3 ms·

Cite? It's not "Confucian-era Chinese", but google translate gives : 倒霉 which per wiktionary (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/倒 https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/倒

• williamjennings 11y ago
  It does not seem like you understand the historical context of written Chinese; or the importance of social class within Confucianism. You would be better off reading a textbook on the sociology of ancient China; instead of abusing google translate. Jared Diamond would be a good author to start reading from, if you are unfamiliar with the topic. My primary source has been Chinese friends, and they have explained that "Bad Luck" is one example of a regressive tradition which was abolished during the cultural revolution. It is my opinion that the phrase "Bad Luck" is a conditional mood of impoverishment. In the third person, it is a superstitious euphemism which detaches the speaker from empathy. There are also languages where the concept does not exist at all.