Funny Ancient Chinese Proverbs Ie May the Dirt of Life Bring You
Chinese is a rich linguistic communication, total of florid language and proverbs. One of the most beautiful parts of the language is, in fact, the Chinese proverbs.
Knowing sure famous well-known Chinese quotes not only lets you lot communicate ameliorate with Chinese people; it also helps you lot sympathise more than about China itself. Proverbs give you a richer lens into the culture than proverbs and sayings in other languages normally would.
These Chinese quotes are best suited for the intermediate or advanced learner. They're a little hard to understand grapheme-by-character.
For case, take the English expression "Yous can lead a horse to water merely you can't teach it to drink." If this were written in the style of the proverbs beneath, it'd exist something like "Lead horse easy, teach potable hard." You tin only empathise it when it'southward written down and you examine each word, non if someone says it at a fast step.
See likewise: Chinese Idioms yous Need to Know for Everyday Conversation. This is a much simpler list, perfect for beginners in Chinese, even if y'all've but been studying for a month or and then.
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Summary table: All the all-time Chinese quotes!
See beneath for more particular of each quote, what they mean, and a fiddling context.
| 中文 | pīnyīn | English |
| 《海内存知己，天涯若比邻》 | 《hǎi nèi cún zhī jǐ, tiān yá ruò bǐ lín》 | "To take a close friend in distant lands makes far-flung realms seem as next door" |
| 《知彼知己，百战不殆》 | 《zhī bǐ zhī jǐ, bǎi. zhàn bú dài》 | "Know yourself, know your enemy; a hundred battles won." |
| 《三人行必有我师》 | 《sān rén xíng bì yǒu wǒ shī》 | "Of whatsoever iii men, one could be my instructor" |
| 《山高皇帝远》 | 《shān gāo huángdì yuǎn》 | "The mountain is high and the Emperor is far abroad" |
| 《清水无鱼》 | 《qīng shuǐ wú yú》 | "Clear water has no fish" |
| 《塞翁失马，焉知非福》 | 《sàiwēng shī mǎ, yān zhī fēi fú》 | "An old man loses his horse; who knows what expert fortune is to come?" |
| 《任重而道远》 | 《rèn zhòng ér dào yuǎn》 | "The path to Dao is long and winding" |
| 《山重水复疑无路，柳暗花明又一村》 | 《shān chóng shuǐ fù yí wú lù, liǔ àn huā míng yòu yī cūn》 | "Just as one fears they have lost the winding road, a glimmer of hope will appear" |
| 《花无百日红，人无千日好》 | 《huā wú bǎi rì hóng, rén wú qiān rì hǎo》 | "Merely as flowers cannot remain ruby-red, people cannot remain noble" |
| 《磨刀不误砍柴工》 | 《mó dāo bù wù kǎn chái gōng》 | "Sharpening the axe won't delay the work" |
| 《强龙不压地头蛇》 | 《qiáng lóng bù yā dìtóushé》 | "The mighty dragon cannot beat the serpent on the footing" |
| 《好马不吃回头草》 | 《hǎo mǎ bù chī huí tóu cǎo》 | "A good equus caballus doesn't return to old pastures" |
| 《笨鸟先飞》 | 《bèn niǎo xiān fēi》 | "A stupid bird must have flight first" |
Why these Chinese Quotes will help you lot learn about Prc
Skip ahead if you desire to go straight to the quotes!
And y'all might as well like this article on 20+ fast and fun facts about the Chinese linguistic communication.
At that place are, loosely speaking, three kinds of well-known Chinese quotes, and they'll each teach you something different well-nigh Chinese civilization and people.
Chinese War quotes teach you about Chinese concern (and war)
These are idioms that come from one of 2 major sources of Chinese battle philosophy, the 36 Stratagems and Lao Tzu'south The Art of War. These were primarily written about the battle, simply now they're considered to be the bibles for how to conduct modern warfare in concern.
For example, someone explained to me while working in a tech company in Beijing, that competitive businesses would readily employ the strategy of "Sacrifice the plum tree to preserve the peach tree", called-for cash in short term losses to make everyone else lose money, knowing they could then win due to their ample reserves, having bankrupted all the competition.
Archetype Chinese quotes (成语, chengyu) teach yous the Chinese/Sino-Asian mindset
These are ofttimes derived from poesy, a large number of them from the Analects of Confucius, but as well from other sources. They were poetic in style.
