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1 feudal vassal
2 feudal princes, esp. the monarchs (dukes or princes) of the several vassal states 諸侯國|诸侯国 of Zhou during Western Zhou and Spring and Autumn periods 11th-5th century BC
3 subordinate warlord
4 local official

Idioms (4)

侯门似海

hóu mén sì hǎi

1 lit. the gate of a noble house is like the sea
2 there is a wide gap between the nobility and the common people (idiom)

胜者王侯败者寇

shèng zhě wáng hóu bài zhě kòu

1 the winners become princes and marquises; the losers are vilified as bandits (idiom)
2 history is written by the victors

窃国者侯，窃钩者诛

qiè guó zhě hóu , qiè gōu zhě zhū

1 steal the whole country and they make you a prince, steal a hook and they hang you (idiom, from Daoist classic Zhuangzi 莊子|庄子)

窃钩者诛，窃国者侯

qiè gōu zhě zhū , qiè guó zhě hóu

1 steal a hook and they hang you, steal the whole country and they make you a prince (idiom, from Daoist classic Zhuangzi 莊子|庄子)

Sample Sentences

今年是“猴年”，除了新年快乐，还可以祝别人“马上封侯”，意思是很快就因为工作成绩好而得到升迁。

jīnnián shì “hóu nián ”，chúle xīnnián kuàilè ，hái kěyǐ zhù biérén “mǎshàng fēng hóu ”，yìsi shì hěnkuài jiù yīnwèi gōngzuò chéngjì hǎo ér dédào shēngqiān 。

This year is the year of the monkey. Apart from wishing someone 'Happy New Year', you can also wish them 'ma shang feng hou'. This means that you can get a promotion very soon because of good performance at work.

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诶，没错没错，就是侯导的《聂隐娘》，里面的景色美极了，像山水画一样。

ēi ，méicuò méicuò ，jiùshì Hòu dǎo de 《Niè yǐnniáng 》，lǐmiàn de jǐngsè měi jí le ，xiàng shānshuǐ huà yīyàng 。

Eh, that's right, it was Hou's The Assassin. The scenery of the film was extremely pretty, just like a ink landscape drawing.

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你说的，应该是侯孝贤导演的《聂隐娘》吧。

nǐshuōde ，yīnggāi shì Hóu xiàoxián dǎoyǎn de 《Niè yǐnniáng 》ba 。

You must be taking about The Assassin by the director Hou Hsiao-hsien.

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这就是侯式风格啊，他自己就像是一个诗人，侯导的电影节奏很慢，画面很唯美。总是能够很恰当地，表现出所拍电影故事的那个年代特色。

zhè jiùshì Hòu shì fēnggé ā ，tā zìjǐ jiù xiàng shì yī gè shīrén ，Hòu dǎo de diànyǐng jiézòu hěn màn ，huàmiàn hěn wéiměi 。zǒngshì nénggòu hěn qiàdāng de ，biǎoxiàn chū suǒ pāi diànyǐng gùshi de nàgeniándài tèsè 。

That's Hou's style, he's like a poet. The rhythm of Hou's films is very slow and each scene is very aesthetically pleasing. He's always able to capture the unique aspects of the era in which the story being filmed is set in a very appropriate way.

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不敢当不敢当。只是感兴趣而已。像侯孝贤导演这样的大师才是我崇拜的。

bù gǎndāng bù gǎndāng 。zhǐshì gǎn xìngqù éryǐ 。xiàng Hóu xiàoxián dǎoyǎn zhèyàng de dàshī cáishì wǒ chóngbài de 。

Not at all, I wouldn't say that. I just have an interest in it. Great directors like Hou Hsiao-hsien are my real idols.

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对啊，那再到后来，金马奖上又出现了很多思想前卫、表现大胆的新浪潮电影，侯孝贤的《悲情城市》、杨德昌的《牯岭街少年杀人事件》是其中的代表。

duìa ，nà zài dào hòulái ，jīnmǎjiǎng shàng yòu chūxiàn le hěn duō sīxiǎng qiánwèi 、biǎoxiàn dàdǎn de xīnlàngcháo diànyǐng ，Hóu Xiàoxián de 《 bēiqíngchéngshì 》、Yáng Déchāng de 《 gǔlǐngjiēshàoniánshārénshìjiàn 》shì qízhōngde dàibiǎo 。

Yeah, then after that, there were the avant garde and bold New Wave films, such as the representative works, Hou Hsiao-hsien's "A City of Sadness" and Edward Yang's "A Brighter Summer's Day".

