| 事变 | shì biàn | unforeseen event; incident |
| 一二八事变 | yī èr bā shì biàn | Shanghai incident of 28th January 1932, Chinese uprising against Japanese quarters of Shanghai |
| 七七事变 | qī qī shì biàn | Marco Polo bridge incident of 7th July 1937 that sparked WW2 between Japan and China |
| 九一八事变 | jiǔ yī bā shì biàn | the Mukden or Manchurian railway incident of 18th September 1931 used by the Japanese as a pretext to annex Manchuria; also known as Liutiaogou incident 柳条沟事变 |
| 六二五事变 | liù èr wǔ shì biàn | Korean war (dating from North Korean invasion on 25th Jun 1950) |
| 四一二事变 | sì yī èr shì biàn | the coup of 12th Mar 1927, an attempt by Chiang Kai-shek to suppress the communists; called 反革命政變 or 惨案 in PRC literature |
| 柳条沟事变 | liǔ tiáo gōu shì biàn | the Mukden or Manchurian railway incident of 18th September 1931 used by the Japanese as a pretext to annex Manchuria; also known as 9-18 incident 九一八事变 |
| 皖南事变 | wǎn nán shì biàn | New Fourth Army Incident of 1940, involving fighting between the nationalists and communists |
| 卢沟桥事变 | Lú gōu qiáo shì biàn | the Marco Polo bridge incident of 7th July 1937 that sparked WW2 between Japan and China |
| 华北事变 | Huá běi shì biàn | North China incident of October-December 1935, a Japanese attempt to set up a puppet government in north China |
| 芦沟桥事变 | Lú gōu qiáo shì biàn | the Marco Polo bridge incident of 7th July 1937 that sparked WW2 between Japan and China |
| 西安事变 | Xī ān shì biàn | Xi'an incident of 12th December 1936 (kidnap of Chiang Kai-shek 蒋介石) |
