the four social bonds: propriety, justice, integrity and honor / see 禮義廉恥|礼义廉耻[li3 yi4 lian2 chi3] / the four directions / the four limbs (Chinese medicine) / four-dimensional
four divinities / four divine emperors / four mythical creatures symbolic of prosperity and longevity, namely the phoenix 鳳|凤[feng4], turtle 龜|龟[gui1], dragon 龍|龙[long2] and Chinese unicorn 麒麟[qi2 lin2] / also 四象[si4 xiang4], the four division of the sky
four Confucian injunctions 孝悌忠信 (for men), namely: piety 孝 to one's parents, respect 悌 to one's older brother, loyalty 忠 to one's monarch, faith 信 to one's male friends / the four Confucian virtues for women of morality 德[de2], physical charm 容, propriety in speech 言 and efficiency in needlework 功
(of one who has supernatural powers) to replicate oneself so as to appear in two or more places at the same time / a derivative version of sb (or sth) (e.g. avatar, proxy, clone, sockpuppet) / to spare some time for a separate task / to cut a corpse into pieces / to pull a body apart by the four limbs / parturition
lit. to move one's hands and feet about (idiom) / fig. to dance about / to express one's feelings in body language / to gesture animatedly / (TCM) involuntary movements of the limbs
the Great Sparrow Campaign or the Four Pests Campaign, one of the actions during the Great Leap Forward 大躍進|大跃进[Da4 yue4 jin4] aiming to eliminate four pests: rats, flies, mosquitoes, and sparrows
to put one's hands behind one's head, fingers interlaced / to hold one's head in one's hands (in dismay, fright etc) / to cover one's head with one's hands (for protection)
the four tones of Middle Chinese: level tone 平聲|平声, rising tone 上聲|上声, departing tone 去聲|去声 and entering tone 入聲|入声 / the four tones of Modern Standard Mandarin
the four elements: earth, water, fire, and wind (Buddhism) / the four freedoms: speaking out freely, airing views fully, holding great debates, and writing big-character posters, 大鳴大放|大鸣大放[da4 ming2 da4 fang4], 大辯論|大辩论[da4 bian4 lun4], 大字報|大字报[da4 zi4 bao4] (PRC)
strategic pass / barrier or mark (i.e. a level considered impressive, usually a round figure such as 10,000) / instrument of torture used to break limbs
to erect (a tent etc) / to prick up (one's ears) / to raise (one's eyebrows) / to stick up (one's thumb) / to turn up (one's collar) / (of a bird) to puff up (one's feathers)
to change one's tune / to modify one's previous remark / to change the way one addresses sb (as when one marries and starts to call one's husband's parents 爸爸[ba4 ba5] and 媽媽|妈妈[ma1 ma5])
one's age, according to the traditional Chinese method of reckoning (i.e. the number of Chinese calendar years in which one has lived) – In this system, a person's age at birth is one, and increases by one at the beginning of the first solar term 立春[Li4 chun1] each year, rather than on one's birthday. / contrasted with 實歲|实岁[shi2 sui4]
(a line from a poem by the Tang poet Liu Yuxi 劉禹錫|刘禹锡[Liu2 Yu3 xi1]) one gains very little insight into one's enemy from a hundred victories, but he who breaks his arm three times will be a good doctor / (fig.) one learns more from one's failures than from one's successes
divinatory diagram / one of the eight divinatory trigrams of the Book of Changes 易經|易经[Yi4 jing1] / one of the sixty-four divinatory hexagrams of the Book of Changes 易經|易经[Yi4 jing1]
only have ... / there is only ... / (used in combination with 才[cai2]) it is only if one ... (that one can ...) (Example: 只有通過治療才能痊愈|只有通过治疗才能痊愈[zhi3 you3 tong1 guo4 zhi4 liao2 cai2 neng2 quan2 yu4] "the only way to cure it is with therapy") / it is only ... (who ...) (Example: 只有男性才有此需要[zhi3 you3 nan2 xing4 cai2 you3 ci3 xu1 yao4] "only men would have such a requirement") / (used to indicate that one has no alternative) one can only (do a certain thing) (Example: 只有屈服[zhi3 you3 qu1 fu2] "the only thing you can do is give in")
