Chinese language (Mandarin), emphasizing its national nature / Chinese as a primary or secondary school subject / Chinese in the context of the Nationalist Government / Guoyu, book of historical narrative c. 10th-5th century BC
Duke of Zhou (11th c. BC), son of King Wen of Zhou 周文王[Zhou1 Wen2 wang2], played an important role as regent in founding the Western Zhou 西周[Xi1 Zhou1], and is also known as the "God of Dreams"
bronze implement / refers to ancient bronze artifacts, from c. 2,000 BC
播放机
bō fàng jī
player (e.g. CD player)
粮票
liáng piào
coupons for food or grain used in a PRC economic program c. 1955-1993
左传
Zuǒ Zhuàn
Zuo Zhuan or Tsochuan, Mr Zuo's Annals or Mr Zuo's commentary on 春秋[Chun1 qiu1], early history c. 400 BC attributed to famous blind historian Zuo Qiuming 左丘明[Zuo3 Qiu1 ming2]
纸上谈兵
zhǐ shàng tán bīng
lit. military tactics on paper (idiom) / fig. theoretical discussion that is worse than useless in practice / armchair strategist / idle theorizing / cf Zhao Kuo 趙括|赵括[Zhao4 Kuo4] leading an army of 400,000 to total annihilation at battle of Changping 長平之戰|长平之战[Chang2 ping2 zhi1 Zhan4] in 260 BC
内经
Nèi jīng
abbr. for 黃帝內經|黄帝内经[Huang2 di4 Nei4 jing1], The Yellow Emperor's Internal Canon, medical text c. 300 BC
工业革命
Gōng yè Gé mìng
Industrial Revolution, c. 1750-1830
八旗
bā qí
Eight Banners, military organization of Manchu later Jin dynasty 後金|后金[Hou4 Jin1] from c. 1600, subsequently of the Qing dynasty
辛亥
xīn hài
forty-eighth year H12 of the 60 year cycle, e.g. 1971 or 2031 / cf 辛亥革命[Xin1 hai4 Ge2 ming4], Xinhai Revolution of 1911
to divide / to separate / to distribute / to allocate / to distinguish (good and bad) / part or subdivision / fraction / one tenth (of certain units) / unit of length equivalent to 0.33 cm / minute (unit of time) / minute (angular measurement unit) / a point (in sports or games) / 0.01 yuan (unit of money)
整风
zhěng fēng
Rectification or Rectifying incorrect work styles, Maoist slogan / cf Rectification campaign 整風運動|整风运动, army purge of 1942-44 and anti-rightist purge of 1957
丙子
bǐng zǐ
thirteenth year C1 of the 60 year cycle, e.g. 1996 or 2056
丙寅
bǐng yín
third year C3 of the 60 year cycle, e.g. 1986 or 2046
吹箫
chuī xiāo
to play the xiao 簫|箫[xiao1] (mouth organ) / to beg while playing pipes / cf politician Wu Zixu 伍子胥[Wu3 Zi3 xu1], c. 520 BC destitute refugee in Wu town, 吳市吹簫|吴市吹箫[Wu2 shi4 chui1 xiao1] / to busk / virtuoso piper wins a beauty, cf 玉人吹簫|玉人吹箫[yu4 ren2 chui1 xiao1] / (slang) fellatio / blowjob
辛丑
xīn chǒu
thirty-eighth year H2 of the 60 year cycle, e.g. 1961 or 2021 / cf 辛丑條約|辛丑条约, Protocol of Beijing of 1901 ending the 8-nation intervention after the Boxer uprising
松下电器
Sōng xià Diàn qì
Panasonic Corporation (formerly Matsushita Electric Industrial Co.)
