Inside the Forbidden City 1965
宋宫秘史
It seems that Li Zhenfei was once an imperial concubine, who often found herself competing with her rival Madame Liu for the emperor's sole, undivided attention. When Li gives birth to the Emperor's child, the jealous Liu switches the boy with a cat and commands a servant named Kou Zhu to kill the baby. However, Kou Zhu ignores the order and gives the prince-to-be to the emperor's brother, a decision which eventually leads to the boy being adopted by the emperor himself! But as fate would have it, to go along with his new son, the emperor has a new wife as well - Madame Liu! As this strange new family unit is being constructed, poor Li Zhenfei has been confined to the forbidden palace, condemned to never see or speak to her son, the prince. But destiny reunites her with her son, but will this family reunion be a happy one? And will Madame Liu finally be punished for her treachery?
Vocabulary
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| 地 地 | -ly; structural particle: used before a verb or adjective, linking it to preceding modifying adverbial adjunct | |
| 怎么 怎麼 | how?; what?; why? | |
| 你们 你們 | you (plural) | |
| 前 前 | front; forward; ahead; first; top (followed by a number); future; ago; before; BC (e.g. 前293年); former; formerly | |
| 家 傢 | used in 家伙 and 家俱 | |
| 后 后 | empress; queen; (archaic) monarch; ruler | |
| 事 事 | matter; thing; item; work; affair | |
| 走 走 | to walk; to go; to run; to move (of vehicle); to visit; to leave; to go away; to die (euph.); from; through; away (in compound verbs, such as 走); to change (shape, form, meaning) | |
| 时候 時候 | time; length of time; moment; period | |
| 知道 知道 | to know; to become aware of; also pr. [zhī dao] | |
| 呢 呢 | woolen material | |
| 再 再 | again; once more; re-; second; another; then (after sth, and not until then); no matter how ... (followed by an adjective or verb, and then (usually) 也 or 都 for emphasis) | |
| 太 太 | highest; greatest; too (much); very; extremely | |
| 出 出 | to go out; to come out; to occur; to produce; to go beyond; to rise; to put forth; to happen; (used after a verb to indicate an outward direction or a positive result); classifier for dramas, plays, operas etc | |
| 天 天 | day; sky; heaven | |
| 等 等 | class; rank; grade; equal to; same as; to wait for; to await; et cetera; and so on; et al. (and other authors); after; as soon as; once | |
| 两 兩 | two; both; some; a few; tael, unit of weight equal to 50 grams (modern) or 1⁄16 of a catty 斤 (old) | |
| 多 多 | many; much; too many; in excess; (after a numeral) ... odd; how (to what extent) (Taiwan pr. [duó]); (bound form) multi-; poly- | |
| 年 年 | year | |
| 用 用 | to use; to employ; to have to; to eat or drink; expense or outlay; usefulness; hence; therefore | |
| 现在 現在 | now; at present; at the moment; modern; current; nowadays | |
| 真 真 | really; truly; indeed; real; true; genuine | |
| 里 裡 | lining; interior; inside; internal; also written 里 | |
| 中 中 | within; among; in; middle; center; while (doing sth); during; (dialect) OK; all right | |
| 下 下 | down; downwards; below; lower; later; next (week etc); second (of two parts); to decline; to go down; to arrive at (a decision, conclusion etc); measure word to show the frequency of an action | |
| 大 大 | big; large; great; older (than another person); eldest (as in 姐); greatly; freely; fully; (dialect) father; (dialect) uncle (father's brother) | |
| 没 沒 | (negative prefix for verbs) have not; not | |
| 过 過 | to cross; to go over; to pass (time); to celebrate (a holiday); to live; to get along; excessively; too- | |
| 吧 吧 | (modal particle indicating suggestion or surmise); ...right?; ...OK?; ...I presume. | |
| 点 點 | point; dot; drop; speck; o'clock; point (in space or time); to draw a dot; to check on a list; to choose; to order (food in a restaurant); to touch briefly; to hint; to light; to ignite; to pour a liquid drop by drop; (old) one fifth of a two-hour watch 更; dot stroke in Chinese characters; classifier for items | |
| 做 做 | to make; to produce; to write; to compose; to do; to engage in; to hold (a party etc); (of a person) to be (an intermediary, a good student etc); to become (husband and wife, friends etc); (of a thing) to serve as; to be used for; to assume (an air or manner) | |
| 看 看 | to look after; to take care of; to watch; to guard | |
| 他们 他們 | they | |
| 给 給 | to; for; for the benefit of; to give; to allow; to do sth (for sb); (grammatical equivalent of 被); (grammatical equivalent of 把); (sentence intensifier) | |
| 没有 沒有 | haven't; hasn't; doesn't exist; to not have; to not be | |
| 能 能 | can; to be able to; might possibly; ability; (physics) energy | |
| 想 想 | to think (about); to think of; to devise; to think (that); to believe (that); to desire; to want (to); to miss (feel wistful about the absence of) | |
| 她 她 | she | |
| 去 去 | 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) | |
| 着 著 | to touch; to come in contact with; to feel; to be affected by; to catch fire; to burn; (coll.) to fall asleep; (after a verb) hitting the mark; succeeding in | Colloquialism |
| 还 還 | still; still in progress; still more; yet; even more; in addition; fairly; passably (good); as early as; even; also; else | |
| 很 很 | (adverb of degree); quite; very; awfully | |
| 来 來 | to come; (used as a substitute for a more specific verb); hither (directional complement for motion toward the speaker, as in 回来); ever since (as in 自古以来); for the past (amount of time); (prefix) the coming ...; the next ... (as in 来世); (between two verbs) in order to; (after a round number) approximately; (used after 得 to indicate possibility, as in 谈得来, or after 不 to indicate impossibility, as in 吃不来) | |
| 到 到 | to reach; to arrive; to leave for; to go to; to (a place); until (a time); up to (a point); (verb complement indicating arriving at a place or reaching a point); considerate; thoughtful; thorough | |
| 上 上 | used in 上声 | |
| 对 對 | right; correct; towards; at; for; concerning; regarding; to treat (sb a certain way); to face; (bound form) opposite; facing; matching; to match together; to adjust; to fit; to suit; to answer; to reply; to add; to pour in (a fluid); to check; to compare; classifier: couple; pair | |
| 都 都 | all; both; entirely; (used for emphasis) even; already; (not) at all | |
| 也 也 | (adverb) also; both ... and ... (before predicates only); (literary) particle having functions similar to 啊 | |
| 会 會 | can; to have the skill; to know how to; to be likely to; to be sure to; to meet; to get together; meeting; gathering; (suffix) union; group; association; (bound form) a moment (Taiwan pr. [huǐ]) | |
| 一 一 | one; single; a (article); as soon as; entire; whole; all; throughout; "one" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 1); also pr. [yāo] for greater clarity when spelling out numbers digit by digit |