famine; food scarcity
Tone colorsmāmámǎmàma
Meanings
1 sense · 3 examplesnoun
famine; severe shortage of food
literaryA classical/literary term. Modern Chinese commonly uses '饥荒 (jī huāng)'. Often used in historical or formal texts to describe periods of widespread starvation.
Nà那
nián年
fā发
shēng生
jī饥
jǐn谨
，
bǎi百
xìng姓
liú流
lí离
shī失
suǒ所
。
A famine occurred that year, and people were displaced.
Gǔ古
jí籍
zhōng中
jì记
zǎi载
le了
shù数
cì次
dà大
jī饥
jǐn谨
。
Ancient texts record several great famines.
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Cháo朝
tíng廷
kāi开
cāng仓
fàng放
liáng粮
，
yǐ以
yìng应
duì对
jī饥
jǐn谨
。
The imperial court opened the granaries to distribute grain in response to the famine.