zāi nàn
calamity; disaster; catastrophe
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这场灾难造成了许多人的死亡。
Zhè chǎng zāinàn zàochéngle xǔduō rén de sǐwáng.
This disaster caused many deaths.
我们必须为即将到来的灾难做好准备。
Wǒmen bìxū wèi jiāngqí dàolái de zāinàn zuò hǎo zhǔnbèi.
We must be prepared for the coming disaster.
这场灾难给我们带来了巨大的损失。
Zhè chǎng zāinàn gěi wǒmen dàilái le jùdà de sǔnshī.
This disaster brought us great losses.
浩劫 (hàojié)
calamity
灾祸 (zāihuò)
disaster
幸福 (xìngfú)
happiness
好运 (hǎoyùn)
good luck
The Chinese word 灾难 (zāi nàn) for "disaster" or "calamity" is composed of two characters: 灾 (zāi) and 难 (nàn). The character 灾 originally meant "a year of bad harvest" and was composed of the characters 火 (huǒ) for "fire" and 年 (nián) for "year". This suggests that in ancient China, fires were seen as a major cause of disasters. The character 难 originally meant "difficult" or "hard" and was composed of the characters 矢 (shǐ) for "arrow" and 戈 (gē) for "spear". This suggests that in ancient China, war and violence were seen as major causes of disasters. Thus, the word 灾难 (zāi nàn) literally means "a year of bad harvest and difficulty" or "a year of fire, war, and violence".
