無念 - kanjis say "no wish", but meaning is "regret"? Why?


  * 無 generally roughly means "none"
  * 念 generally roughly means "wish"

So I personally would have expected "無念" to mean "no wish", "no regret", "no
worries", etc. However, counter-intuitively, "無念" means "regret"... and to
further add to the confusion, "無念無想" means "free from worldly or worthless
thoughts", which seems like the opposite of "無念".

Is there an explanation for the (IMO) counter-intuitive meaning of 無念 and its
related words?




I don't think「無念」( _regret_ ) and「無念無想」are related.

「無念無想」as already noted means _free from worldly/worthless/distracting
thoughts_ , and is Buddhist terminology. The **Buddhist** sense of「無念」is
derived from this meaning.

> # 大辞林
>
> **「むねん」**
>
> （１）〔仏〕種々の雑念を生む心を消滅させた状態。正念。

This is the only meaning common between Chinese and Japanese. The other
meaning of「無念」in Chinese means to _not forget_ , which is also
counterintuitive at first sight, and Japanese _regret_ certainly isn't derived
from this meaning.

> 《[詩](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classic_of_Poetry)・大雅・文王》：「王之藎臣，
> 無念爾祖；無念爾祖， 聿修厥德。」
>
> 「無念爾祖」here means _don't forget (勿忘) your ancestors_.

In fact, Japanese idioms containing「無念」meaning _regret_ aren't found in
Chinese at all, such as

  * 無念至極
  * 残念無念

so the meaning _regret_ for「無念」is probably a [_Wasei-
kango_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wasei-kango), unrelated to either the
Old Chinese or the Buddhist appearances of「無念」.

[_Dai Kan-Wa Jiten_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dai_Kan-Wa_Jiten)
explicitly defines「無念」as「残念」, and provides a Japanese _Kanbun_ quote for this
meaning:

> # {{ko:大漢和辭典}}
>
> **「無念」**
>
> （三）口惜しいこと。くやしいこと。殘念。〔東鑑、六〕文治二年四月八日、不見其藝{{ko:者}}、無念由。
>
> 「不見其藝者、無念由」> 其{そ}の藝{げい}を[不見者]{みずんば}、[無念]{むねん}の由{よし}
> ([source](http://adumakagami.web.fc2.com/aduma06-04.htm))

Chinese doesn't ( _didn't before adoption from Japanese_ ) have a word
like「殘念」either, so it is also probably a _Wasei-kango_.

* * *

Since「無念」is a synonym of「残念」and are both probably _Wasei-kango_ , then the
logic of「無念」can be related to「残念」. Changing from「残」to「無」is analogous to
changing from _little remaining_ to _none at all_ , and I suspect that this is
what happened when the word「無念」was formed.

