C-drama glossary
The words subtitles leave untranslated: palace ranks, cultivation terms, forms of address and fan slang. Each entry says what it means and how to pronounce it.
Cultivation
Culture
- Beipiao北漂 · běi piāoA young outsider who moves to Beijing for work without local household registration, living as a 'Beijing drifter.'
- Jianghu江湖 · jiāng húThe world of martial artists, sects, and wanderers that exists outside the imperial court and its laws in wuxia stories.
- Nine Gates九门 · jiǔ ménThe nine tomb-raiding families of Republican-era Changsha in Nanpai Sanshu's Lost Tomb world, led by Zhang Qishan.
- Nuo傩 · nuóAn ancient masked ritual and theater meant to drive out evil spirits and disease, still performed in Hunan, Guizhou and Jiangxi.
Forms of address
- Gege哥哥 · gē geOlder brother, used for real brothers, older male cousins, and close older male friends, and sometimes affectionately between couples.
- Guniang姑娘 · gū niangA young unmarried woman, or the way to address one. In historical households it's also how servants refer to the family's daughters.
- Shixiong师兄 · shī xiōngSenior martial brother, the way a disciple addresses a male fellow disciple who joined the same master or sect earlier.
- Shizun师尊 · shī zūnA reverent way to address one's master or teacher in xianxia and cultivation stories; more formal than the everyday shifu.
- Wangye王爷 · wáng yeHow people address or refer to a prince who holds a princely title, usually the emperor's brother, uncle, or adult son.
- Xiaojie小姐 · xiǎo jiěMiss, the way servants address the unmarried daughter of a wealthy or noble household; in modern Chinese, simply "Miss."
Genres
- Daomu盗墓 · dào mùTomb raiding, and the Chinese adventure genre built around it, with traps, curses and relics in ancient burial chambers.
- HE, BE, and OE圆满结局 · 悲剧结局 · 开放式结局 · yuánmǎn jiéjú · bēijù jiéjú · kāifàngshì jiéjúFan shorthand for a drama's ending type: HE is a Happy Ending, BE a Bad (sad) Ending, and OE an Open Ending.
- Wuxia武侠 · wǔ xiáMartial-arts adventure about wandering heroes, sects, and codes of honor, set in the world outside the law that fans call jianghu.
- Xianxia仙侠 · xiān xiáChinese fantasy about immortals, gods, demons, and humans cultivating toward immortality, set across heavenly and mortal realms.
Palace ranks
- Bengong本宫 · běn gōngHow an empress, consort, or princess refers to herself in Chinese historical dramas: a formal "I" that announces her rank.
- Huangshang皇上 · huáng shangHow courtiers, consorts, and servants address or refer to the emperor, especially in dramas set in the Qing dynasty.
- Niangniang娘娘 · niáng niangA respectful form of address for an empress or high-ranking consort, used by servants, officials, and lower-ranking women.