Vocabulary: 菜根谭
- 清 qīng: 清 qing1: (of water etc) clear; clean; quiet; still; pure; uncorrupted; clear; distinct; to clear; to settle (accounts)清 Qīng: 清 Qing1: Qing (Wade-Giles: Ch'ing) dynasty of China (1644–1911); surname Qing
- limpid autumn waters (trad. description of girl's beautiful eyes)
- lit. with only four bare walls for a home (idiom); fig. very poor; wretched
- proud; arrogant; to despise; unyielding; to defy
- princes and dukes; aristocrat
- to invite; to provoke; to demand or ask for; to send armed forces to suppress; to denounce or condemn; to marry (a woman); to discuss or study
- personnel; human resources; human affairs; ways of the world; (euphemism) sexuality; the facts of life
- 便宜 pián yi: 便宜 pian2 yi5: cheap; inexpensive; a petty advantage; to let sb off lightly便宜 biàn yí: 便宜 bian4 yi2: convenient
- natural law; heavenly law; weather (dialect)
- to lose (money); to have a deficit; to be deficient; to treat unfairly; luckily; fortunately; thanks to; (used to introduce an ironic remark about sb who has fallen short of expectations)
- to examine; to investigate; carefully; to try (in court)
- to select; to choose; to pick over; to pick out; to differentiate; to eliminate; also pr. [zhai2]
- careful; cautious
- (bird species of China) Eurasian siskin (Spinus spinus)
- to fall; to drop; to weigh down
- Sham Tseng (area in Hong Kong)
- the Sui dynasty (581–617 AD); surname Sui
- 弹 dàn: 弹 dan4: crossball; bullet; shot; shell; ball弹 tán: 弹 tan2: to pluck (a string); to play (a string instrument); to spring or leap; to shoot (e.g. with a catapult); (of cotton) to fluff or tease; to flick; to flip; to accuse; to impeach; elastic (of materials)
- birds
- 费 Fèi: 费 Fei4: surname Fei费 fèi: 费 fei4: to cost; to spend; fee; wasteful; expenses
- thousand jin 斤 (pounds) of gold; money and riches; (honorific) invaluable (support); (honorific) daughter
- to overturn; to collapse; to lean; to tend; to incline; to pour out
- 粟 sù: 粟 su4: millet; (metonym) grain粟 Sù: 粟 Su4: surname Su
- 济 jì: 济 ji4: to cross a river; to aid or relieve; to be of help济 Jǐ: 济 Ji3: used in place names associated with the Ji River 濟水|济水[Ji3 Shui3]; surname Ji济 jǐ: 济 ji3: used in 濟濟|济济[ji3 ji3]
- hunger; starvation; famine
- 构 gòu: 构 gou4: to reach by stretching构 gòu: 构 gou4: to construct; to form; to make up; to compose; literary composition; paper mulberry (Broussonetia papyrifera)
- pillar
- to attract; to incur
- guests; visitors
- to repair
- 数 shùo: 数 shuo4: (literary) frequently; repeatedly数 shǔ: 数 shu3: to count; to count as; to regard as; to enumerate; to list数 shù: 数 shu4: number; figure; several; a few
- beam; rafter; classifier for rooms
- 茅 máo: 茅 mao2: reeds; rushes茅 Máo: 茅 Mao2: surname Mao
- to protect; cover; shelter; hide or harbor
- alone and poor; humble; (Cantonese) miserly
- to construct; to build
- house; building; CL:所[suo3],套[tao4]
- 解 xiè: 解 xie4: acrobatic display (esp. on horseback) (old)解 jiè: 解 jie4: to transport under guard解 jiě: 解 jie3: to divide; to break up; to split; to separate; to dissolve; to solve; to melt; to remove; to untie; to loosen; to open; to emancipate; to explain; to understand; to know; a solution; a dissection解 Xiè: 解 Xie4: surname Xie
- 斗 dǒu: 斗 dou3: dry measure for grain equal to ten 升[sheng1] or one-tenth of a 石[dan4]; decaliter; peck; cup or dipper shaped object斗 Dǒu: 斗 Dou3: abbr. for the Big Dipper constellation 北斗星[Bei3 dou3 xing1]斗 dòu: 斗 dou4: to fight; to struggle; to condemn; to censure; to contend; to put together; coming together
- to help; to assist
- power; might; prestige
- anger
- to punish; to reprimand; to warn
- contrary; in reverse; inside out or upside down; to reverse; to return; to oppose; opposite; against; anti-; to rebel; to use analogy; instead; abbr. for 反切[fan3 qie4] phonetic system
- what is meant by the expression ...; what is referred to as ...; (derog.) so-called