white crane boxing a style or system of martial arts, or fighting arts.
Shao-lin temple Shaolin, which developed in northern China, is a form of martial arts that emphasizes strength and speed. Martial arts training centers would have been called temples.
fighting monks a Buddhist order of monks trained in martial arts, often depicted in folklore and movies.
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.
ideograph a symbol that represents an idea; for example, the symbol “@” means “at.”
drinking gourd a dried and then hollowed-out melon or squash, often oddly shaped, that can be used as a drinking vessel.
the Han people people of the Chinese race; the word “Han” is derived from the name of the dynasty that ruled China from 202 B.C. to A.D. 220.
homonyms words that sound alike but differ in spelling; for example, “meat” and “meet.”
peony here, the tree peony, a woody-stemmed perennial with large white- or rose-colored flowers that bloom on three- to four-foot stalks. Tree peonies, which grow slowly, are native to western China but have been hybridized in the United States and throughout the world.
monk’s food scant, meager portions of food; Fa Mu Lan eats only nuts and dry roots during most of her time on the mountains of the white tigers.
fungus mushrooms.
Javanese pertaining to Java, the most heavily populated of the islands that comprise Indonesia, a country in Southeast Asia.
self-immolation deliberate self-sacrifice, often by burning.
transmigration here, changing physical shape.
quarries excavation pits from which materials such as stones, minerals, or coal are mined.
strata horizontal layers of rock material, usually stacked one on top of the other.
poppies flowers admired for their beautiful petals; perennial Oriental poppies are best known for their red blossoms with blackish-purple centers.
red carp an inland-water fish common throughout North America, Europe, and Asia; the red carp derives its name from its reddish-colored scales and fins.
mallard a colorful wild duck found throughout North America, Europe, and Asia.
cranium the skull.
red money Giving money is one of the many customs associated with the Chinese New Year, a fifteen-day festival beginning either in late January or early February. The focus of the celebration is the payment of debts, housecleaning, and the ending of quarrels to prepare the way for a peaceful new year. Often the money is given in red envelopes.
foreheads tied with wild oaths scarf-like material wrapped around the forehead and tied at the back of the head; ideographs like those that Fa Mu Lan’s father carves on the woman warrior’s back would have been stitched into the fabric to spur warriors to perform great deeds.
scythes tools with long, curved blades used for hand-mowing or harvesting grains.
descent line the chronological history of a person’s ancestors; a genealogical family tree.
baron socially and economically, the most important group of landowners—next to a country’s ruler—during feudal times.
conscription forced drafting into service, usually military.
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.
Eight Sages also called the Eight Immortals, eight mythological Chinese men of great wisdom; although unacquainted in real life, the eight are frequently depicted as a group in Chinese art.
basin here, a shallow bowl used to hold water.
ink block a container in which ink is stored.
Peiping means “Northern Peace”; present-day Beijing, the capital of China.
marauders raiders.
fiefdoms a land-holding system in which large tracts of land are owned and run by feudal lords; mini-kingdoms.
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.
palanquins Formerly used in eastern Asia, a palanquin is an ornate chair, often covered by a roof to protect the inhabitant and carried on the shoulders of servants using two poles fastened to the chair.
sedan chairs similar to palanquins.
gestation the time period from conception to birth of a baby.
paisley fabric distinguished by its swirling pattern of shapes.
nape the back of the neck.
fontanel an anatomical term used to describe a baby’s soft membranes between its skull’s unformed bones.
Long Wall the fifteen-hundred-mile Great Wall of China; begun in the third century B.C. as a means of defense against invading marauders from the north.
Mongols traditionally, the nomadic people of Mongolia, situated north of China; throughout their histories, Mongolia and China always have had a very contentious and uneasy relationship with each other.
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.
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.
exorcised to have cast out evil spirits.
Joan of Arc (1412-31) the French heroine who, claiming that she regularly talked with dead Catholic saints, inspired the French to victory over the English at Orléans in 1429; she was later captured by the English, tried for heresy, and burned at the stake.
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.
NAACP National Association for the Advancement of Colored People; created in 1909 to help abolish segregation and end discrimination against people of color.
Hong Kong formerly, a British colony on the southeast coast of Kwangtung Province (Guangdong); Hong Kong reverted to mainland Chinese control in 1997.
Fourth Aunt and Uncle The title of a relative is accorded by the rank at birth; for example, Third Sister would be the third daughter born into a family.
yams sweet potatoes, starchy root vegetables associated most with the southern United States.
faggots bundled small branches, often used as kindling to start a fire.
gurus spiritual advisors, or leaders.
crank here, a person who shams innocent people out of their money.
tong ax A tong is an association of Chinese individuals in the United States, believed to be involved in organized crime; Kingston speculates that an old busboy she encounters is really a swordsman, and that this busboy-swordsman uses an ax to kill people opposed to the tong.
flotage loose material adrift in water.