丙辰
bǐng chén
fifty-third year C5 of the 60 year cycle, e.g. 1976 or 2036
丙午
bǐng wǔ
forty-third year C7 of the 60 year cycle, e.g. 1966 or 2026
quilt / by / (indicates passive-voice clauses) / (literary) to cover / to meet with / (coll.) (since c. 2009) used before a verb that does not accurately represent what actually happened, to describe with black humor how sb or sth was dealt with by the authorities (as in 被自殺|被自杀[bei4 zi4 sha1])
伍子胥
Wǔ Zǐ xū
Wu Zixu (-484 BC), powerful politician in Wu / famous as destitute refugee begging in Wu town, cf 吳市吹簫|吴市吹箫[Wu2 shi4 chui1 xiao1]
self / oneself / sixth of the ten Heavenly Stems 十天干[shi2 tian1 gan1] / sixth in order / letter "F" or Roman "VI" in list "A, B, C", or "I, II, III" etc / hexa
造字
zào zì
to create Chinese characters / cf Six Methods of forming Chinese characters 六書|六书[liu4 shu1]
不平等条约
bù píng děng tiáo yuē
(term coined c. 1920s) unequal treaty &ndash / a treaty between China and one or more aggressor nations (including Russia, Japan and various Western powers) which imposed humiliating conditions on China (in the 19th and early 20th centuries)
School of Mind / Neo-Confucian Idealistic School (from Song to mid-Qing times, c. 1000-1750, typified by the teachings of Wang Yangming 王陽明|王阳明[Wang2 Yang2 ming2])
三顾茅庐
sān gù máo lú
lit. three humble visits to a thatched cottage / cf famous episode in the fictional Romance of Three Kingdoms 三國演義|三国演义 / in which Liu Bei 劉備|刘备 / recruits Zhuge Liang 諸葛亮|诸葛亮 / (the Hidden Dragon 臥龍|卧龙) to his cause by visiting him three times
河姆渡
Hé mǔ dù
Hemudu neolithic archaeological site near Ningbo in Zhejiang, going back to c. 5000 BC
光盘驱动器
guāng pán qū dòng qì
CD or DVD drive / abbr. to 光驅|光驱
子贡
Zǐ Gòng
Zi Gong or Duanmu Ci 端木賜|端木赐[Duan1 mu4 Ci4] (520 BC-), disciple of Confucius
占城
Zhàn chéng
Champa (Sanskrit: Campapura or Campanagara), ancient kingdom in the South of Vietnam c. 200-1693
Samuel C. C. Ting (1936-), American physicist, 1976 Nobel Prize laureate in physics
倒打一耙
dào dǎ yī pá
lit. to strike with a muckrake (idiom), cf Pigsy 豬八戒|猪八戒 / in Journey to the West 西遊記|西游记 / fig. to counterattack / to make bogus accusations (against one's victim)
(embryology) to involute / involution / (neologism c. 2017) (of a society) to become more and more of a rat race / to become increasingly competitive (due to limited resources)
first of the ten Heavenly Stems 十天干[shi2 tian1 gan1] / (used for an unspecified person or thing) / first (in a list, as a party to a contract etc) / letter "A" or roman "I" in list "A, B, C", or "I, II, III" etc / armor plating / shell or carapace / (of the fingers or toes) nail / bladed leather or metal armor (old) / ranking system used in the Imperial examinations (old) / civil administration unit in the baojia 保甲[bao3 jia3] system (old) / ancient Chinese compass point: 75°
(of taste) hot or pungent / hard / laborious / suffering / eighth in order / eighth of the ten Heavenly Stems 十天干[shi2 tian1 gan1] / letter "H" or Roman "VIII" in list "A, B, C", or "I, II, III" etc / ancient Chinese compass point: 285° / octa
second of the ten Heavenly Stems 十天干[shi2 tian1 gan1] / second in order / letter "B" or Roman "II" in list "A, B, C", or "I, II, III" etc / second party (in legal contract, usually 乙方[yi3 fang1], as opposed to 甲方[jia3 fang1]) / ethyl / bent / winding / radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 5) / ancient Chinese compass point: 105°
third of the ten Heavenly Stems 十天干[shi2 tian1 gan1] / third in order / letter "C" or Roman "III" in list "A, B, C", or "I, II, III" etc / ancient Chinese compass point: 165° / propyl
