Chinese Cinderella Vocabulary

The book is the true story of Adeline Yen Mah's childhood, focusing on her experiences as an unwanted daughter in China.

Adeline Yen Mah: The author and protagonist, considered bad luck due to her mother's death.
Father: Adeline's father, who remarries and becomes distant.
Niang (Stepmother): Adeline's stepmother, half-French and half-Chinese, who treats Adeline poorly.
Aunt Baba: Adeline's paternal aunt, a kind and supportive figure in her life.
Ye Ye and Nai Nai: Adeline's paternal grandparents.
Big Sister (Lydia): Adeline's older sister, who initially blames Adeline for their mother's death but later shows some kindness.
Brothers: Gregory, Edgar, James, and Franklin, who also initially resent Adeline.
Fourth Brother: Niang's son.
Little Sister (Susan): Niang's daughter.
Wu Chun-mei: Adeline's friend at school, an athletic and kind classmate.

Adeline's mother died shortly after giving birth to her, leading to her being considered bad luck by her family.
Aunt Baba, Father’s older sister, is ordered to be her caretaker because she is unmarried and has no money.
The family lives in Tianjin, in the French concession, in a big house with Grandfather Ye Ye, Grandmother Nai Nai, and Aunt Baba.
Big Sister tells Adeline, "If you had not been born, Mama would still be alive. She died because of you. You are bad luck."
A year after her mother's death, her father remarried a Eurasian woman named Niang, who is half French and half Chinese.
Niang has two children, a son (Fourth Brother) and a daughter (Little Sister), after marrying Adeline's father.
The family consists of seven children: five from Father's first wife and two from Niang.

Chinese surnames come at the beginning of a person's name.
A baby is given a name by his or her parents.
At home, a child is called by a name dependent on the order of his or her birth.
Older sister is called (jie, ), younger sister (mei, ), older brother (ge, ) and younger brother (di, ).
Step-mother gave them European names.
After Adeline married, she adopted the last name of her Chinese American husband, Bob Mah, and her name is now Adeline Yen Mah.

In Autumn 1941, Adeline receives a silver medal in kindergarten for leading her class, which Aunt Baba cherishes.
Aunt Baba places the award underneath her jade bracelet, pearl necklace and diamond watch

Grandmother Nai Nai elucidates the agonizing ritual of foot binding, a custom aimed at attaining small feet regarded as feminine and exquisite, elucidating that her feet were bound when she was three years old.

Second Brother bullies Adeline, while Third Brother shows her kindness.
Big Brother teaches her how to whistle, and then suddenly pinches Ye Ye's nasal lair, causing him to woke up with a yell.
Big Sister forces Adeline to fetch her English-Chinese dictionary to translate something for Niang.

Niang's children are considered special, and she favors them over her stepchildren.

Big Sister complains so much about walking her to school, that Grandmother Nai Nai told Ah Mao, the rickshaw puller, to pull them there and back.
IIn early 1942, Big Sister snatches Adeline's medal claiming that she doesn't deserve to wear it.
Adeline wins a special award for wearing the weekly medal for more weeks than any other student.
The steps leading up to the Monsignor were too high and steep for her short little legs, so she had to climb up to the stage on her hands and knees.
She was the only one unaccompanied by anyone from her family.

There was news that the Japanese were demanding to become Father's business partners.
The author observes that Ye Ye stopped Third Brother from kicking a paper ball made of old newspapers that had a photo of the Japanese emperor on its surface.
Father disappears, and Niang leaves the house with Fourth Brother. This event significantly alters the family dynamics, providing a temporary respite from Niang's negative influence.

China had lost a war, known as the Opium War, against England and France.
Tianjin’s French concession was like a little piece of Paris transplanted into the center of this big Chinese city.
In December 1941, when the Japan- ese bombed Pearl Harbor, the United States became involved in the Second World War.

The atmosphere in the house changes after Nai Nai's death. The event marks a shift in power dynamics within the family, with Niang assuming more control.
Nai Nai's body was placed in a tightly sealed coffin in the parlor.
Buddhist monks dressed in long robes chanted mantras.
Big Brother acted as chief mourner in Father’s ab- sence.

The family moves to Shanghai to live with Father, Niang, and Fourth Brother.
The house in Shanghai is located in the French concession and is described as formal and polished.
Upon reaching Shanghai, the narrator and her siblings were given an unwelcoming reception by Niang characterized by numerous rules and restrictions that relegated them to second-class status within their own family

Adeline is excited about starting first grade at her new primary school.
Her teacher and Cook are kind to her and help her find her way to school.
Because she didn't know the way home, Adeline got lost after school, but with the help of a restaurant owner, she called and was picked up by her father.
Next time when you go anywhere for the first time,