"Folk" • Chinese-English Dictionary

DICTIONARY OPTIONS
CHARACTERS : Simplified Traditional
PHONETIC : Pinyin Bopomofo EFEO Wade-Giles Yale
» Search by Radical
民间 mín jiān among the people / popular / folk / non-governmental / involving people rather than governments
花儿 huā ér style of folk song popular in Gansu, Qinghai and Ningxia / CL:首[shou3]
民歌 mín gē folk song / CL:支[zhi1],首[shou3]
小车 xiǎo chē small model car / mini-car / small horse-cart / barrow / wheelbarrow / type of folk dance
咪咪 mī mī oboe-like musical instrument used in folk music of Gansu, Qinghai etc / (onom.) meow / kitty kitty! / Mimi (Western name) / tits (i.e. slang for breasts)
渔民 yú mín fisherman / fisher folk
民谣 mín yáo ballad / folk song
民乐 mín yuè folk music, esp. for traditional instruments
小调 xiǎo diào xiaodiao, a Chinese folk song genre / minor key (in music)
剪纸 jiǎn zhǐ papercutting (Chinese folk art) / to make paper cutouts
评书 píng shū pingshu, a folk art where a single performer narrates stories from history or fiction
采风 cǎi fēng to collect local cultural material (recording folk songs, taking photos etc)
阿凡提 A1 fán tí Effendi, wily and fearless hero of Uighur folk tales / smart guy
曲艺 qǔ yì folk musical theater
偏方 piān fāng folk remedy / home remedy
山歌 shān gē folk song / mountain song
土方 tǔ fāng cubic meter of earth (unit of measurement) / excavated soil / earthwork (abbr. for 土方工程[tu3 fang1 gong1 cheng2]) / (TCM) folk remedy
民间艺术 mín jiān yì shù folk art
乡下人 xiāng xià rén country folk / rustic / rural folk
单方 dān fāng unilateral / one-sided / home remedy / folk prescription(same as 丹方) / single-drug prescription (same as 奇方[ji1 fang1], one of the seven kinds of prescriptions of Chinese medicine 七方[qi1 fang1]) / metaphorically. a good solution
花木兰 Huā Mù lán Hua Mulan, legendary woman warrior (c. fifth century), Northern dynasties folk hero recorded in Sui and Tang literature
小曲 xiǎo qǔ popular song / folk tune / ballad
灯会 dēng huì carnival during the Lantern Festival, with lantern displays and traditional folk performances such as stilt walking and lion dance
织女 Zhī nu:3 Vega (star) / Weaving girl of folk tales
月宫 yuè gōng Palace in the Moon (in folk tales)
罗宾汉 Luó bīn hàn Robin Hood (English 12th century folk hero)
鱼龙混杂 yú lóng hùn zá lit. fish and dragons mixed in together (idiom) / fig. crooks mixed in with the honest folk
说书 shuō shū folk art consisting of storytelling to music
民间传说 mín jiān chuán shuō popular tradition / folk legend
凡夫俗子 fán fū sú zǐ common people / ordinary folk
秦腔 Qín qiāng Qinqiang, an opera style popular in northwest China, possibly originating in Ming dynasty folk music / Shaanxi opera
秧歌 yāng ge Yangge, a popular rural folk dance
民间故事 mín jiān gù shi folk story / folktale
花鼓 huā gǔ flower drum, a type of double-skinned Chinese drum / folk dance popular in provinces around the middle reaches of the Yangtze / (bicycle wheel) hub
话本 huà běn Song and Yuan literary form based on vernacular folk stories
腰鼓 yāo gǔ waist drum / waist-drum dance (Han ethnic group folk dance)
三弦 sān xián sanxian, large family of 3-stringed plucked musical instruments, with snakeskin covered wooden soundbox and long neck, used in folk music, opera and Chinese orchestra
高跷 gāo qiāo stilts / walking on stilts as component of folk dance
桃太郎 táo tài láng Momotaro or Peach Boy, the hero of a Japanese folk tale / (Tw) Japanese person
竹板 zhú bǎn bamboo clapper boards used in folk theater
民谚 mín yàn folk saying / proverb
民间舞 mín jiān wǔ folk dance
李舜臣 Lǐ Shùn chén Yi Sunshin (1545-1598), Korean admiral and folk hero, famous for sea victories over the Japanese invaders
牵牛星 Qiān niú xīng Altair (star) / Cowherd of the folk tale Cowherd and Weaving maid 牛郎織女|牛郎织女
数来宝 shǔ lái bǎo folk theater consisting of recitation accompanied by clapper board rhythm
讴 ōu to sing / ballad / folk song
牛郎织女 niú láng zhī nu:3 Cowherd and Weaving maid (characters in folk story) / separated lovers / Altair and Vega (stars)
五鬼闹判 wǔ guǐ nào pàn Five ghosts mock the judge, or Five ghosts resist judgment (title of folk opera, idiom) / important personage mobbed by a crowd of ne'er-do-wells
下里巴人 xià lǐ bā rén folk songs of the state of Chu 楚國|楚国[Chu3 guo2] / popular art forms (cf. 陽春白雪|阳春白雪[yang2 chun1 bai2 xue3], highbrow art forms)
童叟无欺 tóng sǒu wú qī cheating neither old nor young (idiom) / treating youngsters and old folk equally scrupulously / Our house offers sincere treatment to all and fair trade to old and young alike.
游艺会 yóu yì huì folk festival / fair / carnival
霸王鞭 bà wáng biān a rattle stick used in folk dancing / rattle stick dance
丹方 dān fāng folk remedy
东方红 Dōng fāng Hóng The East is Red, north Shaanxi folk song
民间音乐 mín jiān yīn yuè folk music
民族舞蹈 mín zú wǔ dǎo folk dance
吴越曲 Wú Yuè qū folk song from Wu or from south China more generally
土地公 tǔ dì gōng Tudi Gong, the local tutelary god (in Chinese folk religion)
孟姜女 Mèng jiāng nu:3 heroine of Qin dynasty 秦朝 / folk tale, who searched for her husband, and whose tears broke down a stretch of the Great Wall to reveal his body
小技 xiǎo jì small skills / folk musical theater
文天祥 Wén Tiān xiáng Wen Tianxiang (1236-1283), Song dynasty politician and poet, folk hero in resisting Mongol invasion in Jiangxi in 1275
民歌手 mín gē shǒu folk singer
民间习俗 mín jiān xí sú folk customs
民间舞蹈 mín jiān wǔ dǎo folk dance
狐女 hú nu:3 fox lady / in folk stories, a beautiful girl who will seduce you then reveal herself as a ghost
老少无欺 lǎo shào wú qī cheating neither old nor young / treating youngsters and old folk equally scrupulously / Our house offers sincere treatment to all and fair trade to old and young alike.
莫伊谢耶夫 Mò yī xiè yē fū Moiseyev (name) / Igor Aleksandrovich Moiseyev (1906-2007), choreographer of folk dance and founder of Moiseyev dance company
莲花落 lián huā lào genre of folk song with accompaniment of bamboo clappers
迎神赛会 yíng shén sài huì folk festival, esp. involving shrine or image of God
银丝族 yín sī zú the older generation (respectful term) / old folk / silver-haired generation
阿乡 ā xiāng (coll.) country folk / rustic / see also 鄉下人|乡下人[xiang1 xia4 ren2]
阿里郎 A1 lǐ láng Arirang, famous Korean song of love and tragic separation, based on folk tale from Georyo dynasty / Arirang, series of Korean earth observation space satellites
杂戏 zá xì acrobatics / entertainment at folk festival
风水先生 fēng shuǐ xiān sheng feng shui master / geomancer / stock figure in folk tales, as a wise adviser or a charlatan
黄鼠狼给鸡拜年 huáng shǔ láng gěi jī bài nián Beware of suspicious folk bearing gifts, they are sure to be ill-intentioned. (idiom)
土地神 tǔ dì shén local tutelary god (in Chinese folk religion) (same as 土地公|土地公[Tu3 di4 Gong1])
民间疗法 mín jiān liáo fǎ folk treatment
世界青年民间音乐节  World Youth Folk Festival
信天游 xìn tiān yóu a style of folk music of Shaanxi
巴布・狄伦 Bā bù · Dí lún Bob Dylan, American folk singer (1941-)
黑白无常 Hēi Bái Wú cháng (Chinese folk religion) Heibai Wuchang: two deities, one dressed in black and the other in white, responsible for escorting the spirits of the dead to the underworld
俚谚 lǐ yàn common saying / folk proverb
宋祖英 Sòng Zǔ yīng Song Zuying (1966-), Chinese folk music singer
彭丽媛 Péng Lì yuán Peng Liyuan (1962-), PRC folk music singer, wife of Xi Jinping 習近平|习近平[Xi2 Jin4 ping2]
撂地 liào dì (of folk artists) to give a performance at a temple fair or on the street etc
里谚 lǐ yàn common saying / folk proverb
揪痧 jiū shā folk remedy involving repeatedly pinching the neck, throat, back etc to increase blood flow to the area and relieve inflammation
常德丝弦 Cháng dé sī xián Changde sixian, theatrical folk music style with singing in Changde dialect accompanied by traditional string instruments
巴布·狄伦 Bā bù · Dí lún Bob Dylan, American folk singer (1941-)
时调 shí diào regional folk song popular during a certain period of time
地牛翻身 dì niú fān shēn (Tw) (coll.) earthquake (According to a folk tale, earthquakes are caused by the occasional movements of an ox that lives under the earth.)
土方子 tǔ fāng zi (TCM) folk remedy
时代曲 shí dài qǔ shidaiqu, a musical genre that originated in Shanghai in the 1920s, a fusion of Chinese folk music and Western jazz
赵公元帅 Zhào gōng yuán shuài Marshal Zhao, aka Zhao Gongming or Zhao Xuantan, God of Wealth in the Chinese folk tradition and Taoism
赵公明 Zhào Gōng míng Zhao Gongming, God of Wealth in the Chinese folk tradition and Taoism
赵玄坛 Zhào Xuán tán Zhao Xuantan, God of Wealth in the Chinese folk tradition and Taoism
郑声 Zhèng shēng folk music of the state of Zheng 鄭|郑[Zheng4] / lascivious, decadent music
孟婆 Mèng pó (Chinese folk religion) Meng Po, goddess who gives a potion to souls before they are reincarnated, which makes them forget their previous life / (Chinese folk religion) Meng Po, goddess of the wind
Chinese Tones