age / seventh of the ten Heavenly Stems 十天干[shi2 tian1 gan1] / seventh in order / letter "G" or Roman "VII" in list "A, B, C", or "I, II, III" etc / ancient Chinese compass point: 255° / hepta
ninth of the ten Heavenly Stems 十天干[shi2 tian1 gan1] / ninth in order / letter "I" or Roman "IX" in list "A, B, C", or "I, II, III" etc / ancient Chinese compass point: 345° / nona
tenth of the ten Heavenly Stems 十天干[shi2 tian1 gan1] / tenth in order / letter "J" or Roman "X" in list "A, B, C", or "I, II, III" etc / ancient Chinese compass point: 15° / deca
large bird, possibly related to crane or swan (archaic) / mythical monstrous bird, cf Sinbad's roc
吴市吹箫
Wú shì chuī xiāo
to beg while playing the xiao 簫|箫[xiao1] (mouth organ) / cf Wu Zixu 伍子胥[Wu3 Zi3 xu1], destitute refugee from Chu 楚[Chu3], busked in Wu town c. 520 BC, then became a powerful politician
吹箫乞食
chuī xiāo qǐ shí
to beg while playing the xiao 簫|箫[xiao1] (mouth organ) / cf Wu Zixu 伍子胥[Wu3 Zi3 xu1], destitute refugee from Chu 楚[Chu3], busked in Wu town c. 520 BC, then became a powerful politician
失道寡助
shī dào guǎ zhù
an unjust cause finds little support (idiom, from Mencius) / cf 得道多助[de2 dao4 duo1 zhu4] a just cause attracts much support
宁静致远
níng jìng zhì yuǎn
tranquility yields transcendence (idiom) / quiet life of profound study / cf Still waters run deep.
晨昏定省
chén hūn dìng xǐng
morning and evening visits to parents / cf 昏定晨省[hun1 ding4 chen2 xing3]
杯酒释兵权
bēi jiǔ shì bīng quán
to dismiss military hierarchy using wine cups / cf Song founding Emperor Song Taizu 宋太祖 / holds a banquet in 961 and persuades his senior army commanders to go home to their provinces
琴瑟不调
qín sè bù tiáo
out of tune / marital discord, cf qin and se 琴瑟, two string instruments as symbol of marital harmony
百年树人
bǎi nián shù rén
It takes ten years to nurture a tree, but a hundred years to train a man (idiom) / fig. a good education program takes a long time to develop / cf. 十年樹木，百年樹人|十年树木，百年树人
羯鼓催花
jié gǔ cuī huā
drumming to make apricots flower, cf joke by Tang Emperor Xuanzhong 唐玄宗, playing the drum in apricot blossom
花朝月夕
huā zhāo yuè xī
a beautiful day / cf Birthday of the Flowers on lunar 15th February and Mid-autumn Festival on lunar 15th August
装点门面
zhuāng diǎn mén miàn
lit. to decorate the front of one's store (idiom) / fig. to embellish (one's CV, etc) / to keep up appearances / to put up a front
过街老鼠
guò jiē lǎo shǔ
sb or sth detested by all / target of scorn / anathema / cf. 老鼠過街，人人喊打|老鼠过街，人人喊打[lao3 shu3 guo4 jie1 , ren2 ren2 han3 da3]
布鲁图斯
Bù lǔ tú sī
Brutus (name) / Marcus Junius Brutus (85-42 BC), late Roman Republic politician who conspired against Julius Caesar / Lucius Junius Brutus (6th c. BC), founder of the Roman Republic
亚哈
Yà hā
Ahab (9th c. BC), King of Israel, son of Omri and husband of Jezebel, prominent figure in 1 Kings 16-22
希波克拉底
Xī bō kè lā dǐ
Hippocrates (c. 460 BC - c. 370 BC), Greek physician, father of Western medicine
七七
qī qī
seven sevens (equals 49) / cf Buddhist services for the auspicious reincarnation of the departed
长乐
Cháng lè
Changle, county-level city in Fuzhou 福州[Fu2 zhou1], Fujian / Princess Changle of Western Wei of the Northern dynasties 西魏[Xi1 Wei4], given in marriage c. 545 to Bumin Khan 土門|土门[Tu3 men2]
山海经
Shān hǎi Jīng
Classic of Mountain and Sea, probably compiled c. 500 BC-200 BC, contains wide range of geography, mythology, witchcraft, popular customs etc
布鲁特斯
Bù lǔ tè sī
Brutus (name) / Marcus Junius Brutus (85-42 BC), late Roman Republic politician who conspired against Julius Caesar / Lucius Junius Brutus (6th c. BC), founder of the Roman Republic
fēn