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The Emperor's Wives

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IN THIS LESSON
ID: 2642 Upper Intermediate
This lesson is all about the emperor's many many wives. With the success of recent shows like 武媚娘传奇 "The Empress of China" and 甄嬛传 "The Legend of Zhen Huan" this lesson will give you plenty of background and context to this area and give you plenty to chat about with your friends. We also show you how to use these "ancient" phrase in modern day usage.
Thu Feb 19 2015 | Constance Fang, Fiona Tian
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Detailed Vocabulary
Each lesson has it's unique vocabulary and will provide you with definitions and recordings so you can practice the pronunciation. You will also be able to grasp the core material of a lesson at a glance. Here we're showing you the Simplified Chinese version.
SIMPLIFIED PINYIN ENGLISH  
娘娘 niángniang term of address for an Empress or a senior concubine
为 wèi for
皇上 huángshàng emperor
添 tiān to add; to give
生了生了！是男孩！恭喜娘娘！为皇上添了个龙子。
shēng le shēng le ！shì nánhái ！gōngxǐ niángniang ！wèi huángshàng tiān le gè lóngzǐ 。
He's born, he's born! It's a boy! Congratulations Madam! You've given the Emperor an heir.
小李子，还不快去禀报皇上！
xiǎoLǐzi ，háibù kuài qù bǐngbào huángshàng ！
Lizi, why aren't you already telling the Emperor the good news!
喳！
zhā ！
Yes, Madam!
一天到晚看这些女人在后宫勾心斗角，累不累啊？我要换台看别的了。
yītiāndàowǎn kàn zhèxiē nǚrén zài hòugōng gōuxīndòujiǎo ，lèibulèi ā ？wǒ yào huàn tái kàn biéde le 。
Don't you get tired of seeing these women fighting and scheming behind each others' back in the concubine quarters of the imperial palace from morning to night? I want to change the channel.
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