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晋侯设宴招待两位诸侯，为表达欢迎恭敬之意，引用《诗经.大雅.嘉乐》“嘉乐君子，显显令德，宜民宜人，受禄于天”以此来赞美两位诸侯。见此刻气氛不错，陪同齐侯出使的大夫便引用《诗经.小雅.蓼萧》中“既见君子，孔燕岂弟，宜兄宜弟”来表达齐侯是为卫侯而来，也希望晋侯能像对待兄弟一般对待各诸侯。

jìnhóu shè yàn zhāodài liǎng wèi zhūhóu ，wèi biǎodá huānyíng gōngjìng zhī yì ，yǐnyòng 《shījīng .dàyǎ .jiālè 》“jiālè jūnzǐ ，xiǎnxiǎn lìngdé ，yímínyírén ，shòulù yú tiān ”yǐcǐ lái zànměi liǎng wèi zhūhóu 。jiàn cǐ kè qìfen bùcuò ，péitóng qíhóu chūshǐ de dàifu biàn yǐnyòng 《shījīng .xiǎoyǎ .lǎoxiāo 》zhōng “jì jiàn jūnzǐ ，kǒngyàn kǎitì ，yí xiōng yí dì ”lái biǎodá qíhóu shì wèi wèihóu ér lái ，yě xīwàng jìnhóu néng xiàng duìdài xiōngdì yībān duìdài gè zhūhóu 。

The Marquis of Jin put on a feast to welcome the two dukes out of respect and quoted Jia Le from the Greater Odes of the Kingdom in the Book Of Songs, "Of our admirable, amiable, sovereign, Most illustrious is the excellent virtue. He orders rightly the people, orders rightly the officers, And receives his dignity from heaven," to praise the two dukes. Seeing that the atmosphere was so good, when he was accompanying the senior official dispatched abroad the Duke of Qi he quoted Liao Xiao in the Minor Odes of the Kingdom in the Book of Songs, "Now that I see my noble men, Grandly we feast, delighted and at ease. May their relations with their brothers be right!" to express that the Duke of Qi had come for the Duke of Wei, and to express hope that the Marquis of Jin would treat the dukes as brothers.

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随后郑伯的陪同大夫也心领神会吟诵《诗经.郑风.缁衣》中“适子之馆兮，还予授子之粲兮”，意思是，我家郑伯前来也是为卫侯之事，希望晋侯看在二位诸侯面子上，释放卫侯，二人将十分感激。

suíhòu zhèngbó de péitóng dàifu yě xīnlǐngshénhuì yínsòng 《shījīng .zhèngfēng .zīyī 》zhōng “shì zǐ zhī guǎn xī ，huán yǔ shòu zǐ zhī càn xī ”，yìsi shì ，wǒjiā zhèngbó qiánlái yě shì wèi wèihóu zhī shì ，xīwàng jìnhóu kàn zài èr wèi zhūhóu miànzi shàng ，shìfàng wèihóu ，èr rén jiāng shífēn gǎnjī 。

Following this, the senior official accompanying the Duke of Zheng intuitively recited the line "We will go to your court, And when we return home, we will send you a feast!" from Zi Yi from the Odes of Zheng in the Book of Songs, which meant, my Duke of Zheng has come here for the Duke of Wei, and we hope that out of respect for these two nobles, you will release him and we shall be very grateful for it.

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郑国大夫不失时机吟诵《诗经.郑风.将仲子》中“仲可怀也，人之多言，亦可畏也”。意在表达，如果晋国不放卫侯，将会引起众怒，不但影响晋国国威也牵连晋侯形象，人言可畏啊。至此，经过多轮“吟诗”，晋侯终于点头，答应放人。

zhèng guó dàifu bùshī shíjī yínsòng 《shījīng .zhèngfēng .qiāngzhòngzǐ 》zhōng “zhòng kě huái yě ，rén zhī duō yán ，yì kě wèi yě ”。yì zài biǎodá ，rúguǒ jìnguó bù fàng wèihóu ，jiāng huì yǐnqǐ zhòng nù ，bùdàn yǐngxiǎng jìnguó guówēi yě qiānlián jìnhóu xíngxiàng ，rén yán kě wèi ā 。zhìcǐ ，jīngguò duō lún “yín shī ”，jìnhóu zhōngyú diǎntóu ，dāying fàngrén 。

The senior officials from the Kingdom of Zheng seized the opportunity to recite the line "You, O Zhong, are to be loved, But the talk of people, Is also to be feared." from Jiang Zhong Zi in the Odes of Zheng in the Book of Songs. This was to express that if the Kingdom of Jin did not release the Duke of Wei, it would inspire the wrath of the people, not only affecting the national prestige of Jin, but also affecting the image of the Marquis of Jin himself, and that gossip is a thing to be feared. At that point, after several rounds of poetry recitation, the Marquis of Jin finally gave the nod and agreed to release him.

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由此可见，大夫们引用《诗经》都是十分客气委婉又恰如其分地表达了两位诸侯此行的目的。几轮交锋过后，晋侯始终未表态，但已有所动摇。

yóucǐ kějiàn ，dàifu men yǐnyòng 《shījīng 》dōu shì shífēn kèqi wěiwǎn yòu qià rú qí fèn de biǎodá le liǎng wèi zhūhóu cǐ xíng de mùdì 。jǐ lún jiāofēng guòhòu ，jìnhóu shǐzhōng wèi biǎotài ，dàn yǐ yǒusuǒ dòngyáo 。

From this one can see that when the senior official quoted the Book of Songs it was an indirect and appropriate way of expressing the motive of the visit by the two dukes. After several confrontations, the Marquis of Jin didn't declare his position, but was swayed to some extent.

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