rivers and lakes / all corners of the country / remote areas to which hermits retreat / section of society operating independently of mainstream society, out of reach of the law / the milieu in which wuxia tales play out (cf. 武俠|武侠[wu3xia2]) / (in late imperial times) world of traveling merchants, itinerant doctors, fortune tellers etc / demimonde / (in modern times) triads / secret gangster societies / underworld
old-style money shop (a type of private bank that first appeared in the Ming dynasty, flourished in the Qing, and was phased out after 1949) / (in recent times) informal financial company, often operating at the edges of what is legal
(of fuse wire) to melt / to blow / (fig.) to halt stock trading / (fig.) to suspend an airline from operating flights on a given route (as a penalty, e.g. for bringing in more than a specified number of passengers who test positive for COVID)
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
medieval / Middle Ages / Chinese middle antiquity, 3rd to 9th centuries, including Sui and Tang Dynasties / Middle (of a language, e.g. Middle English) / used / second-hand
Chinese language (Mandarin), emphasizing its national nature / Chinese as a primary or secondary school subject / Chinese in the context of the Nationalist Government / Guoyu, book of historical narrative c. 10th-5th century BC
a full mouth of (sth tangible) / to have the mouth exclusively filled with (a certain language, lies, promises, etc) / (to agree etc) unreservedly
The four tones
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