The first of these I learned was "Of three men walking, one could be my instructor", which I learned when trying to express that you tin learn something from anyone. The proverb is part of a longer story, but the meaning hither is obvious without knowing the longer story.
Chinese Proverbs also often employ imagery, like animals or geographic features, like mountains. For example "The mount is loftier, the Emperor is far away". It ways that in a big, distributed organisation, headquarters has no control over the provinces. Information technology served me well in understanding how modern organisations work, both in China and in the West!
Modernistic Chinese quotes/idioms (俗语, suyu) will teach yous language (and earn you points)
Anybody loves a good saying, but in Eastern cultures, not only are there more proverbs, they'll also get you more mileage. They're also not very hard to learn. For example, when I was because leaving my chore in China, someone advised me that "骑驴找马". Literally "ride a donkey to find a equus caballus", implying that it's easier to discover a job when you lot already take one. Another one I used regularly was: "入乡随俗", literally "if y'all enter a hamlet, do equally is customary", which has the same pregnant equally "When in Rome…" in English/western languages.
Using these proverbs/idioms in everyday conversation goes a long manner.
A surprising number of what I thought of as proverbs/sayings are actually just mutual idioms. Shows how poetic the culture is!
Our Favourite Chinese Quote
Here is the full list. They're all quite rich and complex. If you lot're trying to larn them, simply acquire ane at a fourth dimension!
"To accept a close friend in distant lands makes far-flung realms seem every bit next door"
《海内存知己，天涯若比邻》
– Wang Zi 王子
《hǎi nèi cún zhī jǐ, tiān yá ruò bǐ lín》
This classic quote from Wang Zi is function of a longer poem, and is an frequently-cited Chinese saying on friendship. It captures so much of the beauty of having friends all over the world, making the world seem as if it'southward next door. I'grand mentioning information technology commencement hither considering information technology's this, more than whatsoever other quotation, that captures the spirit of Find Discomfort and what we're trying to practice—to see the world through others' eyes and come to see everyone as the same. I don't know of an English language equivalent to this.
"Know yourself, know your enemy; a hundred battles won."
《知彼知己，百战不殆》
– Lao Tzu 老子
《zhī bǐ zhī jǐ, bǎi. zhàn bú dài》
From Lao Tzu, this classic Chinese war idiom is maxim it'south of import to study your own grapheme and that of your opponent before going into boxing. Even if you lot're non going into battle (I, personally, hope non to), knowing yourself and know the challenges of what you're attempting volition give yourself the best risk of success.
"Of any 3 men, 1 could exist my teacher"
《三人行必有我师》
– Confucius 孔子
《sān rén xíng bì yǒu wǒ shī》
From the Analects of Confucius. Literally "Of iii men walking, one could exist my teacher." Means you tin acquire something from anyone. My Chinese teacher taught me this, after I struggled to limited it repeatedly. I constitute that in daily life in China I'd acquire something nigh myself from unlikely interactions, and was constantly inspired to learn more.
"The mountain is high and the Emperor is far abroad"
《山高皇帝远》
– Unknown – from Zhejiang province
《shān gāo huángdì yuǎn》
This is a nicely summarized version of how distributed organizations work. There'southward headquarters, and and then in that location are all the provinces. In each province the local managing director is the emperor, knowing they can often exercise whatever they like and the emperor, far away over the mountains in San Francisco, will never be the wiser. Likewise, the emperor's word has little weight out in the regions; the local GM is king.
"Clear water has no fish"
《清水无鱼》
– Idiom (unknown source)
《qīng shuǐ wú yú》
A reference to the fact that ane tin can profit from the chaos and confusion of muddy waters. This idiom exists in other cultures around the world too, like in English "Fish in troubled waters". I similar the imagery of the negative though; it most references the expression in The Art of War to "disturb water to catch a fish" ("渾水摸魚"), i.e. a suggestion to create chaos. It was too the inspiration for the proper name of Muddy Waters Inquiry, a company that researched fraudulent Chinese companies (and shorted them, and profited.)
This idiom exists in every civilization we've studied so far, and then it's a universal theme.
"An old human loses his horse; who knows what adept fortune is to come?"
