罔 (wǎng): to deceive; to mislead

Meanings

1 to deceive; to mislead
2 (literary) none; nothing; not
3 old variant of 网 (net)

Characters

罔

wǎng

to deceive; none; net

Examples

学而不思则罔，思而不学则殆。

Xué'érbùsīzéwǎng, sī'érbùxuézédài.

To learn without thinking is to be deluded; to think without learning is perilous. (Confucius, Analects 2.15)

他置若罔闻，根本不理会大家的劝告。

Tā zhìruòwǎngwén, gēnběn bùlǐ huì dàjiā de quàngào.

He acted as if he had heard nothing and ignored everyone's advice.

Tips

history

罔 originally pictured a hunting net (the modern 网 wǎng descends from it). It then extended figuratively: a net that catches and deceives people → 'to deceive'; what falls through a net → 'nothing, none'. The famous Analects line 学而不思则罔 uses the 'be deluded / caught in a net of confusion' sense. Today 罔 is mostly literary, surviving in fixed phrases like 置若罔闻 ('treat as if heard nothing') and 欺君罔上 ('to deceive the sovereign').

Components

radical

⺳ wǎng

net (top-form radical of 网)

The net radical, here in its top-enclosure form ⺳ — a frame with two crossed cords inside, picturing the mesh of a fishing or hunting net. 罔 is the indexing parent of the net family (网/罒/⺳), and is itself an old variant of 网. The radical bears the whole literal meaning: a woven net, later extended metaphorically to 'snare, deceive.'

phonetic

亡 wáng

to flee; perish (here phonetic)

Inside the frame sits 亡, with an extra horizontal lid contracting it from 3 to 4 strokes here. Supplies the sound: wáng → wǎng with the regular tone shift. Same phonetic powers 忘 forget, 妄 reckless, 望 gaze far. Faintly semantic: a net traps what tries to 亡 (flee).