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.
Singapore an island country in Southeast Asia controlled by the British from 1824 to 1965; the city of Singapore is the country’s capital.
Taiwan an island country less than a hundred miles southeast of mainland China; in 1949, Chinese Communist forces drove Chiang Kai-shek, the leader of the Kuomintang, which means “national people’s party,” and other Chinese nationalists to this island, formerly known as Formosa, where they established the Republic of China—in contrast to the People’s Republic of China, which is Communist mainland China.
midwifery the practice of a midwife, a person—usually a woman—who assists women during childbirth.
pediatrics the medical field that specializes in the care of infants and children.
gynecology the medical field devoted to the healthcare of women and their reproductive organs.
“Medecine” medicine.
“Surgary” surgery.
therapeutics the treatment of diseases, either by medical science or holistic means.
ophthalmology the medical field that specializes in the care of eyes.
bacteriology the study of bacteria.
dermatology the study of skin.
embossed carved or adorned.
“Ex-assistant étranger à la clinique chirugicale et d’accouchement de l’université de Lyon” French, meaning “The former foreign assistant at the surgical and birthing clinic of the University of Lyon [France].”
zinnia a stiff, hairy-stemmed flower with a single flower head; except for blue, zinnias bloom in all colors.
chrysanthemum also called mums; a popular garden plant that has large flower heads.
Coney Island during the 1920s, a popular amusement park and famous boardwalk located in Brooklyn, New York, along the Atlantic Ocean waterfront.
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.
Fred Astaire (1899-1987) Hollywood’s famous male dancer who teamed with Ginger Rogers in ten popular movies for RKO Studio during the 1930s, including Top Hat (1935) and Swing Time (1936).
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.
largess generosity.
figs the fruit of the fig tree, a Mediterranean tree or shrub; gathered when they fall from the tree and then dried, figs are so widely used in Mediterranean countries that they are called “the poor man’s food.”
yang and yin Yang is the masculine element of Chinese philosophy—that is, aggressive, hot, active, dry, and bright qualities. Yin is the feminine element of Chinese philosophy—that is, receptive, cool, inactive, moist, and dark qualities.
Sun Yat-sen (1866-1925) leader of the Chinese Kuomintang, a political party that overthrew the Manchu dynasty in 1911; Sun served as the first provisional president of the Republic of China (1911-12) and later as its de facto ruler (1923-25).
gnomes mythological dwarflike creatures who live underground.
adamantine chin a strong-looking chin.
totem an object or animal used to represent membership in a group, clan, or family.
talismans objects that supposedly give their owners magical powers; for example, a rabbit’s foot is a popular good-luck talisman.
ferule a rod used to punish children.
Kwangtung Province also called Guangdong, a province of southeast China; incorporated into China in 222 B.C., when the first emperor of the Ch’in dynasty conquered the area.
Gobi Desert a desert that extends from southeast Mongolia south into northern China.
whorls spiraling forms; for example, a tornado.
surfeited excessive.
tarry oil thick, black oil made from tar.
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.
lion here, a large puppet, like a parade float, but manually operated, probably by men inside the lion.
lichees the nutlike fruit of the litchi, or lichee tree, indigenous to China.
zenith here, the highest region of the sky.
nadir the diametrical opposite of the zenith; an astronomical term representing the lowest point below the observer.
phoenix notes Traditionally, only one phoenix, a fictional bird from ancient eastern Mediterranean lore, lives at any given time. The one-of-a-kind phoenix lives its five-hundred-year life span, then climbs onto a funeral pyre and sets itself aflame. From its ashes springs a worm that develops into a new phoenix decked in radiant red, purple, and gold plumage. The Chinese believe that the song of the phoenix is especially beautiful, and that the phoenix has an appreciation for human music.
metempsychosis reincarnation, the belief that after the human body dies, its soul is reborn—in human, animal, or even vegetable form; this process continues until the soul reaches perfection. Buddhists believe that the soul has five skandhas, or groups of elements: body, sensations, perceptions, impulses, and consciousness. In death, the soul ceases to exist, but its karma—perhaps what Kingston alludes to as the six paths, the five skandhas plus karma—is reborn in a mother’s womb, in the body of a new baby. This system of regeneration continues until a person reaches the state of nirvana, in which personal desires do not exist.
Ch’in the Ch’in dynasty (221-206 B.C.), from which China gets its name.
hexagrams that are the I Ching The I Ching, or “Book of Changes,” the majority of which was written by Wen Wang (twelfth century B.C.), is an ancient Chinese text concerning Confucianism. Of great importance in the history of Chinese philosophy, the work explains ethical principles through a system that involves the oneness of humans and nature in daily communion. The complex hexagrams—six-sided figures—of the I Ching represent different positive qualities; the more hexagrams you “build” on top of one another, the closer you are to an understanding of the world.
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.
felicitous pleasing.
