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
to hang / to suspend (from a hook etc) / to hang up (the phone) / (of a line) to be dead / to be worried / to be concerned / (dialect) to make a phone call / to register (at a hospital) / to make an appointment (with a doctor) / (slang) to kill / to die / to be finished / to fail (an exam) / classifier for sets or clusters of objects
to make a copy / to plagiarize / to search and seize / to raid / to grab / to go off with / to take a shortcut / to make a turning move / to fold one's arms
Xishi (c. 450 BC), famous Chinese beauty, foremost of the four legendary beauties 四大美女[si4 da4 mei3 nu:3], given by King Gou Jian 勾踐|勾践[Gou1 Jian4] of Yue as concubine to King of Wu as part of a successful plan to destroy Wu
Zuo Zhuan or Tsochuan, Mr Zuo's Annals or Mr Zuo's commentary on 春秋[Chun1 qiu1], early history c. 400 BC attributed to famous blind historian Zuo Qiuming 左丘明[Zuo3 Qiu1 ming2]
Hongmen feast / (fig.) banquet set up with the aim of murdering a guest / refers to a famous episode in 206 BC when future Han emperor Liu Bang 劉邦|刘邦[Liu2 Bang1] escaped attempted murder by his rival Xiang Yu 項羽|项羽[Xiang4 Yu3]
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]
Guan Yu (-219), general of Shu and blood-brother of Liu Bei in Romance of the Three Kingdoms, fearsome fighter famous for virtue and loyalty / posthumously worshipped and identified with the guardian Bodhisattva Sangharama
Guanzi or Guan Zhong 管仲 (-645 BC), famous politician of Qi 齊國|齐国 of Spring and Autumn period / Guanzi, classical book containing writings of Guan Zhong and his school
Zhou Yu (175-210), famous general of the southern Wu kingdom and victor of the battle of Redcliff / in Romance of the Three Kingdoms 三國演義|三国演义[San1 guo2 Yan3 yi4], absolutely no match for Zhuge Liang 諸葛亮|诸葛亮[Zhu1 ge3 Liang4]
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]
Battle of Redcliff of 208 at Chibi in Huangzhou district 黃州區|黄州区[Huang2 zhou1 qu1] of Huanggang city 黃岡|黄冈[Huang2 gang1], a decisive defeat of Cao Cao 曹操[Cao2 Cao1] at the hands of southern kingdom of Wu / famous episode in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms 三國演義|三国演义[San1 guo2 Yan3 yi4]
Yang Yuhuan, aka Yang Guifei 楊貴妃|杨贵妃[Yang2 Gui4 fei1] (719-756), famous Tang beauty, consort of Emperor Xuanzhong 唐玄宗[Tang2 Xuan2 zong1]
The four tones
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