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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| 愿意 願意 | to wish; to want; ready; willing (to do sth) | |
| 店 店 | inn; old-style hotel; (bound form) shop; store | |
| 黑 黑 | abbr. for Heilongjiang province 黑龙江 | |
| 刚刚 剛剛 | just recently; just a moment ago | |
| 全部 全部 | whole; all | |
| 留 㽞 | to leave (a message etc); to retain; to stay; to remain; to keep; to preserve | |
| 药 藥 | medicine; drug; substance used for a specific purpose (e.g. poisoning, explosion, fermenting); to poison | |
| 算 算 | to regard as; to figure; to calculate; to compute | |
| 过来 過來 | to come over; to manage; to handle; to be able to take care of | |
| 办 辦 | to do; to manage; to handle; to go about; to run; to set up; to deal with | |
| 懂 懂 | to understand; to comprehend | |
| 脸 臉 | face | |
| 靠 靠 | to lean against or on; to stand by the side of; to come near to; to depend on; to trust; to fuck (vulgar); traditional military costume drama where the performers wear armor (old) | |
| 换 換 | to exchange; to change (clothes etc); to substitute; to switch; to convert (currency) | |
| 份 份 | classifier for gifts, newspaper, magazine, papers, reports, contracts etc; variant of 分 | |
| 面 面 | face; side; surface; aspect; top; classifier for objects with flat surfaces such as drums, mirrors, flags etc | |
| 句 句 | sentence; clause; phrase; classifier for phrases or lines of verse | |
| 卖 賣 | to sell; to betray; to spare no effort; to show off or flaunt | |
| 越 越 | generic word for peoples or states of south China or south Asia at different historical periods; abbr. for Vietnam 越南 | |
| 以为 以為 | to think (i.e. to take it to be true that ...) (Usually there is an implication that the notion is mistaken – except when expressing one's own current opinion.) | |
| 同时 同時 | at the same time; simultaneously | |
| 片 片 | disk; sheet | |
| 生 生 | to be born; to give birth; life; to grow; raw; uncooked; student | |
| 万 萬 | used in 俟 | |
| 讲 講 | to speak; to explain; to negotiate; to emphasize; to be particular about; as far as sth is concerned; speech; lecture | |
| 掉 掉 | to fall; to drop; to lag behind; to lose; to go missing; to reduce; fall (in prices); to lose (value, weight etc); to wag; to swing; to turn; to change; to exchange; to swap; to show off; to shed (hair); (used after certain verbs to express completion, fulfillment, removal etc) | |
| 真正 真正 | genuine; real; true; really; indeed | |
| 特别 特別 | unusual; special; very; especially; particularly; expressly; for a specific purpose; (often followed by 是) in particular | |
| 办法 辦法 | means; method; way (of doing sth) | |
| 以前 以前 | before; formerly; previous; ago | |
| 加 加 | to add; plus; (used after an adverb such as 不, 大, 稍 etc, and before a disyllabic verb, to indicate that the action of the verb is applied to sth or sb previously mentioned); to apply (restrictions etc) to (sb); to give (support, consideration etc) to (sth) | |
| 道 道 | road; path; principle; truth; morality; reason; skill; method; Dao (of Daoism); to say; to speak; to talk; classifier for long thin things (rivers, cracks etc), barriers (walls, doors etc), questions (in an exam etc), commands, courses in a meal, steps in a process; (old) circuit (administrative division) | |
| 有人 有人 | someone; people; anyone; there is someone there; occupied (as in restroom) | |
| 只要 只要 | if only; so long as | |
| 虽然 雖然 | although; even though (often used correlatively with 是 or 是 etc) | |
| 刚 剛 | hard; firm; strong; just; barely; exactly | |
| 相信 相信 | to be convinced (that sth is true); to believe; to accept sth as true | |
| 信 信 | letter; mail; to trust; to believe; to profess faith in; truthful; confidence; trust; at will; at random | |
| 以后 以後 | after; later; afterwards; following; later on; in the future | |
| 可是 可是 | but; however; (used for emphasis) indeed | |
| 全 全 | all; whole; entire; every; complete | |
| 发 發 | to send out; to show (one's feeling); to issue; to develop; to make a bundle of money; classifier for gunshots (rounds) | |
| 完 完 | to finish; to be over; whole; complete; entire | |
| 不错 不錯 | correct; right; not bad; pretty good | |
| 结果 結果 | to bear fruit | |
| 过去 過去 | (in the) past; former; previous; to go over; to pass by | |
| 周 周 | to make a circuit; to circle; circle; circumference; lap; cycle; complete; all; all over; thorough; to help financially | |
| 见到 見到 | to see | |
| 头 頭 | head; hair style; the top; end; beginning or end; a stub; remnant; chief; boss; side; aspect; first; leading; classifier for pigs or livestock | |
| 为什么 為什麼 | why?; for what reason? |