- lit. to bring a bramble and ask for punishment (idiom); fig. to offer sb a humble apology
- Barth or Barthes (name); Roland Barthes (1915-1980), French critic and semiotician
- used in 瑪瑙|玛瑙[ma3 nao3]
- Dole (name); Bob Dole (1923-2021), US Republican politician, Kansas senator 1969-1996
- to process; processing; working (of machinery)
- to go smoothly; to come off; to succeed
- main assault; to focus on; to specialize in; to major in
- lit. to prescribe the right medicine for an illness (idiom); fig. to study a problem to find the right way to solve it; to take appropriate steps
- unjust; unfair
- to seal up (a door with a paper seal, or a document); to confer an additional title on a nobleman
- (bound form) salary; stipend
- early morning
- interlinked; connected; communicating; in communication; accommodating
- to dazzle; to boast; to show off; (slang) cool; awesome
- to submit; to give in
- ancient history
- Zhuge Liang (181–234), military leader and prime minister of Shu Han 蜀漢|蜀汉[Shu3 Han4] during the Three Kingdoms period; the main hero of the fictional Romance of Three Kingdoms 三國演義|三国演义[San1 guo2 Yan3 yi4], where he is portrayed as a sage and military genius; (fig.) a mastermind
- long-term; long-range
- to assist; to complement; auxiliary
- constraint; to detain; to take into custody
- that very night; through the night; for several nights in a row
- 泰 tài: 泰 tai4: safe; peaceful; most; grand泰 Tài: 泰 Tai4: Mt Tai 泰山[Tai4 Shan1] in Shandong; abbr. for Thailand
- active; lively; excited; to enliven; to brighten up
- interaction; social contact
- upper-class woman; lady (old)
- romance (loanword); love affair
- to use fully; to put to use
- Hongmen feast; (fig.) banquet set up with the aim of murdering a guest; refers to a famous episode in 206 BC when future Han emperor Liu Bang 劉邦|刘邦[Liu2 Bang1] escaped attempted murder by his rival Xiang Yu 項羽|项羽[Xiang4 Yu3]
- lit. to fix the tone with a single hammer blow; fig. to make the final decision
- not to mention; leaving aside
- to reach agreement
- subtle; shrewd; sophisticated
- (fig.) old fox; a wily, shrewd person
- refreshed; rejuvenated; frank and straightforward