Chinese proverbs

Relationships of phrases - 熟語關係圖

Left : Suyu 俗語 / 俗语
Middle : Yanyu 諺語 / 谚语
Bottom left : Xiehouyu 歇後語 / 歇后语
Right : Chengyu 成語 / 成语

Red arrow : oral - Blue arrow : written

The Chinese proverbs reflect traditional life and form the quintessential life experience of the Chinese people.

The proverbial phrases ( Chinese 熟語 / 熟语 , Pinyin shúyǔ ) are generally Chengyu ( 成語 / 成语 , chéngyǔ ), so phrases in a fixed form, usually of four characters consisting and Yanyu ( 諺語 / 谚语 , yànyǔ ), the actual proverbs , distinguished. The boundaries overlap and are not always clearly delineated.

Status

China is known for its "proverb culture " ( 成語文化 / 成语文化 , chéngyǔ wénhuà ). Expressing oneself appropriately based on a classic work shows education. In classical rhetoric, quotations from well-known personalities were considered the most important stylistic device. The frequent quoting of proverbs still shows good style today.

A Chinese German studies student reports on the different importance that proverbs have in Germany and China:

“ We had to learn a lot of German proverbs during our German studies because we believe that proverbs in German are just as important as these sayings or cheng-yu in China. But then a German lecturer came to our university. We had to write interpretations of German literature with her. And we were completely confused when, after returning the first interpretations, she informed us that it was not customary in Germany to adorn scientific papers with proverbs. "

This fact can be traced back to the fact that in Germany one's own contribution through the interpretation in one's own words is the focus and something is supposed to be expressed individually and directly in Western culture and language habits. In China, on the other hand, more emphasis is traditionally placed on correctly reproducing and quoting others as a confirmation of understanding and performance, which can also be understood as appreciation. This reflects both linguistically and culturally the difference in thinking and acting in both cultures, rooted in the figurative writing , and illustrates the habit in the Chinese language of expressing things poetically in images. This fact is historically based in Confucianism and linguistically reinforced by the long tradition of classical rhetoric in Chinese culture , where learning from others and appreciating them as virtuous, indirect expression and behavior in Chinese society is considered educated, civilized and polite.

Chengyu

The best known are the Chéngyǔ ( 成語 / 成语 - "to become a proverb"), four-part idioms that often have a literary background. Chengyu are abbreviations of long utterances. Often times the background stories have been forgotten while the idiom has remained. In rare cases, some Chéngyǔ deviate from the norm and are three or five-membered, i. H. they have three or five characters per link. (see 百闻不如一见 , Bǎiwén bùrú yíjiàn )

Examples of Chengyu

愛屋及烏。 / 爱屋及乌。: Àiwū-jíwū.; (~ Love for someone also includes the raven on their house roof. ~ Anyone who loves someone loves everything about them. ~ Anyone who loves me also loves my dog.)

塞翁失馬，焉知非福。 / 塞翁失马，焉知非福。: Sàiwēng-shīmǎ, yānzhī-fēifú; (~ Wasn't it lucky that his horse ran away from the old man at the border? ~ Today's misfortune does not necessarily mean another misfortune in the future.)

百聞不如一見。 / 百闻不如一见。: Bǎiwén bùrú yíjiàn; (~ Seeing once is better than hearing a hundred times.)

不登高山，不顯平地。 / 不登高山，不显平地。: Bùdēng-gāoshān, bùxiǎn-píngdì.; (~ Those who do not climb the high mountains do not recognize the plains. / Only when one climbs the high mountains do the plains become visible. ~ Only from a high rise can one judge the low.)

君子一言，駟馬難追。 / 君子一言，驷马难追。: Jūnzǐ-yìyán, sìmǎ-nánzhuī.; (~ The word of a nobleman can hardly overtake even a team of four (Quadriga) . ~ One man, one word.)

謀事在人，成事在天。 / 谋事在人，成事在天。: Móushì-zàirén, chéngshì-zàitiān.; (~ Planning things is up to man. Finishing things successfully is up to heaven. ~ Man thinks, God guides.)

入境問俗。 / 入境问俗。: Rùjìng-wènsú.; (~ If you come to a foreign country, you ask about its customs. ~ Other countries, other customs; When in Rome like the Romans do - St. Ambrose )

入國問禁, 入鄉隨俗。 / 入国问禁, 入乡随俗。: Rùguó-wènjìn, rùxiāng-suísú.; (~ If you come to a foreign country, you ask about its prohibitions, if you come to a foreign village (community), you follow (follow) its customs and traditions. ~ Different countries, different customs; different families, different customs ; When in Rome like the Romans do; Si fueris Romae, Romano vivito more; si fueris alibi, vivito sicut ibi - St. Ambrosius )

Yanyu

Yànyǔ ( 諺語 / 谚语 ) are proverbs that have become a common good. With their direct statements, they are - unlike the highly stylized Chengyu, who require a certain level of education - also understood by the common people.

百世修來同船渡，千載修得共枕眠。 / 百世修来同船渡，千载修得共枕眠。: Bǎi shì xiū lái tóngchuán dù, qiānzǎi xiū de gòng zhěn mián.; (~ It takes a hundred rebirths for two people to translate in the same boat, it takes a thousand generations for two to share the same pillow.)

冰封三尺，絕非一日之寒。 / 冰封三尺，绝非一日之寒。: Bīng fēng sān chǐ, jué fēi yí rì zhī hán.; (~ An icing of three feet is certainly not the result of the cold one day. ~ Good things take time. However, this saying has a negative meaning in China and is rather translated as “Bad conditions indicate long neglect.”)

