The Mirror and the Lichee

The Mirror and the Lichee 1967

新陈三五娘 xīn chén sānwǔ 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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素 素 sù raw silk; white; plain, unadorned; vegetarian (food); essence; nature; element; constituent; usually; always; ever HSK 7
一面 一面 yī miàn one side; one aspect; simultaneously... (and...); one's whole face HSK 7
并非 並非 bìng fēi really isn't HSK 7
嫁 嫁 jià (of a woman) to marry; to marry off a daughter; to shift (blame etc) HSK 7
供 供 gōng to provide; to supply HSK 7
注 註 zhù to register; to annotate; note; comment HSK 7
且 且 qiě and; moreover; yet; for the time being; to be about to; both (... and...) HSK 7
婚姻 婚姻 hūn yīn matrimony; wedding; marriage HSK 7
许 許 xǔ to allow; to permit; to promise; to praise; somewhat; perhaps HSK 7
不知 不知 bù zhī not to know; unaware; unknowingly; fig. not to admit (defeat, hardships, tiredness etc) HSK 7
文 文 wén language; culture; writing; formal; literary; gentle; (old) classifier for coins; Kangxi radical 67 HSK 7
而已 而已 ér yǐ that's all; nothing more HSK 7
情 情 qíng feeling; emotion; passion; situation HSK 7
则 則 zé (literary) (conjunction used to express contrast with a previous clause) but; then; (bound form) standard; norm; (bound form) principle; (literary) to imitate; to follow; classifier for written items HSK 7
主 主 zhǔ owner; master; host; individual or party concerned; God; Lord; main; to indicate or signify; trump card (in card games) HSK 7
未 未 wèi not yet; did not; have not; not; 8th earthly branch: 1-3 p.m., 6th solar month (7th July-6th August), year of the Sheep; ancient Chinese compass point: 210° HSK 7
哦 哦 é to chant HSK 7
以 㕥 Yǐ abbr. for Israel 列 HSK 7
之 之 zhī (possessive particle, literary equivalent of 的); him; her; it HSK 7
朽木不可雕 朽木不可雕 xiǔ mù bù kě diāo lit. rotten wood cannot be carved (idiom); fig. you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear Idiom ∼HSK 6
世态炎凉 世態炎涼 shì tài yán liáng the hypocrisy of the world (idiom) Idiom ∼HSK 6
贫无立锥之地 貧無立錐之地 pín wú lì zhuī zhī dì not even enough land to stand an awl (idiom); absolutely destitute Idiom ∼HSK 6
一贫如洗 一貧如洗 yī pín rú xǐ penniless Idiom ∼HSK 6
癞蛤蟆想吃天鹅肉 癩蛤蟆想吃天鵝肉 lài há ma xiǎng chī tiān é ròu lit. the toad wants to eat swan meat (idiom); fig. to try to punch above one's weight Idiom ∼HSK 6
满腹经纶 滿腹經綸 mǎn fù jīng lún full of political wisdom (idiom); politically astute; with encyclopedic experience of state policy Idiom ∼HSK 6
不敢高攀 不敢高攀 bù gǎn gāo pān lit. not dare to pull oneself up high (humble term); I cannot presume on your attention Idiom ∼HSK 6
良禽择木 良禽擇木 liáng qín zé mù a fine bird chooses a tree to nest in (proverb); fig. a talented person chooses a patron of integrity Idiom ∼HSK 6
大吉大利 大吉大利 dà jí dà lì great luck, great profit (idiom); everything is thriving Idiom ∼HSK 6
有钱能使鬼推磨 有錢能使鬼推磨 yǒu qián néng shǐ guǐ tuī mò lit. with money, you can get a devil to turn a millstone (idiom); fig. with money, you can get anything done; money talks Idiom ∼HSK 6
嫌贫爱富 嫌貧愛富 xián pín ài fù to favor the rich and disdain the poor (idiom); snobbish Idiom ∼HSK 6
乳臭未干 乳臭未乾 rǔ xiù wèi gān lit. smell of breast milk not yet dried (idiom); fig. immature and inexperienced; still wet behind the ears Idiom ∼HSK 6
仗势欺人 仗勢欺人 zhàng shì qī rén to take advantage of one's position to bully people (idiom); to kick people around Idiom ∼HSK 6
手无缚鸡之力 手無縛雞之力 shǒu wú fù jī zhī lì lit. lacking the strength even to truss a chicken (saying); fig. weak; unaccustomed to physical work Idiom ∼HSK 6
名不虚传 名不虛傳 míng bù xū chuán (idiom) to live up to one's famous name; its reputation is well deserved Xiehouyu ∼HSK 6
高攀 高攀 gāo pān social climbing; to claim connections with people in higher social class Xiehouyu ∼HSK 6
出口伤人 出口傷人 chū kǒu shāng rén to speak hurtful words; to wound someone with one's tongue Xiehouyu ∼HSK 6
瞎说 瞎說 xiā shuō to talk drivel; to assert sth without a proper understanding or basis in fact; not to know what one is talking about Xiehouyu ∼HSK 6
无价之宝 無價之寶 wú jià zhī bǎo (idiom) priceless treasure Xiehouyu ∼HSK 6
糊涂虫 糊塗蟲 hú tu chóng blunderer; bungler Xiehouyu ∼HSK 6
一家之主 一家之主 yī jiā zhī zhǔ master of the house; head of the family Xiehouyu ∼HSK 6
有情人 有情人 yǒu qíng rén lovers Xiehouyu ∼HSK 6
嘛 嘛 má used in 吽; (Tw) (coll.) what? Colloquialism HSK 6
有没有 有沒有 yǒu méi yǒu (before a noun) Do (you, they etc) have ...?; Is there a ...?; (before a verb) Did (you, they etc) (verb, infinitive)?; Have (you, they etc) (verb, past participle)? HSK 6
相公 相公 xiàng gong lord; master; young gentleman; male prostitute; catamite; mahjong player disqualified by unintentionally taking in the wrong number of dominoes; (old form of address for one's husband) husband ∼HSK 6
世伯 世伯 shì bó uncle (affectionate name for a friend older than one's father); old friend ∼HSK 6
聘礼 聘禮 pìn lǐ betrothal gift ∼HSK 6
荔枝 荔枝 lì zhī litchi or lychee fruit (Litchi chinensis Sonn.) ∼HSK 6
迎娶 迎娶 yíng qǔ (of a groom) to fetch one's bride from her parents' home to escort her to the wedding ceremony; (fig.) to take as one's wife; to marry (a woman) ∼HSK 6
自幼 自幼 zì yòu from childhood ∼HSK 6
爹爹 爹爹 diē die daddy; granddad ∼HSK 6