by Ning er
Chapter 6: Housekeeper Suffers | Chu Wang Fei
Glossary
丫头 yatou – usually referring to a servant girl; can also mean girl, latter usually used as a form of endearment
姨娘 yiniang – concubine, not the legitimate wife; added to the end of the maternal name to show their (lower) status compared to the wife
夫人 furen – legitimate wife; would be added to the surname of the household as a form of address; usage is similar to the English “Missus”
通房 tongfang – literally, passing through the room; the master of the house lets a 丫头 yatou serve him for a night; lower status than a 姨娘 yiniang
奴婢 nubi – slave servant, another term for a servant girl; usually translated as “this slave”. The male version would be 奴才 nucai
园 yuan – literally garden; here, it means courtyard, which is where noble women will be spending most of their time, since they can’t go out freely
儿 ’er – literally child; added to names as a form of affection, closeness or endearment
女儿 nü’er – daughter; often used by themselves in third person, because speaking in third person is respectful (and cute)
(Edit: I made a huge mistake! Housekeeper Zhang’s name was actually housekeeper Zhao! Even if he doesn’t deserve to have his name remembered correctly, all instances of Zhang have been replaced with the correct reading of Zhao. My apologies!)
(Edit: I was advised that Zhao’s position 管家 guanjia was more equivalent to the role of a butler in feudal China. It certainly makes sense, since he seems to hold a rather high position amongst the servants. Might take a bit to get used to it.)
