劫难

劫難
jiénàn
noun #33,215

Meanings

  1. 1 calamity
  2. 2 disaster
  3. 3 catastrophe

Examples

Tā jīnglì le wúshù jiénàn, zhōngyú huí dào le jiāxiāng.
He went through countless calamities and finally returned to his hometown.
Zhè bù xiǎoshuō jiǎngshù le yí ge jiāzú zài zhànzhēng zhōng de jiénàn.
This novel tells of a family's calamity during the war.

Tips

culture
originally means a 'kalpa' — a Buddhist cosmic time-cycle ending in destruction. 劫难 thus carries the flavor of fated disaster, as if karmic. Compare the lighter 灾难 (zāinàn, 'disaster') which is more everyday.

Stroke Order

jié
nán