《塞翁失马，焉知非福》
– Huai Nan Zi 淮南子 (a compilation of classical stories)
《sàiwēng shī mǎ, yān zhī fēi fú》
This Chinese proverb is part of a long story, the likes of which exist in many cultures (I've heard similar ones from Centre Eastern cultures too). It goes something like this:
An old man's horse runs abroad from the village. The neighbours from the village commiserate, only erstwhile responds proverb: "Yeah, I've lost a horse. But it is not necessarily a bad thing; allow's look and see what happens."
A few days later, the horse returns, bringing with information technology a young foal. The neighbours hear and congratulate the old human being. What proficient fortune, a free equus caballus! The old man is circumspect, suggesting they expect and run into what happens.
The foal grows up, and the old human being's son goes riding. But the foal bucks and causes the son to suspension his leg desperately. The whole town says "What bad luck! I bet y'all wished your horse never ran away at present." The former human being politely suggests they wait and see.
Sure enough, a war soon breaks out and everyone is drafted into the ground forces. Everyone but the old man's son, anyway, as he can't fight with a broken leg. Good fortune over again!
Later, some hoodlums break into the old man's house and steal his television and consume the leftovers he was going to have for lunch. But the boob tube wasn't fifty-fifty 4K and the thieves got upset stomachs, anyhow, probably from the leftovers. The jury is out as to whether or not this is related to the horse.
"The path to Dao is long and winding"
《任重而道远》
– Zeng Zi 曾子
《rèn zhòng ér dào yuǎn》
This quote is about how every journeying is difficult and long. There are no shortcuts in life. (Merely hacks. But they don't make the path shorter; but more efficiently travelled.)
"Just as one fears they have lost the winding road, a blink of hope will announced"
《山重水复疑无路，柳暗花明又一村》
– Lu You 陆游
《shān chóng shuǐ fù yí wú lù, liǔ àn huā míng yòu yī cūn》
This is 1 of the well-nigh poetic of Chinese quotes. The full quote actually translates to: "As you pass endless mountains and waterways and fear you have lost the road, the shade of willow trees and the bright flowers will tell you that your destination is year". I can't put that in the title. Information technology's and so poetic. It's too quite long even in Chinese, and oftentimes just abbreviated to an excerpt of four characters, "柳暗花明".
"Just equally flowers cannot remain crimson, people cannot remain noble"
《花无百日红，人无千日好》
– Yang Wen Kui 杨文奎
《huā wú bǎi rì hóng, rén wú qiān rì hǎo》
This proverb is a trivial bleak, but basically is a reference to everything we've learned nigh psychology in the final fifty years: that in the vast majority of cases, sheer willpower (to exist skillful, for example) is non reliable. So we need controls in place: rules, bosses, and a system.
The full translation is "Flowers don't remain red for a hundred days; people practise not remain practiced for a thou days."
"Sharpening the axe won't delay the work"
《磨刀不误砍柴工》
– Idiom
《mó dāo bù wù kǎn chái gōng》
A saying, expressed in many cultures (but pretty nicely in Chinese) that i never will regret good grooming. It comes from a longer story. I but institute out of the English equivalent when searching for the Chinese source: "A beard well lathered is half shaved." Well, I'm off to lather my bristles then… 80/twenty!
"The mighty dragon cannot crush the snake on the ground"
《强龙不压地头蛇》
– Wu Cheng En 吴承恩
《qiáng lóng bù yā dìtóushé》
This is classic Chinese quote is used in startup civilization in China, referring to giants from overseas never being able to beat a company that has strong ground operations in Red china. There are lots of other reasons companies like Amazon, eBay, Groupon and Uber struggled in Communist china, but definitely one of them was this underpinning cultural belief, that probably manifested itself into reality in many means.
"A expert horse doesn't return to erstwhile pastures"
《好马不吃回头草》
– Idiom
《hǎo mǎ bù chī huí tóu cǎo》
This Chinese quote (more of an idiom) refers to the fact that one tin never go back to the same place, due east.g. return to an former position, company or country. It's a metaphor for the mode nosotros wander, only also it leaves open (in my opinion) the fact that that i does not return abode as the same person, nor to a place in the same way.
"A stupid bird must take flight starting time"
《笨鸟先飞》
– Idiom
《bèn niǎo xiān fēi》
This is a dainty self-deprecating phrase to use when talking nigh yourself being hard working, saying that if someone isn't very smart, that they must get upward before and effort harder. If someone congratulates you on being early on to work, information technology'due south a good fourth dimension to say this.
Source: https://discoverdiscomfort.com/chinese-proverbs-learning-chinese/
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