Dead Souls 2018

死灵魂 sǐ línghún

In Gansu Province, northwest China, lie the remains of countless prisoners abandoned in the Gobi Desert sixty years ago. Designated as ultra-rightists in the Communist Party’s Anti-Rightist campaign of 1957, they starved to death in the reeducation camps. The film invites us to meet the survivors of the camps to find out firsthand who these persons were, the hardships they were forced to endure and what became their destiny.

HSK 1

4.66 Intermediate Director Wang Bing 🍅 100%

Vocabulary

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劳教勞教 láo jiào	reeducation through labor	∼HSK 5
瑞瑞 ruì	felicitous omen; auspicious	∼HSK 5
滩灘 tān	bank, a sandbar, shoal; rapids	∼HSK 5
河沟河溝 hé gōu	brook; ditch	∼HSK 5
桂桂 Guì	cassia or cinnamon	∼HSK 5
芳芳 fāng	fragrant; virtuous; beautiful	∼HSK 5
乡邻鄉鄰 xiāng lín	fellow villager	∼HSK 5
饥飢 jī	hunger, starving; hungry; a famine	∼HSK 5
遭遭 zāo	encounter, suffer	∼HSK 5
返乡返鄉 fǎn xiāng	to return to one's home town	∼HSK 5
糠穅 kāng	chaff, bran, husks; poor	∼HSK 5
孝孝 xiào	filial piety, obedience; mourning	∼HSK 5
舀舀 yǎo	dip, ladle; ladle	∼HSK 5
佐佐 zuǒ	assist, aid, second; subordinate	∼HSK 5
卿卿 qīng	noble, high officer	∼HSK 5
墩墩 dūn	heap, mound, block of stone	∼HSK 5
整风运动整風運動 zhěng fēng yùn dòng	Rectification campaign; political purge; cf Mao's 1942-44 campaign at Yanan, and his 1950 and 1957 anti-rightist purges	∼HSK 5
青天青天 qīng tiān	clear sky; blue sky; upright and honorable (official)	∼HSK 5
库房庫房 kù fáng	storeroom; warehouse	∼HSK 5
耀耀 yào	shine, sparkle, dazzle; glory	∼HSK 5
不对劲不對勁 bù duì jìn	not in good condition; wrong; fishy	∼HSK 5
馍饃 mó	bread	∼HSK 5
犯错犯錯 fàn cuò	to err; to make a mistake; to do the wrong thing	∼HSK 5
噌噌 cēng	scold, shout at	∼HSK 5
荞麦蕎麥 qiáo mài	buckwheat	∼HSK 5
国政國政 guó zhèng	national politics; archaic rank, "Minister of State"; common given name	∼HSK 5
敌对敵對 dí duì	hostile; enemy (factions); combative	∼HSK 5
营垒營壘 yíng lěi	army camp	∼HSK 5
辱辱 rǔ	humiliate, insult, abuse	∼HSK 5
青年人青年人 qīng nián rén	young person; the young	∼HSK 5
咎咎 jiù	fault, defect; error, mistake	∼HSK 5
除过除過 chú guò	(dialect) except; besides	∼HSK 5
泼辣潑辣 pō la	shrewish; pungent; forceful; bold and vigorous	∼HSK 5
引蛇出洞引蛇出洞 yǐn shé chū dòng	lit. to pull a snake from its hole; to expose a malefactor (idiom)	∼HSK 5
统领統領 tǒng lǐng	to lead; to command; commander; officer	∼HSK 5
不可靠不可靠 bù kě kào	unreliable	∼HSK 5
仗仗 zhàng	rely upon; protector; fight; war, weaponry	∼HSK 5
掌权掌權 zhǎng quán	to wield (political etc) power; be in power	∼HSK 5
棺棺 guān	coffin	∼HSK 5
肃反运动肅反運動 sù fǎn yùn dòng	purge of counterrevolutionaries (esp. Mao's purge of hidden counterrevolutionaries 1955-56 and Stalin's Great Purge 1936-38)	∼HSK 5
拆洗拆洗 chāi xǐ	to unpick and wash (e.g. padded garment)	∼HSK 5
捋捋 lǚ	to pluck; to gather in the fingers; to rub; to scrape off	∼HSK 5
不管怎样不管怎樣 bù guǎn zěn yàng	in any case; no matter what	∼HSK 5
羔羔 gāo	lamb, kid	∼HSK 5
凤鳳 Fèng	male phoenix; symbol of joy	∼HSK 5
鸣鳴 míng	cry of bird or animal; make sound	∼HSK 5
哀哀 Āi	sad, mournful, pitiful; pity	∼HSK 5
荫蔭 yìn	shade, shelter; protect	∼HSK 5
盛世盛世 shèng shì	a flourishing period; period of prosperity; a golden age	∼HSK 5
枯枯 kū	dried out, withered, decayed	∼HSK 5