疏散

• Pinyin: shū sàn
• Hanzi breakdown: 疏 = 疋 + flow (to dredge; to disperse); 散 = 攴 + 月 (strike + mass — to scatter; to break apart)

Meaning

To evacuate; to disperse; scattered; spread out.

Both an adjective (sparse/scattered in distribution) and a verb (to evacuate or disperse people from a location). The verb sense is predominant and used in emergency management, urban planning, and crowd control. Key collocations: 紧急疏散 (emergency evacuation); 疏散人员 (to evacuate personnel); 疏散路线 (evacuation route); 人口疏散 (population dispersal).

Examples

1. 地震预警系统发出警报后，建筑内所有人员在安全疏散预案的指引下迅速有序地通过紧急出口转移至空旷的临时避难区域。 After the earthquake early-warning system sounded the alarm, everyone in the building, guided by the evacuation plan, quickly and orderly exited through emergency routes to an open temporary shelter area.
2. 专家建议优化公共服务分布，逐步引导人口从核心区向周边城市有序疏散。 Experts recommend optimizing the distribution of public services and gradually guiding the population to relocate in an orderly way from the core area to surrounding cities.
3. 这栋商业综合体在消防安全演练中暴露出疏散指示标识不清晰、安全出口局部堵塞等问题，消防部门已责令限期整改。 During a fire-safety drill, this commercial complex exposed problems such as unclear evacuation signage and partially blocked exits; the fire department has ordered corrections within a set deadline.

Usage Guide

Context: emergency management, urban planning, safety, disaster response

Tone: urgent

Do Say

• 大型活动的安全方案必须把人群疏散预案放在核心位置，并定期演练。(The safety plan for large events must place crowd evacuation plans at the center and conduct drills regularly.)
• 核电站周边应预先制定分级疏散方案，明确不同事故等级下的优先级、路线和安置。(Areas around nuclear power plants should prepare tiered evacuation plans in advance, clearly defining priorities, routes, and temporary shelter arrangements for different accident levels.)

Don't Say

• 疏散 when you mean a gradual, voluntary spread — use 分散 (to distribute/spread out) or 扩散 (to diffuse/spread); 疏散 implies a deliberate, often urgent action of moving people away from a dangerous or overcrowded place, and using it for passive or voluntary dispersal sounds overly alarming

Origin & History

疏 (sparse; to disperse — 疋 path + flow; to spread out) + 散 (to scatter; to disperse — 攴 to strike + 月 flesh/mass; to break apart and scatter)

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal