palace / temple / castration (as corporal punishment) / first note in pentatonic scale
状元
zhuàng yuán
top scorer in the palace examination (highest rank of the Imperial examination system) / see 榜眼[bang3 yan3] and 探花[tan4 hua1] / top scorer in college entrance examination 高考[gao1 kao3] / (fig.) the most brilliantly talented person in the field / leading light
(literary) (of a woman) graceful and refined / comely / (esp.) slender / slim / (literary) (of a bower, a mountain stream or a boudoir within a palace etc) secluded
长廊
cháng láng
promenade / long hallway / Long Corridor in the Summer Palace, Beijing 北京頤和園|北京颐和园[Bei3 jing1 Yi2 he2 yuan2]
to come first in triennial palace examinations (idiom, refers to the carved stone turtle head in front of the imperial palace, next to which the most successful candidate in the imperial examinations was entitled to stand) / to be the champion / to be the very best in any field
南天门
Nán tiān mén
South Gate to Heaven, the name a gate constructed on various mountains, most notably on Mount Tai 泰山[Tai4 Shan1] / (mythology) southern gate of the Heavenly Palace
James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin (1811-1863), British High Commissioner to China who ordered the looting and destruction of the Old Winter Palace Yuanmingyuan 圓明園|圆明园 / in 1860 / Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin (1766-1841), who stole the Parthenon Marbles in 1801-1810
James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin (1811-1863), British High Commissioner to China who ordered the looting and destruction of the Old Winter Palace Yuanmingyuan 圓明園|圆明园 / in 1860 / Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin (1766-1841), who stole the Parthenon Marbles in 1801-1810
Mukden Palace, aka Shenyang Imperial Palace, the main imperial palace during the early years of the Qing dynasty (1625-1644), a secondary palace in subsequent years, now a museum
White Tiger Hall, a Han dynasty palace hall in which the famous Virtuous Discussions Held in White Tiger Hall 白虎通德論|白虎通德论 / were held under the aegis of Han Emperor Zhang 漢章帝|汉章帝
Qilin Pavilion, located in the Weiyang Palace, a hall decorated with portraits of famous officials
三元
sān yuán
(old) first place in civil service examinations at three levels: provincial 解元[jie4 yuan2], metropolitan 會元|会元[hui4 yuan2] and palace 狀元|状元[zhuang4 yuan2]
连中三元
lián zhòng sān yuán
(old) to rank first in the imperial examinations at the provincial capital, the national capital and the palace successively / (sports etc) to achieve three successes in a row (three matches in a row, three goals in a match etc)
爱丽舍宫
Aì lì shè Gōng
Elysée Palace, the residence of the president of the French Republic
独占鳌头
dú zhàn - áo tóu
(idiom) to come first in triennial palace examinations (refers to the carved stone turtle head in front of the imperial palace, next to which the most successful candidate in the imperial examinations was entitled to stand) / to be the champion / to be the very best in any field
诣阙
yì què
(old) to go to the palace to see the emperor / (old) to go to the capital
gōng