zhàng
noun

Meanings

  1. 1 miasma
  2. 2 pestilential vapor (of warm, humid southern regions)

Examples

Gǔdài lǚrén hàipà nánfāng shānlín lǐ de zhàng qì.
Ancient travelers feared the miasma of the southern mountain forests.
Zhè piàn shēnshān xiágǔ cháoshī, róngyì qǐ zhàng qì.
This deep mountain valley is humid and prone to miasmic air.

Tips

history
Historically ('miasma') described what people thought was toxic air rising from hot, damp southern forests. It was actually the cause of malaria, which is why also translates as 'malaria' in older texts.

Components

radical
sickness; illness
The sickness radical frames the character, marking as something disease-related — the deadly fevers that miasmic air was blamed for.
phonetic
zhāng
chapter; seal
supplies the sound, shifting from zhāng to the falling-tone zhàng. It carries no meaning here — purely phonetic.

Stroke Order

zhàng