Chinese symbol for “upheaval”
乱
luàn
Traditional: 亂
in confusion or disorder; in a confused state of mind; disorder; upheaval
The closest CC-CEDICT match for upheaval is 乱 (luàn), defined as: in confusion or disorder; in a confused state of mind; disorder; upheaval; riot; illicit sexual relations.
Before using these characters for a tattoo, check them with a native speaker. Dictionary words often have several meanings, and the right choice depends on context.
Characters and stroke order
Traditional forms
Other Chinese words for “upheaval”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 动荡 (動蕩) | dòng dàng | unrest (social or political); turmoil |
| 动乱 (動亂) | dòng luàn | turmoil; upheaval |
| 乱局 (亂局) | luàn jú | chaotic situation; turmoil; upheaval |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 乱.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 混乱 (混亂) | hùn luàn | confused; chaotic; disorderly |
| 叛乱 (叛亂) | pàn luàn | armed rebellion |
| 动乱 (動亂) | dòng luàn | turmoil; upheaval |
| 骚乱 (騷亂) | sāo luàn | disturbance; riot; to create a disturbance |
| 扰乱 (擾亂) | rǎo luàn | to disturb; to perturb |
| 战乱 (戰亂) | zhàn luàn | chaos of war |
See also: Japanese symbol for “upheaval”.
Data: CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0); Unihan Database (Unicode License v3); Make Me a Hanzi (Arphic Public License (graphics.txt); LGPL-3.0-or-later (dictionary.txt)); wordfreq (CC BY-SA 4.0 (data)). Retrieved 2026-10-22.