three principles and five virtues (idiom) / the three rules (ruler guides subject, father guides son and husband guides wife) and five constant virtues of Confucianism (benevolence 仁, righteousness 義|义, propriety 禮|礼, wisdom 智 and fidelity 信)
three major stars of the Three Stars 參宿|参宿[Shen1 xiu4] Chinese constellation / the belt of Orion / three spirits 福[fu2], 祿|禄[lu4], and 壽|寿[shou4] associated with the Three Stars 參宿|参宿[Shen1 xiu4] Chinese constellation
(TCM) "five strains and seven impairments", five referring to the five viscera 五臟|五脏[wu3 zang4], and seven to adverse effects on one's body as a result of: overeating (spleen), anger (liver), moisture (kidney), cold (lung), worry (heart), wind and rain (outer appearance) and fear (mind)
the five cardinal virtues in traditional Chinese ethics: benevolence 仁[ren2], justice 義|义[yi4], propriety 禮|礼[li3], wisdom 智[zhi4] and honor 信[xin4] / alternative term for 五倫|五伦[wu3lun2], the five cardinal relationships / alternative term for 五行[wu3xing2], the five elements
a (large) bell (CL:架[jia4]) / clock (CL:座[zuo4]) / amount of time / o'clock (CL:點|点[dian3],分[fen1],秒[miao3]) (as in 三點鐘|三点钟[san1dian3zhong1] "three o'clock" or "three hours" or 五分鐘|五分钟[wu3fen1zhong1] "five minutes" etc)
lit. to make three visits to the thatched cottage (idiom) (allusion to an episode in Romance of the Three Kingdoms 三國演義|三国演义[San1 guo2 Yan3 yi4] in which Liu Bei 劉備|刘备[Liu2 Bei4] recruits Zhuge Liang 諸葛亮|诸葛亮[Zhu1 ge3 Liang4] to his cause by visiting him three times) / fig. to make earnest and repeated requests of sb
(old) to rank first in the imperial examinations at the provincial capital, the national capital and the palace successively / (sports etc) to achieve three successes in a row (three matches in a row, three goals in a match etc)
Five Dynasties, period of history between the fall of the Tang dynasty (907) and the founding of the Song dynasty (960), when five would-be dynasties were established in quick succession in North China
five notes of pentatonic scale, roughly do, re, mi, sol, la / five classes of initial consonants of Chinese phonetics, namely: 喉音[hou2 yin1], 牙音[ya2 yin1], 舌音[she2 yin1], 齒音|齿音[chi3 yin1], 唇音[chun2 yin1]
Sun Yat-sen's Five-power constitution of Republic of China, then of Taiwan / The five courts or 院[yuan4] are 行政院[xing2 zheng4 yuan4] Executive yuan, 立法院[li4 fa3 yuan4] Legislative yuan, 司法院[si1 fa3 yuan4] Judicial yuan, 考試院|考试院[kao3 shi4 yuan4] Examination yuan, 監察院|监察院[jian1 cha2 yuan4] Control yuan
Five Men’s Tombstone Inscription, an essay by Zhang Pu 張溥|张溥[Zhang1 Pu3] commemorating five martyrs who died resisting the tyranny of Wei Zhongxian 魏忠賢|魏忠贤[Wei4 Zhong1xian2] during the late Ming dynasty
Liu Bei's five great generals in Romance of the Three Kingdoms, namely: Guan Yu 關羽|关羽, Zhang Fei 張飛|张飞, Zhao Yun 趙雲|赵云, Ma Chao 馬超|马超, Huang Zhong 黃忠|黄忠
Sanxia wuyi (lit. Three knight-errants and five righteous one), novel edited from stories of late Qing dynasty pinghua 評話|评话 master storyteller Shi Yukun 石玉昆
the five emphases, four beauties and three loves (PRC policy introduced in 1981, including emphasis on manners, beauty of language and love of socialism)
Three Kingdoms period (220-280) in Chinese history / any of several Three Kingdoms periods in Korean history, esp. from 1st century AD to unification under Silla 新羅|新罗[Xin1luo2] in 658
the Three Represents, a set of three guiding principles for the CCP introduced by Jiang Zemin 江澤民|江泽民[Jiang1 Ze2 min2] in 2000 and enshrined in the Constitution in 2004
Zhuge Liang (181-234), military leader and prime minister of Shu Han 蜀漢|蜀汉[Shu3 Han4] during the Three Kingdoms period / the main hero of the fictional Romance of Three Kingdoms 三國演義|三国演义[San1guo2 Yan3yi4], where he is portrayed as a sage and military genius / (fig.) a mastermind
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
History of Three Kingdoms (Korean: Samguk Sagi), the oldest extant Korean history, compiled under Kim Busik 金富軾|金富轼[Jin1 Fu4 shi4] in 1145. The three kingdoms are Goguryeo 高句麗|高句丽[Gao1 gou1 li2], Baekje 百濟|百济[Bai3 ji4], Silla 新羅|新罗[Xin1 luo2].
