Flowers of Shanghai 1998
海上花
At the end of the 19th century, Shanghai is divided into several foreign concessions. In the British concession, a number of luxurious “flower houses” are reserved for the male elite of the city. Since Chinese dignitaries are not allowed to frequent brothels, these establishments are the only ones that these men can visit. They form a self-contained world, with its own rites, traditions and even its own language. The men don’t only visit the houses to frequent the courtesans but also to dine, smoke opium, play mahjong and relax. The women working there are known as the “flowers of Shanghai”.
Vocabulary
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| 架 架 | to support; frame; rack; framework; classifier for planes, large vehicles, radios etc | |
| 追 追 | to sculpt; to carve; musical instrument (old) | |
| 痛 痛 | ache; pain; sorrow; deeply; thoroughly | |
| 上面 上面 | on top of; above-mentioned; also pr. [shàng mian] | |
| 照 炤 | according to; in accordance with; to shine; to illuminate; to reflect; to look at (one's reflection); to take (a photo); photo; as requested; as before | |
| 跳 跳 | to jump; to hop; to skip over; to bounce; to palpitate | |
| 本来 本來 | original; originally; at first; it goes without saying; of course | |
| 自然 自然 | nature; natural; naturally | |
| 人生 人生 | life (one's time on earth) | |
| 敢 敢 | to dare; daring; (polite) may I venture | |
| 下去 下去 | to go down; to descend; to go on; to continue; (of a servant) to withdraw | |
| 金 金 | gold; chemical element Au; generic term for lustrous and ductile metals; money; golden; highly respected; one of the eight categories of ancient musical instruments 音 | |
| 光 光 | light; ray; bright; shiny; only; merely; used up; finished; to leave (a part of the body) uncovered | |
| 好好 好好 | well; carefully; nicely; properly | |
| 到底 到底 | finally; in the end; when all is said and done; after all; to the end; to the last | |
| 台 檯 | platform; stage; terrace; stand; support; station; broadcasting station; classifier for vehicles or machines | |
| 按 按 | to press; to push; to leave aside or shelve; to control; to restrain; to keep one's hand on; to check or refer to; according to; in the light of; (of an editor or author) to make a comment | |
| 里面 裡面 | inside; interior; also pr. [lǐ mian] | |
| 双 雙 | two; double; pair; both; even (number) | |
| 除了 除了 | besides; apart from (... also...); in addition to; except (for) | |
| 总是 總是 | always | |
| 个人 個人 | individual; personal; oneself | |
| 下来 下來 | to come down; (completed action marker); (after verb of motion, indicates motion down and towards us, also fig.); (indicates continuation from the past towards us); to be harvested (of crops); to be over (of a period of time); to go among the masses (said of leaders) | |
| 马 馬 | horse; horse or cavalry piece in Chinese chess; knight in Western chess | |
| 极了 極了 | extremely; exceedingly | |
| 整个 整個 | whole; entire; total | |
| 拍 拍 | to pat; to clap; to slap; to swat; to take (a photo); to shoot (a film); racket (sports); beat (music) | |
| 转 轉 | see 转文 | |
| 成功 成功 | Chenggong or Chengkung town in Taitung County 台东县, southeast Taiwan | |
| 当然 當然 | only natural; as it should be; certainly; of course; without doubt | |
| 连 連 | to link; to join; to connect; continuously; in succession; including; (used with 也, 都 etc) even; company (military) | |
| 其实 其實 | actually; in fact; really | |
| 使 使 | to make; to cause; to enable; to use; to employ; to send; to instruct sb to do sth; envoy; messenger | |
| 只有 只有 | only have ...; there is only ...; (used in combination with 才) it is only if one ... (that one can ...) (Example: 只有通过治疗才能痊愈 "the only way to cure it is with therapy"); it is only ... (who ...) (Example: 要 "only men would have such a requirement"); (used to indicate that one has no alternative) one can only (do a certain thing) (Example: 服 "the only thing you can do is give in") | |
| 由 由 | to follow; from; because of; due to; by; via; through; (before a noun and a verb) it is for ... to ... | |
| 每 每 | each; every | |
| 总 總 | general; overall; to sum up; in every case; always; invariably; anyway; after all; eventually; sooner or later; surely; (after a person's name) abbr. for 总经理 or 总编 etc | |
| 关系 關係 | relation; relationship; to concern; to affect; to have to do with; guanxi | |
| 张 張 | to open up; to spread; sheet of paper; classifier for flat objects, sheet; classifier for votes | |
| 心 心 | heart; mind; intention; center; core | |
| 为了 為了 | for; for the purpose of; in order to | |
| 希望 希望 | to hope; a hope; a wish | |
| 死 死 | to die; impassable; uncrossable; inflexible; rigid; extremely; damned | |
| 并 並 | and; furthermore; also; together with; (not) at all; simultaneously; to combine; to join; to merge | |
| 时 時 | o'clock; time; when; hour; season; period | |
| 就是 就是 | exactly; precisely; only; simply; just; (used correlatively with 也) even; even if | |
| 被 被 | quilt; to cover (with); (literary) to suffer (a misfortune); used to indicate passive voice (placed before the doer of the action like "by" in English passive-voice sentences, or, if the doer is not mentioned, before the verb); (since c. 2009) (sarcastic or jocular) used to indicate that the following word should be regarded as being in air quotes (as in 被旅游 to "go on a trip", for example) | |
| 把 把 | to hold; to grasp; to hold a baby in position to help it urinate or defecate; handlebar; classifier: handful, bundle, bunch; classifier for things with handles; (used to put the object before the verb: 把 + {noun} + {verb}) | |
| 数一数二 數一數二 | (idiom) reckoned to be best or second best; one of the very best; (idiom) to list one by one | Idiom |
| 一路顺风 一路順風 | to have a pleasant journey (idiom) | Idiom |