Hundun(混沌)

Hundun (Chinese: 混沌; pinyin: Hùndùn; Wade–Giles: Hun4-tun4), meaning “muddled confusion” or “primordial chaos,” is a complex and ancient figure in Chinese mythology and philosophy. It represents both a mythological being and a cosmological concept. As a mythological entity, Hundun is often described as a faceless, featureless creature—formless and lacking the seven orifices of the human body. In classical Daoist texts such as the Zhuangzi, Hundun appears as a benevolent, almost innocent being who is ultimately harmed when others try to “perfect” him by carving sensory organs into his body, an act that leads to his death. This story conveys the Daoist reverence for original simplicity and the dangers of imposing artificial order.

In cosmological thought, Hundun embodies the primal state of the universe before the separation of heaven and earth. It is a symbol of undifferentiated wholeness, a chaotic void in which all potential is contained but not yet realized. This notion of chaos aligns it with other cultural symbols like the world egg or the primordial void found in various mythologies. Rather than representing disorder in a negative sense, Hundun signifies the fertile, unformed state from which the cosmos emerges. In this way, it is a counterpart to the structured universe and a reminder of the Daoist ideal of returning to a natural, uncarved state of being.