(lit.) village of three households / the Three Family Village, an essay column in a Beijing newspaper from 1961-1966, written by Deng Tuo 鄧拓|邓拓[Deng4 Tuo4], Wu Han 吳晗|吴晗[Wu2 Han2] and Liao Mosha 廖沫沙[Liao4 Mo4 sha1], criticized as anti-Party during the Cultural Revolution
the Three Caos (Cao Cao 曹操 and his sons Cao Pi 曹丕 and Cao Zhi 曹植), who established the Wei or Cao Wei dynasty 曹魏, and were all three noted poets and calligraphers
Three Parallel Rivers National Park, in mountainous northwest Yunnan World Heritage protected area: the three rivers are Nujiang 怒江[Nu4 jiang1] or Salween, Jinsha 金沙江[Jin1 sha1 jiang1] or upper reaches of Changjiang and Lancang 瀾滄江|澜沧江[Lan2 cang1 Jiang1] or Mekong
(idiom) a thing should not be attempted more than three times / don't repeat the same mistake again and again / (idiom) bad things don't happen more than three times
lit. three monks have no water to drink (idiom) / fig. everybody's business is nobody's business / (If there is one monk, he will fetch water for himself. If there are two, they will fetch water together. But if there are three or more, none will take it upon himself to fetch water.)
the three imperishables, three ways to distinguish oneself that aren't forgotten by history: through one's virtue 立德[li4 de2], one's service 立功[li4 gong1] and one's writings 立言[li4 yan2] (from the Zuo Zhuan 左傳|左传[Zuo3 Zhuan4])
five crops, e.g. millet 粟[su4], soybean 豆[dou4], sesame 麻[ma2], barley 麥|麦[mai4], rice 稻[dao4] or other variants / all crops / all grains / oats, peas, beans and barley
Five Sacred Mountains of the Daoists, namely: Mt Tai 泰山[Tai4 Shan1] in Shandong, Mt Hua 華山|华山[Hua4 Shan1] in Shaanxi, Mt Heng 衡山[Heng2 Shan1] in Hunan, Mt Heng 恆山|恒山[Heng2 Shan1] in Shanxi, Mt Song 嵩山[Song1 Shan1] in Henan
son / child / seed / egg / small thing / 1st earthly branch: 11 p.m.-1 a.m., midnight, 11th solar month (7th December to 5th January), year of the rat / viscount, fourth of five orders of nobility 五等爵位[wu3deng3 jue2wei4] / ancient Chinese compass point: 0° (north) / subsidiary / subordinate / (prefix) sub-
the Five Classics of Confucianism, namely: the Book of Songs 詩經|诗经[Shi1 jing1], the Book of History 書經|书经[Shu1 jing1], the Classic of Rites 禮記|礼记[Li3 ji4], the Book of Changes 易經|易经[Yi4 jing1], and the Spring and Autumn Annals 春秋[Chun1 qiu1]
the Five Legendary Emperors, usually taken to be the Yellow Emperor 黃帝|黄帝[Huang2 di4], Zhuanxu 顓頊|颛顼[Zhuan1 xu1], Di Ku 帝嚳|帝喾[Di4 Ku4], Tang Yao 唐堯|唐尧[Tang2 Yao2] and Yu Shun 虞舜[Yu2 Shun4]
fourth of the five night watch periods 01:00-03:00 (old)
The four tones
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