Vocabulary: 菜根谭
- thistles and thorns; brambles; thorny undergrowth
- (before an adjective or verb) to the highest degree; (the) most ...; -est; (after 之[zhi1]) best or most extreme example (e.g. 世界之最[shi4 jie4 zhi1 zui4] "the greatest in the world")
- 易 Yì: 易 Yi4: surname Yi; I Ching; Book of Changes (abbr. for 易經|易经[Yi4 jing1])易 yì: 易 yi4: easy; amiable; to change; to exchange; prefix corresponding to the English adjective suffix "-able" or "-ible"
- to carry within it; to be mixed in; to slip sth in; to intersperse; (hydrology etc) to entrain; to smuggle; notes smuggled into an exam
- 难 nán: 难 nan2: difficult (to...); problem; difficulty; difficult; not good难 nàn: 难 nan4: disaster; distress; to scold
- to pull out; to remove
- (after a verb or adjective) one who (is) ...; (after a noun) person involved in ...; -er; -ist; (used after a number or 後|后[hou4] or 前[qian2] to refer to sth mentioned previously); (used after a term, to mark a pause before defining the term); (old) (used at the end of a command); (old) this
- 也 Yě: 也 Ye3: surname Ye也 yě: 也 ye3: also; too; as well; (not ...) either; (used after a verbal or nominal expression X to indicate that X is an extreme or unexpected case) even (X); (literary) particle having functions similar to 啊[a5]
- to wash; to cleanse
- 尽 jǐn: 尽 jin3: to the greatest extent; (when used before a noun of location) furthest or extreme; to be within the limits of; to give priority to尽 jìn: 尽 jin4: to use up; to exhaust; to end; to finish; to the utmost; exhausted; finished; to the limit (of sth); all; entirely
- residue; dregs; disreputable people
- to behead (as form of capital punishment); to chop
- to cut short; extinct; to disappear; to vanish; absolutely; by no means
- (of a seed) to germinate; (of a plant) to sprout; to bud; sprout; bud; (also used figuratively)
- ability; talent; sb of a certain type; a capable individual; then and only then; just now; (before an expression of quantity) only; (emphatic, esp. in contrast or correction) really; actually
- 见 xiàn: 见 xian4: to appear; also written 現|现[xian4]见 jiàn: 见 jian4: to see; to meet; to appear (to be sth); to interview; opinion; view
- original; originally; at first; it goes without saying; of course
- really; truly; indeed; real; true; genuine
- 体 tǐ: 体 ti3: body; form; style; system; substance; to experience; aspect (linguistics)体 tī: 体 ti1: used in 體己|体己[ti1 ji5]; Taiwan pr. [ti3]
- five; 5
- 能 néng: 能 neng2: can; to be able to; might possibly; ability; (physics) energy能 Néng: 能 Neng2: surname Neng
- light; easy; gentle; soft; reckless; unimportant; frivolous; small in number; unstressed; neutral; to disparage
- riches and honor
- cannot; must not; should not
- 重 zhòng: 重 zhong4: heavy; serious; to attach importance to重 chóng: 重 chong2: to repeat; repetition; again; re-; classifier: layer
- name; titular; nominal; in name; ostensible purpose
- (once) again; also; both... and...; and yet; (used for emphasis) anyway
- 复 fù: 复 fu4: to go and return; to return; to resume; to return to a normal or original state; to repeat; again; to recover; to restore; to turn over; to reply; to answer; to reply to a letter; to retaliate; to carry out复 fù: 复 fu4: to repeat; to double; to overlap; complex (not simple); compound; composite; double; diplo-; duplicate; overlapping; to duplicate复 fù: 复 fu4: to reply to a letter
- matter; thing; item; work; affair; CL:件[jian4],樁|桩[zhuang1],回[hui2]
- border; place; condition; boundary; circumstances; territory
- dust; dirt; earth
- miasma; vapor
- not yet; did not; have not; not; 8th earthly branch: 1-3 p.m., 6th solar month (7th July-6th August), year of the Sheep; ancient Chinese compass point: 210°
- 扫 sào: 扫 sao4: (bound form) a (large) broom扫 sǎo: 扫 sao3: to sweep (with a brush or broom); to sweep away; to wipe out; to get rid of; to sweep (one's eyes etc) over; to scan
- mood; mental state; frame of mind
- an obstruction; barrier; ill-feeling; grudge
- to forget; to overlook; to neglect
- this place; here (literary)
- no; not so; (bound form) not; un-
- clean; completely; only; net (income, exports etc); (Chinese opera) painted face male role
- afraid; frightened; to fear
- 石 Shí: 石 Shi2: surname Shi; abbr. for Shijiazhuang 石家莊|石家庄[Shi2 jia1 zhuang1], the capital of Hebei石 dàn: 石 dan4: dry measure for grain equal to ten dou 斗[dou3]; one hundred liters; ancient pr. [shi2]石 shí: 石 shi2: rock; stone; stone inscription; one of the eight categories of ancient musical instruments 八音[ba1 yin1]
- to go; to go to (a place); (of a time etc) last; just passed; to send; to remove; to get rid of; to reduce; to be apart from in space or time; to die (euphemism); to play (a part); (when used either before or after a verb) to go in order to do sth; (after a verb of motion indicates movement away from the speaker); (used after certain verbs to indicate detachment or separation)
- grass; straw; manuscript; draft (of a document); careless; rough; CL:棵[ke1],撮[zuo3],株[zhu1],根[gen1]
- to be reborn; to recover; to come back to life; to regenerate
- classical final particle, similar to modern 了[le5]
- 六 lìu: 六 liu4: six; 6六 lù: 六 lu4: used in place names
- turmoil; unrest; disturbance