This is a collection of Chinese Proverbs.docx

This is a collection of Chinese Proverbs.docx

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ThisisacollectionofChineseProverbs

ThisisacollectionofChineseproverbs（谚语yàny?

?

）andidioms（成语chéngy?

?

）,giveninandsortedbytheirpinyintranscription.Chineseproverbsandfour-pluscharacteridiomsaredevelopedfromtheformulaicorsocialdialect/saying/expression（歇后语inpinyin:

xièhòuy?

?

）andhistoricalstoryinChinese.

Someproverbsareliterary;thatis,fromawrittensource.（Seethehistoricalwrittenlanguageorthemoremodernwrittenlanguage.）Othersoriginatedamongfamilies,streetvendors,andothercommoners--allwalksoflife.

滴（dī）水（shǔi）之（zhī）恩（ēn）当（dāng）以（yǐ）涌（yǒng）泉（quán）相（xiāng）报（bào）Literally:

Adropofwatershallbereturnedwithaburstofspring.

Meaning:

Evenifitwasjustalittlehelpfromothers,youshouldreturnthefavorwithallyoucanwhenothersareinneed.

一（yī）人（rén）吃（chī）饱（bǎo），全（quán）家（jiā）不（bù）饥（jī）

Literally:

Ifasinglememberofafamilyeats,thewholefamilywillnotfeelhungry.

Meaning:

Ifthereisonepersoninthefamilywhoisabletoprovidefoodforthemselves,itshouldfalluponthemtotakecareoftherestoftheirfamilytoo.

CommonMisunderstanding:

Ifonepersoninthefamilyishappy,thewholefamilyishappy.

福（fú）无（wú）重（chóng）至（zhì）,祸（huò）不（bú）单（dān）行（xíng）

Literally:

Apersonisblessedonce,buthistroublesnevercomealone.

Meaning:

Thereareneverenoughblessings,buttherearetoomanytroubles.

冰（bīng）冻（dòng）三（sān）尺（chǐ），非（fēi）一（yī）日（rì）之（zhī）寒（hán）（ice+freeze+three+units（~feet）,not+one+day's（7thand8th）+chill）

Literally:

Asingledayofsub-zerotemperatureisnotenoughtocreatethreefeetofice.

Moral:

Greatthingscannotbeaccomplishedinashortperiodoftime.

Compare:

Romewasnotbuiltinaday（Romanonfufattainungiorno,Italianproverb）.

大（dà）水（shuǐ）冲（chōng）了（le）龙（lóng）王（wáng）庙（miào）（big+water+pouredover+finish+dragon+king+temple）

Literally:

TheDragon-King'stempleisflooded.

Moral:

Youcanbeharmedbythethingsyoucontrol.

Explanation:

TheDragon-Kingisamysticalcreaturethatlivesunderwaterandcontrolsthenaturalbodiesofwater.Peoplevisitthedragon-kingtempletoplacatehimandpreventfloods,thusthisproverbisironicsituationally（Sometimesthisproverbisusedas'大水冲了龙王庙，一家人不认一家人'（...yi1jia1ren2bu4ren4yi1jia1ren2...one+home+person+not+know+one+home+person）,or,Onefamilymemberdoesn'trecognizeanotherfamilymember.Theidiommightbeusedtoresolveanembarrassingsituation.Forexample,someonehasaconflictwithastranger,onlytofindthestrangerwasaneighbor,orasister'sboyfriend,oranyotherpersonwithsomerelation.Thetwomightusethisidiomtosavefaceandmakepeacewitheachother,comparingtheconflicttothatofthefloodeddragon-king'stemple（dragon-king:

raingodinsomesense）.

空（kōng）穴（xué）来（lái）风（fēng）未（wèi）必（bì）无（wú）因（yīn）（empty+cave+come+wind+not+surely+not+cause）

Literally:

Ifthewindcomesfromanemptycave,it'snotwithoutareason.

Moral:

Thereisnosmokewithoutfire.

老（lǎo）骥（jì）伏（fú）枥（lì）,志（zhì）在（zài）千（qiān）里（lǐ）（old+thoroughbred+hidden+stable,determined+be+thousand+distance（unit））

Literally:

Theoldhorseinthestablestillyearnstorun1000li1.

Moral:

Everybody,nomattertheinexperience,yearnstoachievegreatdeeds.Anotheroneis"Theolderthegingerthehotterthespice".

Note:

"stable"and"li"rhymeinMandarin

1li:

aChineseunitoflinearmeasure,correspondstoabout500meters.

路（lù）遥（yáo）知（zhī）马（mǎ）力（lì）,日（rì）久（jiǔ）见（jiàn）人（rén）心（xīn）

Literally:

Overalongdistance,youlearnaboutthestrengthofyourhorse;overalongperiodoftime,yougettoknowwhat'sinaperson'sheart.

Moral:

Charactercanberevealedbytime.

Usage:

Thiscanbeusedpositivelytopraiseatruefriend,ornegativelytocriticizefriendswhocouldnotstandatest.

人（rén）要（yào）脸（liǎn）,树（shù）要（yào）皮（pí）

Literally:

apersonneedsaface;atreeneedsbark.

Meaning:

Reputationisextremelyimportant.

Note:

Facehereisusedmetaphoricallyastheface（socialcustom）.TheChinese,especiallyinancienttimes,valuedreputationhighly,thuscreatingthisproverb.

Usage:

whensomeonebehavesdishonorably（onceorrepeatedly）,itcanbesaiddirectlytothatpersonasadmonishment（asparentstoachild）.

肉（ròu）包（bāo）子（zi）打（dǎ）狗（gǒu）（meat+bun（2ndand3rd）+hit+dog）

Literally:

Tohitadogwithameat-bun.

Interpretation:

Punishmentwitharewardneverworks.

Moral:

Don'tusethewrongmethodtoapproachaproblem.

世上无难事，只怕有心人（pinyin:

shìshàngwúnánshì,zhǐpàyǒuxīnrén）（world+on+without+difficult+circumstances,only+fear+have+heart+people）

Literally:

Youmustperseveretoaccomplishseeminglyimpossibletasks.

Moral:

Everythingcanbedonewithenoughperseverance.

Compare:

Wherethere'sawill,there'saway.

树倒猢狲散（pinyin:

shùdǎohúsūnsàn）

Literally:

Whenthetreefalls,themonkeysscatter.

Usage:

Whenaleaderlosespower,hisfollowersbecomedisorganized.Thisproverbisoftenusedtodescribefair-weatherfriends.

死马当活马医（simadanghuomayi）

Literally:

Trytosavethedeadhorseasifitisstillalive

Meaning:

Dotheimpossible

见风转舵（jianfengzhuangduo）

Literally:

Seethewind,turntherudder

Meaning:

Changeone'spositionwhenhavingdifficulties.

一代不如一代（yidaiburuyidai）

Literally:

Onegenerationisworsethanone'sgeneration

Meaning:

Thenextgenerationisworstthanthepastgeneration（complaint）

富不过三代（fubuguosandai）

Literally:

Wealthdoesnotpassthreegenerations.

Meaning:

It'srarethatthewealthofafamilycanlastforthreegenerations（the2ndmayseethevalueofhardwork,butthe3rdforgetsit）.

Explanation:

Inbusiness,thefirstgenerationworksextremelyhard,sothatthesecondgenerationreapsthebenefits.Bythetimethethirdgenerationarrives,thewealthissquandered.

三十年河东三十年河西（sanshinianhedongsanshinianhesi）

Literally:

Thirtyyearstheeastbank,thirtyyearsthewestbank.

Meaning:

One'sluckandone'sdestinywillchangeovertime.

十年风水轮流转（shinianfengshuilunliuzhuang）

Literally:

Luckwillchangein10years.

Meaning:

Luckwillturnaroundeverytenyears.

穷则变，变则通（qiongzebian,bianzetong）

Literally:

Ifyou'repoor,changeandyou'llsucceed.

Meaning:

Whenoutofmeans,seekchange.Thenopportunitieswillcome.

一颗老鼠屎坯了一锅粥（yikelaoshushihuaileyiguozhou）

Literally:

Onemousedroppingruinsthewholepotofriceporridge.

EquivalentEnglishsaying:

Onebadapplecanspoilthewholebunch.

防人之心不可无（fangrenzhixinbukewu）

Literally:

Carefulwithothersisamusthave.

Meaning:

Becautiousofpeoplethatmayhurtyouintentionally.

害人之心不可有（hairenzhixinbukeyou）

Literally:

Donotharbourintentionstohurtothers.

Note:

Thisisusuallyuseafter防人之心不可无（seeabove）

看天吃饭（kantianchifan）

Literally:

Seeskyeatrice.

Meaning:

Countingonmothernatureforaharvestornot.

Note:

Usuallymeaningfarmers

以古讽今（yigufenjin）

Literally:

Jokeaboutthepresentbyreferringtothepast.

Meaning:

Thepastmaybebetterthanthepresent.

骑（qí）驴（lǘ）找（zhǎo）马（mǎ）（ride+mule+lookfor+horse）

Literally:

Ridingamulewhilelookingforahorse.

Meaning:

Settleforwhatyouhavewhilelookingforsomethingbetter.

Note:

Usuallyforjobhunting

三个和尚没水喝（sangeheshangmeishuihe）

Literally:

Threemonkshavenowatertodrink.

Meaning:

Toomanycooksspoilthebroth.

做一天和尚撞一天盅（zhouyitianheshangzhuangyitianzhong）

Literally:

Onedayamonk,beatthebelloneday.

Meaning:

Dothingsonlywhenoneneedsto.

一厢情愿（yixiangqingyuan）

Literally:

Enthusiastic,butunableto.

Meaning:

Thepersonwantstodoit,butisunableto.

剃头摊子一头热（titoutanziyitoure）

Literally:

Barberonesidehot（oldtime,onesidehotwater...）

Meaning:

Ifonlyonepartneriswillingwhiletheotherisn't,itwillnotwork.

水能载舟，亦能覆舟（pinyin:

shuǐnéngzàizhōu,yìnéngfùzhōu）

Literally:

Notonlycanwaterfloataboat,itcansinkitalso.

Moral:

Naturecanhelpandharmyou.Thepeople（water）canraisesomeone（boat）topower,butcanalsotakeitaway（sink）.

EquivalentEnglishsaying:

Theknifecutsbothways.

天下乌鸦一样黑（pinyin:

tiānxiàwūyāyíyànghēi）

Literally:

Allcrowsintheworldareblack.

Meanings:

Thereareseveralpossibleinterpretations:

Anaturalinterpretation:

Somerules,likethosenaturalforcesoftheUniverse,areunbendable,regardlesshowmuchyoumaywantittochange.

Astereotypicalinterpretation:

somethingorsomeone（bad）isnodifferentfromalltheothers（e.g.,Allgovernmentofficialsarecorrupt,alllawyersaresnakes,etc.）.

星星之火可以燎原（pinyin:

xīngxīngzhīhuǒkěyǐliáoyuán）

Literally:

Asparkcanstartafirethatburnstheentireprairie.

Moral:

Don'tunderestimatethepotentialdestructivepowerthataseeminglyminorproblemcancause.

Compare:

AbutterflybeatingitwingsinAmericacanstartahurricaneinChina.

熊瞎子摘苞米，摘一个丢一个（pinyin:

xióngxiāzizhāibāomǐ,zhāiyígèdiūyígè）

variant:

狗熊掰苞米（pinyin:

gǒuxióngbabāomǐ）

Literally:

Blindbearpickscorn,picksoneanddropsone.

Meaning:

Youwilllosewhatyoualreadyhaveifyoukeepseekingformore.

Note:

（Story）Abear（abear,inChineseculture,frequentlysymbolizessomeonewithlittlecommonsense）waspickingcornandstickingthecorninhisarmpit.Asheputsthenextcorncobintohisarmpit,openinghisarm,hedropstheonehealreadyhad.

Compare:

Abirdinhandisworthtwointhebush.（BenjaminFranklin-PoorRichard'sAlmanac）

也要马儿好，也要马儿不吃草（pinyin:

yěyàomǎérhǎo,yěyàomǎérbùchīcǎo）（also+want+horse+good,also+want+horse+