Vocabulary: 菜根谭
- power; influence; potential; momentum; tendency; trend; situation; conditions; outward appearance; sign; gesture; male genitals
- to meet a contingency; to adapt oneself to changes
- expedient
- market; city; municipality (administrative unit); (literary) to trade; to buy and sell goods
- to repay debts of gratitude; to repay kindness
- anger; indignation; hatred
- 矫情 jiáo qing: 矫情 jiao2 qing5: (Beijing dialect) argumentative; unreasonable矫情 jiǎo qíng: 矫情 jiao3 qing2: affected; unnatural; pretentious
- already; since; both... (and...)
- to defeat; to damage; to lose (to an opponent); to fail; to wither
- to drive; to manage; to control
- precipice; cliff; Taiwan pr. [yai2]
- 马 Mǎ: 马 Ma3: surname Ma; abbr. for Malaysia 馬來西亞|马来西亚[Ma3 lai2 xi1 ya4]马 mǎ: 马 ma3: horse; CL:匹[pi3]; horse or cavalry piece in Chinese chess; knight in Western chess
- whip or lash; to flog; to whip; conductor's baton; segmented iron weapon (old); penis (of animal, served as food)
- diagram; picture; drawing; chart; map; CL:張|张[zhang1]; to plan; to scheme; to attempt; to pursue; to seek
- 挽 wǎn: 挽 wan3: to pull; to draw (a cart or a bow); to roll up; to coil; to carry on the arm; to lament the dead; (fig.) to pull against; to recover挽 wǎn: 挽 wan3: to draw (a cart); to lament the dead
- beach; shoal; rapids; CL:片[pian4]; classifier for liquids: pool, puddle
- boat
- 莫 Mò: 莫 Mo4: surname Mo莫 mò: 莫 mo4: do not; there is none who
- to stop; to halt; to park (a car)
- 达 Dá: 达 Da2: surname Da达 dá: 达 da2: to attain; to reach; to amount to; to communicate; eminent
- to laugh; to smile; to laugh at
- 冠 Guàn: 冠 Guan4: surname Guan冠 guān: 冠 guan1: hat; crown; crest; cap冠 guàn: 冠 guan4: to put on a hat; to be first; to dub
- 侯 Hóu: 侯 Hou2: surname Hou侯 hóu: 侯 hou2: marquis, second of the five orders of ancient Chinese nobility 五等爵位[wu3 deng3 jue2 wei4]; nobleman; high official侯 hòu: 侯 hou4: used in 閩侯|闽侯[Min3 hou4] (the name of a place in Fujian)
- to drag; to pull; Taiwan pr. [yi4]
- garment
- to throw (sth in a specific direction: ball, javelin, grenade etc); to cast (a ballot); to cast (a glance, a shadow etc); to put in (money for investment, a coin to operate a slot machine); to send (a letter, a manuscript etc); to throw oneself into (a river, a well etc to commit suicide); to go to; to seek refuge; to place oneself into the hands of; (coll.) to rinse (clothes) in water
- 杨 yáng: 杨 yang2: poplar杨 Yáng: 杨 Yang2: surname Yang
- to kill; to slay; to murder; to attack; to weaken; to reduce; (dialect) to smart; (used after a verb) extremely
- Cao Cao (155-220), famous statesman and general at the end of Han, noted poet and calligrapher, later warlord, founder and first king of Cao Wei 曹魏, father of Emperor Cao Pi 曹丕; the main villain of novel the Romance of Three Kingdoms 三國演義|三国演义
- 韦 Wéi: 韦 Wei2: surname Wei韦 wéi: 韦 wei2: soft leather
- birth; birthday; brag; boast; to increase
- grave; tomb; mausoleum
- to cut down; to fell; to dispatch an expedition against; to attack; to boast; Taiwan pr. [fa1]
- Zhong Yao (151-230), minister of Cao Wei 曹魏[Cao2 Wei4] and noted calligrapher, said to have developed the regular script 楷書|楷书[kai3 shu1]
- 秘 mì: 秘 mi4: secret; secretary秘 bì: 秘 bi4: see 秘魯|秘鲁[Bi4 lu3]
- 美 Měi: 美 Mei3: (bound form) the Americas (abbr. for 美洲[Mei3 zhou1]); (bound form) USA (abbr. for 美國|美国[Mei3 guo2])美 měi: 美 mei3: beautiful; very satisfactory; good; to beautify; to be pleased with oneself
- wise; a sage
- to hide
- 采 cǎi: 采 cai3: to pick; to pluck; to collect; to select; to choose; to gather采 cài: 采 cai4: used in 采邑[cai4 yi4] and 采地[cai4 di4]采 cǎi: 采 cai3: color; complexion; looks
- to abdicate; modest; yielding; unpretentious; inferior to; (slang) to suck
- early youth; youngster; (literary) youth; young man
- to restrain; to restrict; to keep down; or
- mature; experienced; sophisticated
- prudent; cautious; to be in charge of ritual ceremonies; to hold an important office