yùzhào: 预兆 - Omen, Portent, Sign

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• Summary: Discover the meaning of 预兆 (yùzhào), the Chinese word for an omen, portent, or sign. This page explores its cultural roots in ancient divination, its practical use in modern language to describe everything from a bad feeling to economic indicators, and how it differs from similar terms like “symptom.” Learn to use yùzhào accurately through numerous examples and cultural insights, perfect for any learner of Mandarin Chinese.

• Pinyin (with tone marks): yùzhào
• Part of Speech: Noun
• HSK Level: HSK 5
• Concise Definition: A sign or event that is believed to foretell a future outcome; an omen or portent.
• In a Nutshell: 预兆 (yùzhào) is the external sign that hints at something to come. Think of dark clouds gathering before a storm, or a magpie singing outside your window. It's the universe giving you a “heads up.” The word itself is neutral; whether the omen is good or bad depends entirely on the context and the specific sign.

• 预 (yù): This character means “in advance,” “beforehand,” or “to prepare.” You'll see it in words like 预习 (yùxí), to preview a lesson, and 天气预报 (tiānqì yùbào), a weather forecast. It establishes the idea of something happening before the main event.
• 兆 (zhào): This character has a fascinating origin. It originally depicted the cracks that formed on tortoise shells or oracle bones when heated for divination in ancient China. These cracks were interpreted as messages or signs from the gods. Thus, 兆 itself means a sign, an omen, or a portent.
• Together, 预 (yù) + 兆 (zhào) literally means an “in-advance sign,” perfectly capturing the concept of an omen or a forewarning.

In Chinese culture, the concept of 预兆 is deeply ingrained and historically significant. For millennia, events in the natural world were seen as reflections of the cosmic order and harbingers of human fortune.

• Imperial Importance: Imperial courts employed astronomers and diviners to interpret celestial events like eclipses or comets, which were considered powerful 预兆 related to the emperor's reign and the stability of the dynasty. A natural disaster like an earthquake or flood could be interpreted as a 不祥的预兆 (bùxiáng de yùzhào)—an inauspicious omen—suggesting the Emperor was losing the 天命 (Tiānmìng), or Mandate of Heaven.
• Folk Beliefs: In daily life, folk superstitions are full of 预兆. For example, the sound of a crow is traditionally a bad omen, while the sight of a magpie (喜鹊, xǐquè, literally “happiness bird”) is a good one. An endlessly twitching eyelid