abacus a mathematical device used to solve addition and subtraction problems; invented in China in the twelfth century, the abacus is made up of beads strung on rods in units of ten.
acrid foul-smelling.
adamantine chin a strong-looking chin.
agoraphobia a fear of open spaces or public places.
almanac typically, an annual reference book used to predict the future; predictions are based on the positions and movements of the stars.
the ancestral tablets lists on which ancestors' names are inscribed; in ancient China, and to a great extent still today, ancestor worship was universally practiced. Because the dead are believed to have the same needs as the living, the actions of the living affect the dead, and the dead continue to help the living. By tearing down the evil baron's ancestral tablets, Fa Mu Lan defames the evil baron's ancestors and, thus, the evil baron himself.
anemia a deficiency of red blood cells, which contain hemoglobin, an oxygen-carrying pigment; because one symptom of anemia is paleness of tissue and the skin, Brave Orchid checks the color of the tissue under the female slave's eyelids.
Animalcules microscopic organisms.
antiseptic sterile; non-threatening; not enlivening.
atavism characteristics that reappear over time; Kingston likens herself to her aunt, No Name Woman: Both women share "an atavism deeper than fear," an unnamable anxiety about relationships with men.
atavistic the reappearance of some characteristic in a family bloodline that has not been evident for generations.
bacteriology the study of bacteria.
Bali an Indonesian island, approximately 1500 miles southeast of Vietnam, and directly east of Java; during the early-twentieth century, Chinese emigrants on Bali probably worked mainly for Dutch-owned private plantations.
bantams small, aggressive chickens.
barbarian uncivilized and ignorant; the Chinese traditionally regarded all non?Han people as barbarians.
baron socially and economically, the most important group of landowners — next to a country's ruler — during feudal times.
basin here, a shallow bowl used to hold water.
benevolent associations also known as tongs, protective associations that grew out of Chinese immigrants' need for protection against criminal members of their own society, as well as to secure social and economic rights for immigrants in the United States.
Betty Grable (1916-73) An American actress and film star, she was the most popular pin-up girl of World War II; she costarred with Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire in The Gay Divorcee (1934) and later appeared in such films as The Pin-up Girl (1944) and Moon Over Miami (1941).
Big Six meaning China.
bilingual the ability to speak more than one language fluently.
biplane an airplane with two sets of wings, one set over the engine and the other located on the tail; during World War I, and through the early 1930s, biplanes dominated both military and commercial aviation.
birth in the pigsty Giving birth in a pigsty reflects the superstitious belief that if a mother gives birth in a house and is proud of her baby, evil or envious gods might take the child from its mother; frequently, newborn babies were called pigs to trick the gods into thinking that the babies were ugly or deformed and, therefore, not worth stealing.
blunt-cut to cut hair to an even, sharply defined length around the entire head; the term "blunt-cut" implies a woman's de-feminizing her appearance.
boas large snakes that coil around and suffocate their prey; or, long scarves made of soft material, such as feathers or fur, wrapped around the neck or slung over the shoulder.
bob a short-clipped haircut.
bonded as apprentices made to serve a specific length of time as a helper to an experienced craftsman; after learning trades through their apprenticeships, apprentices become master craftsmen themselves.
brides' prices payments made to brides' families by grooms, as a gesture that brides will be treated well by their husbands.
Brigitte Bardot (b. 1934) French actress who became an international sex symbol after starring in And God Created Women (1956), and who has worked tirelessly as an animal-rights activist.
bunds here, low walls of dirt, used to enclose water in which rice is grown.
burlap also known as hessian cloth, a resilient fabric used in making sacks.
"the bus with the mark of the dog on it" a Greyhound bus.
butcher's block a square or rectangular surface, usually made of wood, on which a butcher cuts meat.
camphoraceous musty-smelling; camphor, used both to soothe muscles and to repel insects, is produced by the camphor tree, an evergreen tree native to eastern Asia.
cannery a factory where food is canned.
Canton known today as Guangzhou, the largest city in south China and the capital of Kwangtung Providence (Guangdong); it is one of China's main commercial centers.
cardigan a sweater that opens down the front.
cattails tall plants with flat leaves and elongated flowering spikes that grow best when rooted directly in water.
cervixes necks, or other necklike structures.
Chairman Mao Mao Zedong (1893-1976), founder of the Chinese Communist Party (1921), and the first chairman (1949-1959) of the People's Republic of China; even after his retirement as chairman, he retained control of the Chinese Communist Party, which in turn controlled the country.
chamomile a perennial herb with either yellow or white flowers; when dried, it is used to make herbal tea.
Changchow also known as Changzhou, a city in eastern China, west of Shanghai.
Chen Luan-feng probably a reference to a mythological figure who cut off the leg of Lei Kung, the thunder god, also known as Lei Shen. Lei Kung, who punishes humans guilty of secret crimes, uses a drum and mallet to produce thunder and a chisel to punish wrongdoers.
Chiang Kai-shek (1887-1975) leader of the Kuomintang, which means "national people's party"; in 1949, after three years of civil war, Chiang and the Nationalists were driven from mainland China by the Communists and established the Republic of China — in contrast to the Communist People's Republic of China — on the island of Taiwan, formerly known as Formosa.
chick mash highly nutritious food fed to baby chicks.
Ch'in the Ch'in dynasty (221-206 B.C.), from which China gets its name.
chrysanthemum also called mums; a popular garden plant that has large flower heads.
Chung-li Ch'uan one of the Eight Sages who probably lived sometime between 206 B.C. and A.D. 220; he is usually depicted as a fat, bearded, wine-drinking hermit.
commensal tradition a way of life in which one group of people gain something from another, unaffected group of people; Kingston condemns how Chinese families punish wrongdoers by treating the offenders as pariahs, forced to eat leftovers at an "outcast table."
concierge generally, a hotel employee who assists guests; Brave Orchid is fortunate that the To Keung School of Midwifery provides a concierge for its students.
Coney Island during the 1920s, a popular amusement park and famous boardwalk located in Brooklyn, New York, along the Atlantic Ocean waterfront.
Confucius Latinized spelling of the name K'ung fu-tzu (probably 551?478 B.C.), an itinerant teacher and sage. Three important doctrines of Confucius include believing in benevolence (doing unto others as to yourself), acting with benevolence, and acting in accordance with propriety. Confucius' teachings are recorded in Analects, compiled by his disciples.
conscription forced drafting into service, usually military.
contracts labor contracts, specifying the length and wages of work; by 1924, when Kingston's male relatives left China to work in other countries, the United States had severely limited the number of male Chinese emigrants allowed into the country. Only men who met a strict set of criteria were allowed to enter, but their wives, sons, and daughters were not allowed to come with them.
CORE Congress of Racial Equality; established in 1942 to improve race relations, one of CORE's major projects is voter-registration drives in the South.
cranium the skull.
crank here, a person who shams innocent people out of their money.
cudgel a club; here, a metaphor for a husband who beats his wife.
culpability deserving of blame; guiltiness.
cutworms larva that feed on plants, eventually cutting off a plant at ground level.
Cyclone fence a chainlink fence.
