The Mirror and the Lichee

The Mirror and the Lichee 1967

xīn chén sān niáng

Movie queen Ivy Ling Po is ideally cast as a male scholar in this historical Huangmei Opera romance. It’s a tragic love story between the scholar and a local beauty (played by Fang Ying). He polishes mirrors as a pretext to get closer to his love, who signals her approval by tossing him a bunch of lichees. From that point on the course of true love proves operatically rocky, complete with murder and suicide.

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5.07 Advanced

Vocabulary

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zhuā zhù to grab hold of; to capture HSK 3
fan trouble; inconvenience; inconvenient; troublesome; annoying; to bother sb; to put sb to trouble HSK 3
zhí straight; to straighten; fair and reasonable; frank; straightforward; (indicates continuing motion or action); vertical; vertical downward stroke in Chinese characters HSK 3
kōng empty; air; sky; in vain HSK 3
chuán to pass on; to spread; to transmit; to infect; to transfer; to circulate; to conduct (electricity) HSK 3
broken; damaged; worn out; lousy; rotten; to break, split or cleave; to get rid of; to destroy; to break with; to defeat; to capture (a city etc); to expose the truth of HSK 3
zhuī to chase; to pursue; to look into; to investigate; to reminisce; to recall; to court (one's beloved); to binge-watch (a TV drama); retroactively; posthumously HSK 3
diagram; picture; drawing; chart; map; to plan; to scheme; to attempt; to pursue; to seek HSK 3
zhèng shì formal; official HSK 3
luàn in confusion or disorder; in a confused state of mind; disorder; upheaval; riot; illicit sexual relations; to throw into disorder; to mix up; indiscriminate; random; arbitrary HSK 3
gèng jiā more (than sth else); even more HSK 3
zhào 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 HSK 3
nán dào don't tell me ...; could it be that...? HSK 3
guà to hang or suspend (from a hook etc); to hang up (the phone); (of a line) to be dead; to be worried or concerned; to make a phone call (dialect); to register or record; classifier for sets or clusters of objects; (slang) to kill; to die; to be finished; to fail (an exam) HSK 3
zhí de to be worth; to deserve HSK 3
shēn deep (lit. and fig.) HSK 3
qīn mother; also pr. [mǔ qin] HSK 3
bào to announce; to inform; report; newspaper; recompense; revenge HSK 3
gǎn to dare; daring; (polite) may I venture HSK 3
chéng city walls; city; town HSK 3
father and mother; parents HSK 3
tán to speak; to talk; to converse; to chat; to discuss HSK 3
xià to go down; to descend; to go on; to continue; (of a servant) to withdraw HSK 3
jīn 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 HSK 3
guāng light; ray; bright; shiny; only; merely; used up; finished; to leave (a part of the body) uncovered HSK 3
yāo to weigh in a balance or on a scale HSK 3
hǎo hǎo well; carefully; nicely; properly HSK 3
céng jīng once; already; former; previously; ever; (past tense marker used before verb or clause) HSK 3
shāng to injure; injury; wound HSK 3
tái desk; table; counter HSK 3
róng easy; straightforward; likely; liable to; apt to HSK 3
miàn inside; interior; also pr. [lǐ mian] HSK 3
zǒng shì always HSK 3
rén individual; personal; oneself HSK 3
xià lai 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) HSK 3
gēn běn fundamental; basic; root; simply; absolutely (not); (not) at all HSK 3
le extremely; exceedingly HSK 3
zhě (after a verb or adjective) one who (is) ...; (after a noun) person involved in ...; -er; -ist; (used after a number or 后 or 前 to refer to sth mentioned previously); (used after a term, to mark a pause before defining the term); (old) (used at the end of a command); (old) this HSK 3
dāng rán only natural; as it should be; certainly; of course; without doubt HSK 3
lián to link; to join; to connect; continuously; in succession; including; (used with 也, 都 etc) even; company (military) HSK 3
shí actually; in fact; really HSK 3
shòu to receive; to accept; to suffer; subjected to; to bear; to stand; pleasant; (passive marker) HSK 3
zhǐ yǒu 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") HSK 3
jué dìng to decide (to do something); to resolve; decision; certainly HSK 3
yóu to follow; from; because of; due to; by; via; through; (before a noun and a verb) it is for ... to ... HSK 3
qiè everything; every; all HSK 3
Měi (bound form) the Americas (abbr. for 洲); (bound form) USA (abbr. for 美国) HSK 3
měi each; every HSK 3
nèi inside; inner; internal; within; interior HSK 3
zhāng to open up; to spread; sheet of paper; classifier for flat objects, sheet; classifier for votes HSK 3