TAIPEI, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese character "luan," or chaos, has been voted to be the most representative word of the year 2019 by people of Taiwan.

The character won 10,323 votes out of the total 79,915 votes in an annual poll jointly organized by the CTBC Foundation for Arts and Culture and the United Daily News.

The character was voted word of the year for the second time. The first time was in 2008 when the poll was first held.

The majority of the top 10 characters expressed negative feelings such as worry, shock and isolation, according to the survey.

A total of 42 candidate characters were recommended by personages from various walks of life. The character "luan" was jointly recommended by renowned film director Ang Lee and Lee Chia-tung, an honorary professor of the Hsinchu-based Tsing Hua University.

The atmosphere in Taiwan is tense, said Ang Lee in video footage released by the organizer, adding that he hopes society can be more harmonious one day, with people understanding and respecting each other.