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🇨🇳 Mandarin Chinese · Fluency Level 3

PART 1 · LESSON 10 OF 30 · 30 MINUTES

The Emperor's Eighteen Bushes

Hear Teacher Song and Missus Wang tell the legend of the imperial bushes: hear that the Qianlong Emperor went down to Jiangnan and picked tea himself, hear that he stuffed the leaves into his sleeve, ask why, hear that his mother was ill and he was in a hurry, hear that those eighteen bushes became imperial tea, ask whether they are still there, and hear that they are, to this day.

Audio instruction: English

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THE STORY

The round table in Master Chen's main room in Longjing village on the last evening of March, Teacher Song with a cup in both hands, Missus Wang filling it before he can finish a sentence.

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Words and phrases

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乾隆 皇帝 下 江南。qiánlóng huángdì xià jiāngnánThe Qianlong Emperor went down to Jiangnan.
来 过。 他 自己 摘 了 茶。lái guo, tā zìjǐ zhāi le cháHe did. He picked tea himself.
往 袖子 里 一 塞。wǎng xiùzi lǐ yì sāistuffed into his sleeve in one move, word for word toward sleeve inside one stuff
他 把 茶叶 往 袖子 里 一 塞。tā bǎ cháyè wǎng xiùzi lǐ yì sāiHe stuffed the leaves into his sleeve.
塞 袖子 里？ 为什么？sāi xiùzi lǐ? wèishénmeInto his sleeve? Why?
皇帝 也 怕 妈妈！huángdì yě pà māmaEven an emperor is afraid of his mum!
急 着 走。jí zhe zǒuin a hurry to go
他 妈妈 病 了， 急 着 走。tā māma bìng le, jí zhe zǒuHis mother was ill; he was in a hurry to go.
成 了 御 茶。chéng le yù chábecame imperial tea; imperial is the emperor's own word, falling
那 十八 棵 茶树， 成 了 御 茶。nà shíbā kē cháshù, chéng le yù cháThose eighteen bushes became imperial tea.

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