave to each thing its differences: the birds, fish, and beasts. This is called the lot [or division,fen分] of things.[26]
Three otherHuainanzi chapters usehun, for example, the compoundhunhun cangcang (渾渾蒼蒼; 'pure and unformed', 'vast and hazy')
The world was a unity without division into classes nor separation into orders (lit: a disorganised mass): the unaffectedness and homeliness of the natural heart had not, as yet, been corrupted: the spirit of the age was a unity, and all creation was in great affluence. Hence, if a man with the knowledge of I [羿 A mythical person of great powers] appeared, the world had no use for him.[27]
TheLiezi useshunlun (渾淪) forhundun, which is described as the confused state in whichqi (氣; 'pneuma', 'breath'),xing (形; 'form', 'shape'), andzhi (質; 'matter', 'substance') have begun to exist but are still merged as one.
There was a Primal Simplicity, there was a Primal Commencement, there were Primal Beginnings, there was a Primal Material. The Primal Simplicity preceded the appearance of the breath. The Primal Beginnings were the breath beginning to assume shape. The Primal Material was the breath when it began to assume substance. Breath, shape and substance were complete, but things were not yet separated from each other; hence the name "Confusion." "Confusion" means the myriad things were confounded and not yet separated from each other.[28]
TheShanhaijing collection of early myths and legends useshundun (渾敦) as an adjective to describe ashen (神; 'spirit', 'god') onTian Shan (天山; "Heaven Mountain").
There is a god here who looks like a yellow sack. He is scarlet like cinnabar fire. He has six feet and four wings. He is Muddle Thick. He has no face and no eyes. He knows how to sing and dance. He is in truth the great god Long River.[29]
In the above passage,渾敦 is translated as "Muddle Thick", and the name of the godDi-Jiang (帝江) is translated as "great god Long River".Toshihiko Izutsu[30] suggests that singing and dancing here and inZhuangzi refers to shamanic trance-inducing ceremonies, "the monster is said to be a bird, which is most probably an indication that the shamanistic dancing here in question was some kind of feather dance in which the shaman was ritually ornamented with a feathered headdress."
TheShen yi jing (神異經; "Classic of Divine Wonders") records a later variation of Hundun mythology. It describes him as a divine dog who lived on Mt. Kunlun, the mythical mountain at the center of the world.
It has eyes but can't see, walks without moving; and has two ears but can't hear. It has the knowledge of a man yet its belly is without the five internal organs and, although having a rectum, it doesn't evacuate food. It punches virtuous men and stays with the non-virtuous. It is called. Hun-tun.
Quoting theZuo zhuan, Hun-tun was Meng-shih's untalented son. He always gnaws his tail, going round and round. Everyone ridiculed him.[31]
A poem in theTang dynasty collectionHanshan refers to theZhuangzi myth and reminisces aboutHundun.
How pleasant were our bodies in the days of Chaos, Needing neither to eat or piss! Who came along with his drill And bored us full of these nine holes? Morning after morning we must dress and eat; Year after year, fret over taxes. A thousand of us scrambling for a penny, We knock our heads together and yell for dear life.[32]
Note the addition of two holes (anus and penis) to the original seven (eyes, ears, nostrils, and mouth).
Hundun myths have a complex history, with many variations on the "primordial chaos" theme and associations with other legends.
The sociologist and historianWolfram Eberhard analyzed the range of varioushundun myths.[33] He treated it as aworld egg mythic "chain" from the southern Liao culture, which originated in theSichuan andHubei region.
Norman J. Girardot, professor of Chinese religion atLehigh University, has written articles and a definitive book onhundun. He summarizes this mythology as follows.
Interpretations ofHundun have expanded from "primordial chaos" into other realms. For instance, it is a keyword inNeidan "Chineseinternal alchemy".[6] explains that "Alchemists begin their work by "opening" or "boring"hundun; in other words, they begin from the Origin, infusing its transcendent element of precosmic light into the cosmos in order to reshape it."
In the 2013 filmPacific Rim, the secondkaiju to make landfall was named Hundun, though only a brief glimpse of it is seen and it doesn't have a major role in the plot. However,concept art of the film does show it with a rounded body akin to the mythological Hundun.
In theMarvel Cinematic Universe movieShang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, the characterMorris (vocal effects provided byDee Bradley Baker) is a Hundun and acts as a companion ofTrevor Slattery at the time when he was ajester forWenwu. As Morris enteredTa Lo in a car withShang-Chi,Xialing,Katy, and Trevor Slattery, he appeared excited to see other Hunduns and they waved their wings at each other.[35]
A Hundun is featured as an optionalfinal boss in the video gameSpelunky 2. In the game, Hundun takes the form of a large egg with two legs, two wings, a snake head, a bird head, and a large eye in the center of the egg. Hundun's interpretation in Spelunky 2 is comparable to a world egg, as his body contains the final and largest world of the game.
The Hundun is referenced in episode 11 and 12 of the animeLazarus.
InMiHoYo's mobile gameTears of Themis, Artem Wing was referred to as Hundun in "Omni-Spirits Bureau: Dark Fates". A small Hundun can also be seen in the "Super Adorable Demon" profile ornament.
In theManhua andDonghua,You Shou Yan (有兽焉), Hundun is portrayed differently. She is canid in appearance, resembling a sphinx composed of primarily pink and blue colors. Her personality is different compared to Chinese mythology as in the story she is clueless yet caring and protective to her more accurate counterpart (in appearance) and the twopixiu brothers, Tianlu and Bixie, in the story.
