饑饉薦臻

From the Classic of Poetry, poem 258 《雲漢》:

天降喪亂，饑饉薦臻。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, trad.]

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天降丧乱，饥馑荐臻。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: The Classic of Poetry, c. 11^th – 7^th centuries BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

Tiān jiàng sāngluàn, jījǐn jiànzhēn. [Pinyin]

That Heaven [thus] sends down death and disorder?
Famine comes again and again.

饑饉薦臻

1. famine occurring year after year

   • 莽恥爲政所致，迺下詔曰：“予遭陽九之阸，百六之會，枯旱霜蝗，飢饉荐臻，蠻夷猾夏，寇賊姦軌，百姓流離。予甚悼之，害氣將究矣。” [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     莽耻为政所致，乃下诏曰：“予遭阳九之阨，百六之会，枯旱霜蝗，饥馑荐臻，蛮夷猾夏，寇贼奸轨，百姓流离。予甚悼之，害气将究矣。” [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Book of Han, circa 1^st century CE

     Mǎng chǐ wéi zhèng suǒ zhì, nǎi xiàzhào yuē: “Yú zāo yángjiǔ zhī è, bǎiliù zhī huì, kūhàn shuāng huáng, jījǐnjiànzhēn, mányí huá xià, kòuzéi jiānguǐ, bǎixìng liúlí. Yǔ shèn dào zhī, hàiqì jiāng jiū yǐ.” [Pinyin]

     Wang Mang was ashamed to recognize that these events were because of his misgovernment, so he issued imperial edicts, saying, "I have met with the distresses of the nine dry years and the untoward occurrences in the 106 years, of withering droughts, frosts, locusts, repeated arrivals of famines and barbarians who have troubled the Chinese, robbers and bandits who follow a wicked course, and people who become vagrants and fall into crime. I am greatly saddened by it. This injurious emanation will soon come to an end."

   • 1913 June 1, Li Dazhao, “隱憂篇 [On Hidden Perils]”, in 言治, number 3:

     歷稽載籍，一代興亡之交，其先必匪亂叢起，良以失政之朝，民多怨之，加之饑饉薦臻，災異迭見，於是梟雄乘之，狐鳴篝火，愚惑斯民，凡以欲遂其帝王事業之私圖也。 [Literary Chinese, trad.]
     历稽载籍，一代兴亡之交，其先必匪乱丛起，良以失政之朝，民多怨之，加之饥馑荐臻，灾异迭见，于是枭雄乘之，狐鸣篝火，愚惑斯民，凡以欲遂其帝王事业之私图也。 [Literary Chinese, simp.]

     Lì jī zǎijí, yīdài xìngwáng zhī jiāo, qí xiān bì fěi luàn cóng qǐ, liáng yǐ shīzhèng zhī cháo, mín duō yuàn zhī, jiāzhī jījǐnjiànzhēn, zāiyì dié xiàn, yúshì xiāoxióng chéng zhī, húmínggōuhuǒ, yúhuò sīmín, fán yǐ yù suì qí dìwáng shìyè zhī sī tú yě. [Pinyin]

     By perusing historical records, I have observed that prior to the rise and fall of a dynasty, banditry and unrest are invariably rampant. This is because under a failed regime, the people are filled with resentment. Ambitious rogues who seize the opportunity of recurring famines and successive disasters make false prophecies and incite rebellion, deceiving the ignorant masses—all in pursuit of their self-serving mission to achieve emperorship.