Pre-modern term for household servants — you'll hear it constantly in costume dramas (
古装剧) and adaptations of works like 《
红楼梦》 (Dream of the Red Chamber). In modern China the word survives as a derogatory "underling" (
使唤下人 "order someone around like a servant"), but the neutral domestic-help word today is
保姆 (bǎomǔ) or
佣人 (yōngrén).
