Phrasebook

This is a list of various words and phrases used in the Empire, and what they are taken to mean. Penglai, especially Court Penglai, is loaded with symbolism.

Penglai (and everywhere)

Colours: See Zhi-fu. Any colour will be loaded with symbolism, just as any adjective will have several shades of meaning.
Dragon with two pearls: someone who is cursed with too much (conflicting) knowledge.
Embrace the Moon: To die in the manner of a famous poet who drowned while drunk.
Emperor's Seal: A phrase meaning 'no'. The Emperor is sacrosanct, and cannot press his seal to anything as worldly as Paper. In general 'Vermillion seal' is used when Imperial permission is required.
Forty: A number that is used to mean 'some'. 'Forty years of exile'.
Four Hundred: A number to mean 'many'. Four hundred years means beyond living memory, even if some people might live to be older.
Junzi: A 'gentleman' — a properly educated man of good breeding, who therefore is the perfect mortal man. No less, but no more.
Omarin: Advice given specifically as a gift, or a gift of advice.
Thousand: A trope for 'mind-boggling large number'.
Tweaking the Dragon's Tail: Annoying Penglai.
Zhiangjin: The correct path of moral and philosophical education.

Jade specific

A scion of the House of Silence: Someone who has been deliberately silenced, or selected because they are deaf or mute. Discreet bodyguards.
Demon's Gate: The unlucky gate of any city, which varies depending on the chi of the area.
Tsujigiri: The philosophy of being willing to try out a new sword on a passing stranger

Other Places

Eat boiled bamboo: Take a loss when trading. Len-Shu has a lot of bamboo, and it is regarded as peasant fare.
Kebiishi: The Secret Police of Baekje
Kacchuu Koodak: A Baekje martial art that concentrates on destroying organs