GLOSSARY
“Babies”—peasants, servants.
Cash—a small coin.
Ch’ih—a roofless paved courtyard. At great functions it is roofed and floored.
Chop—official stamp of a merchant or man of high position. It binds every important Chinese contract and edict.
Dragon Throne—the throne of China.
Girdle-Wearers—aristocrats.
Grass-Characters—a fine and difficult form of Chinese writing.
Hanlin—a graduate of the Hanlin “college.” One who has passed the highest Peking examinations.
Hsien-Jen—wiseman, soothsayer, wizard who lives in a hill or mountain.
Hsi Hua T’ing—a hall between gardens and walls where ceremonial meals are served.
I-Pang-Lo—a musical instrument.
K’ang—stove.
Kin—a musical instrument.
K’O-Tang—guest-hall. (In a modest establishment it is the one room of importance, and is put to many social and family uses.)
Ko’tow—prostration of great respect—to kneel and touch the ground with the forehead. (Also written Kot’ow, Kotow, etc.)
Kuei—the women’s apartments. In good establishments it is a building of many rooms and verandas surrounding a courtyard.
Kwan or Kwan Yin-Ko—the goddess of mercy. (There are varied spellings.)
Lamps-of-Mercy—fire-flies.
Lang—roofed passage.
Li—a Chinese measurement of distance, about one-third of a mile.
Mei-Jên—match-maker, go-between, marriage broker.
Pai-Fang—a memorial arch of great honor, usually in commemoration of some act of great sacrifice.
Pan-Kou—a musical instrument.
Ruyie—an emblem of good luck, often made of jade. It never is large, but usually beautiful, and may be very valuable.
Sacred Prisoner—the Emperor of China.
Shu-Chia—“Reverence books”—library, reading-room.
“Silks”—paintings. The greatest Chinese artists have painted on silk.
Son of Han—a Chinese. They hold it their proudest title, except the Cantonese who do not so style themselves.
Son of Heaven—the Emperor.
Spirit Wall—a devil screen placed outside an entrance to prevent evil spirits from entering.
Ta Jen—a great man—a man of importance.
T’ien Ching—“Heaven’s Well”—the ladies’ courtyard in the center of the Kuei.
Ting—courtyard.
Tingchai—yamen runner—messenger.
Ting Tzŭ Lang—the passage that leads from the Great Gate to the Reception Hall.
Tsa Hsing—village of mixed families. (The inhabitants of the majority of small Chinese country villages usually are of only one family or clan.)
Tuchun—war lord—military governor.
Vermilion Palace—the Imperial Palace in the Forbidden City—Peking.
Yamen—official residence, usually a mandarin’s—a government office.
Yang-Lao-Ti—nourish-old-age-land.
“Yellow-Robes”—priests—monks.
Yuan—the Chinese dollar (fifty cents). Often, but incorrectly, termed Yen. The Yen is a Japanese coin and strictly speaking there is no Chinese Yen, but “chopped Yen” are used in some parts of China.
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