system; organization; organisation; imperial command; laws; regulation
East Asian age reckoning; traditional system of age reckoning whereby newborns are considered one year old and on New Year's Day one year is added to everyone's age
one; 1; best; first; foremost; beginning; start
when it becomes; when it comes to
qualifications; requirements; capabilities
to be preeminent; to be outstanding
ability; gift; talent; sai; traditional unit of volume, approx. 1.8 ml
to pick up; to adopt (e.g. a proposal); to accept; to take away; to confiscate; to deliver (a baby)
conferring of decorations
hardly any; almost nonexistent; very little
equal; identical; the same; no different (to); just like; equivalent
war; fighting; fierce competition
victory; triumph; conquest; success; win
several years; a few years
state of things; state of affairs; condition; situation; circumstances
expectation; anticipation; hope; promising; rising; up-and-coming
futility; waste; uselessness; pointlessness; idleness
difficulty; hardship; trouble; infeasibility; inability (to carry out)
heir; successor; family estate; family fortune; headship of a family
to hand over; to transfer; to give up (e.g. one's seat); to give way; to yield; to concede
superior; excellent; brilliant; outstanding
to restrict; to limit; to be restricted to; to be limited to; to be best (for); to be the best plan
to spill over and fall; to scatter (petals, leaves, etc.)
affiliated with; under jurisdiction of; under the umbrella
merchant; store; shop; merchant house; merchant family
adopted child (usu. male); son-in-law
to succeed (a person, to a position, etc.); to inherit; to patch (clothes); to mend; to add (e.g. charcoal to the fire); to replenish with
to trace back to (the origins of something)
consequence; outcome; result; blame
even; even if; even though; because of; on the grounds that
family a woman has married into
frantic; frenetic; inevitable death; brinkmate (inevitable checkmate)
to be affected; to be influenced; to be concerned with; to have to do with; to stick to (opinions)
road; path; route; way; distance; journey; road (e.g. to victory)
the strait gate (in the Bible); the narrow gate; high barrier (to enter a highly competitive school, company, etc.); difficult hurdle; difficulty
kitchen; galley; (Internet) troll
slip; omission; upshot; denouement; punch line (of a joke)
after all; in the end; anyway; (cannot) possibly; (not) at all; (not) by any means
to grow long (e.g. hair, nails); to lengthen; to extend; to reach out; to hold out; to straighten; to smooth out
standard; basis; criterion; norm; reference; datum
to support; to maintain; to bring up; to raise; to adopt (a child); to cultivate (a habit, a quality, etc.)
companion; partner; spouse