旱魃为虐 — “A severe drought”

旱魃为虐 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “a severe drought”. Often attributed to the mythical drought demon causing havoc. Literally, “Drought demon causing havoc”.

Frequency

旱魃为虐 Pronunciation and Pinyin

旱魃为虐 Character Breakdown

Stroke Order

Character	Pinyin	Strokes	Meaning
旱	hàn	7	drought or dry land
魃	bá	14	drought demon
为	wèi	4	to be or to do
虐	nüè	9	cruel and abusive

Example Sentence with 旱魃为虐

今年夏天，北方地区持续高温，旱魃为虐，农作物受到了严重影响

This summer, persistent high temperatures in the northern region caused a severe drought, and crops were severely affected.

Origin and Story of 旱魃为虐

Legend has it that Huangdi's (the Yellow Emperor's) daughter, Ba, possessed a great amount of heat within her body. Wherever she went, droughts frequently occurred. People greatly disliked her, considering her a plague deity.

Huangdi resettled her to the north of Chishui (Red River). She was then only able to move about at night, associating with yakshas. However, they too often committed evil deeds, and droughts continued to happen frequently.