Chinese Character Wiki
乱

luàn

confusion, mess

Original meaning: 

untangle threads

Simplified form of 亂. Originally written as 𤔔, which depicts two hands (𠬪) untangling threads (幺) on a silk frame. 乚 was later added as a distinguishing mark. The meaning later shifted to "mess" and "confusion".

Components
舌 simplified component

舌  Simplified component

shé

  

tongue

Shorthand for the 𤔔 component in the traditional character 亂.

乚 distinguishing component

乚  Distinguishing component

yǐn, yà

  

turning stroke

Evolution

乱 Bronze script Late Western Zhou (~800 BC)

Bronze script

Late Western Zhou (~800 BC)
乱 Seal script Shuowen (~100 AD)

Seal script

Shuowen (~100 AD)
乱 Clerical script Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Clerical script

Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)
乱 Traditional script Modern

Traditional script

Modern
乱 Simplified script Modern

Simplified script

Modern
Definitions

乱 (亂) 

luàn

confusion, state of chaos; create chaos, revolt; in confusion or disorder; in a confused state of mind; disorder; upheaval; riot; illicit sexual relations; to throw into disorder; to mix up; indiscriminate; random; arbitrary

Most common words with 乱
Freq.
Word
Meaning

乱

disorder

混乱

confusion

乱七八糟

at sixes and sevens

扰乱

to disturb

捣乱

to disturb

Statistics

HSK level 3

Appears in 61.8613% of movies

719th most common character in movies

765th most common character in books

Miscellaneous

Strokes

7

Traditional

亂

Unicode

U+4E71


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