to belong to / to be affiliated to / to fall under the jurisdiction of / a place where one feels that one belongs / one's final destination (where one need look no further)
(of alcohol, love etc) to go to one’s head / (of an idea, a song etc) to get into one's head / to capture one's attention / (old) (of a girl on her wedding day) to start wearing one's hair in a bun (rather than a plait)
lit. to hope one's son becomes a dragon (idiom) / fig. to long for one' s child to succeed in life / to have great hopes for one's offspring / to give one's child the best education as a career investment
Confucian moral injunctions of fidelity / piety to one's parents, respect to one's older brother, loyalty to one's monarch, faith to one's male friends
lit. viewing the sky with a basin on one's head / it is hard to get a clear view of the sky while carrying a platter on one's head / fig. it is hard to get on in one's career while encumbered by family obligations / one can't perform a major task while bothered by other duties
(idiom) as one climbs higher on the path of righteousness, one faces ever greater challenges from evil / no sooner does one overcome one obstacle than another arises
to bend to a task and spare no effort unto one's dying day (idiom) / striving to the utmost one's whole life / with every breath in one's body, unto one's dying day
lit. only one end of the barber's pole is hot (idiom) / fig. one-sided enthusiasm / one party is interested, but the other, not so much / (Note: In former days, street barbers carried their equipment on a pole, with tools and a stool at one end and a brazier at the other.)
lit. to eat meat from one's bowl, then put down one's chopsticks and scold one's mother (idiom) / fig. to complain despite being privileged / to be ungrateful for what one has been given
Diaochan (-192), one of the four legendary beauties 四大美女[si4 da4 mei3 nu:3], in fiction a famous beauty at the break-up of Han dynasty, given as concubine to usurping warlord Dong Zhuo 董卓[Dong3 Zhuo2] to ensure his overthrow by fighting hero Lü Bu 呂布|吕布[Lu:3 Bu4]
Wang Zhaojun (52-19 BC), famous beauty at the court of Han emperor Yuan 漢元帝|汉元帝[Han4 Yuan2 di4], one of the four legendary beauties 四大美女[si4 da4 mei3 nu:3]
Hunan embroidery, one of the four major traditional styles of Chinese embroidery (the other three being 蘇繡|苏绣[Su1 xiu4], 粵繡|粤绣[Yue4 xiu4] and 蜀繡|蜀绣[Shu3 xiu4])
Ma Zhiyuan (c. 1250-1321), Yuan dynasty dramatist in the 雜劇|杂剧[za2 ju4] tradition of musical comedy, one of the Four Great Yuan Dramatists 元曲四大家[Yuan2 qu3 Si4 Da4 jia1]
Yu Shinan (558-638), politician of Sui and early Tang periods, poet and calligrapher, one of Four Great Calligraphers of early Tang 唐初四大家[Tang2 chu1 Si4 Da4 jia1]
ancient cooking cauldron with two looped handles and three or four legs / pot (dialect) / to enter upon a period of (classical) / Kangxi radical 206 / one of the 64 hexagrams of the Book of Changes
to regard the four corners of the world all as home (idiom) / to feel at home anywhere / to roam about unconstrained / to consider the entire country, or world, to be one's own
Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong 羅貫中|罗贯中[Luo2 Guan4 zhong1], one of the Four Classic Novels of Chinese literature, a fictional account of the Three Kingdoms at the break-up of the Han around 200 AD, portraying Liu Bei's 劉備|刘备[Liu2 Bei4] Shu Han 蜀漢|蜀汉[Shu3 Han4] as heroes and Cao Cao's 曹操[Cao2 Cao1] Wei 魏[Wei4] as villains
"Journey to the West", Ming dynasty novel by Wu Cheng'en 吳承恩|吴承恩[Wu2 Cheng2 en1], one of the Four Classic Novels of Chinese literature, also called "Pilgrimage to the West" or "Monkey"
Azure Dragon, one of the four symbols of the Chinese constellations, also known as the Azure Dragon of the East 東方青龍|东方青龙[Dong1 fang1 Qing1 long2] or 東方蒼龍|东方苍龙[Dong1 fang1 Cang1 long2] / (slang) man without pubic hair
Lelang commandery (108 BC-313 AD), one of four Han dynasty commanderies in north Korea
The four tones
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