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Ancient Chinese Proverbs In their 4,000-year civilized history, the Chinese have generated innumerable proverbs. There can be a proverb for almost any situation. Judicious use of proverbs in Chinese writing is regarded as a sign of good education rather than pedantry or showing off one's knowledge of clichés. Chinese proverbs can be split into chengyu (accepted phrases), yanyu (familiar sayings), suyu (popular sayings), and xiehouyu (two-part allegorical sayings). Unique to the Chinese language, xiehouyu proverbs are vivid with images and dramatic results." (Haiwang Yuan, The Magic Lotus Lantern and Other Tales from the Han Chinese. Structurally, all proverbs can be further grouped into established phrases, proverbial sayings, admired sayings and two-part symbolic sayings. These are all incomparable to each other in the Chinese language, and are all vibrant with metaphors and layered meanings. Whilst most Chinese proverbs consist of only a few characters (words), when joined together they represent a tremendous amount of cultural depth and history. Based on puns of similair sounding words, the majority of xiehouyu is simply not translatable. Therefore only a few such sayings will be included in this small sample of the unfathomable reservoir of Chinese proverbs. Proverbs on Philosophies All proverbs contain philosophies. "Proverbs on Philosophies" reflect people's basic way of thinking and experiences, and represent the unfocused, unoriented and universal philosophies through abstract generalization and integration of diverse phenomena. Some of proverbs convey explicit
ideas, such as "With justice on your side, you can go anywhere;
without it, you can't take a step". Whereas some of them
signify implicit ideas such as "If there is an entrance,
there must be an exit." "The Niangguo dukou canoes
(a kind of canoe on Yariung Zangbo River) are made of wood, and
the canoe maker knows the exact amount of wood a canoe needs." "Shadow puppets can't move
on its own and there are puppeteers behind the curtain." "High as the clouds are,
they are always behind the sun." Proverbs on Self-Cultivation This type of proverb reflects the basic experience and ways of self-cultivaition among different classes in the society and cover a lot of aspects, such as the cultivation of wills, virtues, wisdoms and behaviors, etc.. For instance, "One can see the bottom of an ocean when it runs dry , but can never see clearly a man's heart when he dies." "A man's faults all conform to his type of mind. Observe his faults and you may know his virtues. "A diamond with a flaw is preferable to a common stone with none." "When your horse is on the brink of a precipice it is too late to pull the reins." "A man who has committed
a mistake and doesn't correct it is committing another mistake." "Yielding to others does not mean weakness; self- possession outweighs others' strength." "If you want to have people's
mind changed, the best way is to go and have a visit at Zhurong
(Chinese fire god) Mountains." Proverbs on Sociality This type of proverb reflects
the basic experience and ways of communications among communities
and individuals from all walks of life and cover a wide range
of areas, such as making friends, ways of handling different
matters, ways of speaking and conversing and abilities to handle
emergencies.
"Good words are like a string of pearls." "Talk does not cook rice." "They who know the truth are not equal to those who love it, and they who love it are not equal to those who find pleasure in it." "If you walk on snow you cannot hide your footprints." "Do not remove a fly from your friend's head with a hatchet." "Everything has its beauty but not everyone sees it." "A man must insult himself before others will." "When anger arises, think
of the consequences." "When the ear will not listen, the heart escapes sorrow." "Great trees are good for
shade." Proverbs on Politics This type of proverb reflects
basic political experience and laws, and cover a lot of aspects,
such as states, nations, politics, laws, and armies, wealth,
poverty, enemies, friends and social practices. "Strengthening the military over awes the public and wiping out the evil consolidates a country. " "Without a leader, a flock
of wild geese cannot fly in a line." "The people are the foundation of the state; the state will be stable if the foundation is firm." "A family without family rules will break up, while a state without state laws will be in chaos. " "A board following the thread will be cut straight, and a man taking good advice will be just and fair. " "Man follows the times, and water flows with the tides. " "Better keep the soldiers idle for a hundred years, than to find them absent for one day. " "A tree cannot grow without its root and a flower cannot bloom without its centercore. " Proverbs on Life
"Smiles make one younger; worries make one older." "The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials. " "He who sacrifices his conscience to ambition burns a picture to obtain the ashes." "Man lives by the soil for
a whole life and the soil buries him only one time. " "Spring is the best time
to visit Tiantai Mountain and autumn is the best time to visit
Yandang Mountain. " Proverbs on Household This type of proverb reflects
the basic experience and laws of people's family life and cover
many aspects, such as housekeeping, families, child raising,
getting along with neighbors, etc.. "Thatch your roof before rainy weather; dig your well before you become parched with thirst." "No one knows a man better than his own father does." "Go home and make a net if you desire to get fishes. " "One's good deeds are only known at home; one's bad deeds far away. "Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me." "Sending your children to
school is better than keeping loads of gold." Proverbs on Social Customs All proverbs come from natural conditions and social customs. This type of proverb reflects the special local conditions and customs, and cover many aspects such as local customs, local conditions, local lifestyles, religious beliefs, etc. For instance, "Live inYangzhou, tour in Hangzhou, eat in Suzhouand bury in Liuzhou." "Jilin boasts three special treasures: ginseng, marten skin and wula grass."
"The highest snow mountain
is the Chomolungma and the oldest palace is Yumbulakhang Palace." "The first day of lunar
New Year is less ceremonious than theLantern Festival." "Dongting Lakeis the lake
of all lakes andYueyang Toweris the tower of all towers." Proverbs on Nature This type of proverb reflects the objective laws of natural phenomena and their relations with human beings and cover many aspects, such as astronomical phenomena, weather, seasons, disasters, etc. For example, "Snowing on the Lantern Festival signifies a bumper harvest the whole year." "If the stone becomes wet, it is likely to rain heavily." "Rotten wood cannot be carved." "Not the cry, but the flight of the wild duck, leads the flock to fly and follow." " It is only when the cold season comes that we know the pine and cypress to be evergreens." "It is the beautiful bird which gets caged." "Tides bring wind and rainbow
stops rains." Proverbs on Farming and Pastoral Labor This type of proverb reflects
the experience and laws of farming, and cover many aspects, such
as farming, forestry, animal husbandry, sideline production and
fishery and hunting, etc.. "People cultivate trees when there is no disaster, and live on trees when there is a disaster." "The daughter of a crab does not give birth to a bird." "A bumper harvest of grain
in Suzhou and Changzhou sustains the whole society." "Vegetables of one's own
raising are not relished --- those from other's gardens are the
best." "The sheep will be full
9 times a day when they eat gritty grass." Proverbs on Trades and Business This kind of proverbs reflect the experience and laws of different trades and business, and cover many aspects, such as selling, buying, trades, crafts, goods transportation, money loan and pawn, etc..For example, "Large costs with small profits can make large returns; small costs with big profits can only make small returns ." "Carpenters often prefer long materials, blacksmiths choose short iron and mason and painter seek dirty materials." The stonemason's tool is a hammer
and the blacksmith's one is a hammering block.
This type of proverb reflects the experience and laws on culture and education and over many aspects, such as education, literature, arts, and sports, etc.. For example, "Literature adds glory to a state and poetry and rituals add legacy to a household." " A vacant mind is open to all suggestions as a hollow building echoes all sounds." "Study without reflection
is a waste of time; reflection without study is dangerous."
"The trick of story telling is in the plot-joints, and the magic of theater performance is in sleeves." "While there are 300 followers
listening to the Taoist teachings in the monastery, there are
1000 students studying in the academy of classical learning." High stilts won't hurt, a bowed
back will.  |
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"Kind
words make one feel warm even in harsh winter, while unpleasant
talking makes one feel cold in midsummer."
This
type of proverb reflects the basic experience and laws inpeople's
daily lives, and it cover many aspects, such as clothing, food,
accommodation, transportation, birth, aging, illness and death,
etc. .
"Within
the 800-li-width of Taihu Lke, there are 72 mountains."
Proverbs
on Culture and Education