家家都有一本難念的經。 / 家家都有一本难念的经。: Jiājiā dōu yǒu yìběn nán niànde jīng.; (~ Every family has a bond of its history that is difficult to tell; Every family has its own internal constraints - It means that an outsider without insight does not recognize and cannot understand difficulties and internal reasons of a community.)

路遥知馬力，日久見人心。 / 路遥知马力，日久见人心。: Lù yáo zhī mǎ lì, rì jiǔ jiàn rén xīn.; (~ If the road is long, you can see the strength of a horse; if the day is long, you can see the character of a person.)

人要面，樹要皮。 / 人要面，树要皮。: Rén yào miàn, shù yào pí.; (~ People need a face, trees need a bark; saving face is understandable.)

水能载舟亦能覆舟。 / 水能载舟亦能覆舟。: Shuǐ néng zài zhōu yì néng fù zhōu.; (~ Water can carry the boat and can sink the boat.)

天下烏鴉一般黑。 / 天下乌鸦一般黑。: Tiānxià wūyā yìbān hēi.; (~ All ravens under the sky are generally black.)

玉不琢不成器。: Yù bù zhuó bù chéng qì.; (~ Jade that is not processed does not turn into a vessel; early writhes, which wants to become a tick.)

知子莫若父。: Zhī zǐ mò ruò fù.; (~ Nobody knows the son as well as the father.)

人怕出名豬怕壯。 / 人怕出名猪怕壮。: Rén pà chū míng, zhū pà zhuàng.; (~ A person is afraid of becoming famous, a pig is afraid of getting fat.)

Nongyan

The peasant proverbs Nóngyán ( 農言 / 农言 ) form an independent group . It is about omens that have to do with agriculture and proverbs that concern the time of sowing and harvesting. In German-speaking countries, they most closely correspond to the peasant rules .

春争日，夏争时。: Chūn zhēng rì, xià zhēng shí.; ~ Every day counts in spring and every hour in summer.

春雨贵如油。: Chūnyǔ guì rú yóu.; ~ Spring rain is as precious as oil.

Xiehouyu

A special type are the implied proverbs Xiēhòuyǔ ( 歇后语 / 歇后语 - "expressions with an unspoken ending").

Xiehouyu are a special form of Chinese idioms. They are mainly found in the spoken language. These are two-part phrases that usually consist of a pictorial A part and an idiomatic B part - which is sometimes left unspoken. The pictures from Part A mainly describe things from everyday life in China, but also historical people and events. The idioms from Part B fall into the area of colloquial Chinese.

八哥〔兒〕的嘴巴 —— 隨人說。 / 八哥〔儿〕的嘴巴 —— 随人说。: bāgē (r) de zuǐba —— suí rén shuō

八仙過海 —— 各顯其能。 / 八仙过海 —— 各显其能。: bāxiān guò hǎi —— gè xiǎn qí néng; ~ The Eight Genii cross the sea - each shows what he can do; everyone does his best; everyone does what he can [best].

狗咬耗子 —— 多管閒事。 / 狗咬耗子 —— 多管闲事。: gǒu yǎo hàozi —— duō guǎn xiánshì; ~ A dog snaps at mice - takes care of things that are none of their business (catching mice is known to be a cat thing), and sticks its nose in other people's affairs

泥菩薩過江 —— 自身難保。 / 泥菩萨过江 —— 自身难保。: ní púsà guòjiāng —— zìshēn – nánbǎo; ~ The clay Buddha crosses the river —— cannot protect himself (let alone others); Buddha statues formed from clay or carved from wood are considered to be talismans. If such a figure made of unfired clay were to cross a river and thus be exposed to the water for a long time, it would soon dissolve. Such a clay Buddha, who can hardly sustain himself (zìshēn) (nán bǎo), would also hardly be of help to others as a talisman. This phrase is used to comfort oneself in difficulties; or one uses it, by comparing oneself with the clay Buddha, as an excuse to politely get rid of someone seeking help.

肉包子打狗 —— 有去無回。 / 肉包子打狗 —— 有去无回。: ròubāozi dǎ gǒu —— yǒu qù wú huí; ~ Throw a meat patty at a dog —— You won't see that again! to be able to write off / tick off something - fly with the "Never Come Back Airline"; Ròu bāozi are steamed dumplings with a meat filling; a treat that no dog will miss. Mocking remark about people who fail to repay their debts.

紙老虎 —— 嚇不住人。 / 纸老虎 —— 吓不住人。: zhǐlǎohǔ —— xià buzhù rén; ~ Paper tiger —— cannot scare anyone

被子裡放屁 —— 能文能武。 / 被子里放屁 —— 能文能武。: bèi zi lǐ fàng pì —— néng wén néng wǔ; ~ Farting under the blanket - skilled in words and weapons

Individual evidence

↑ Margrith A. Lin-Huber: Learning to understand the Chinese . ISBN 3-456-83630-9
↑ 歇后语 “被窝里放屁” 下一句是什么 , from 谭对对 in Baidu Zhidao, September 14, 2018

literature

Elke Spielmanns-Rome: Chinese sagas (xiēhòuyǔ 歇后语) in lexicographic sources . Dissertation. Bonn 2014 (Online: http://hss.ulb.uni-bonn.de/2014/3688/3688.htm )
Wan-Hsuan Yao-Weyrauch: The role of women in the German and Chinese proverb . Diss.phil. Bochum 1989
Wan-Hsuan Yao-Weyrauch: Women do not count as people - Chinese proverbs about the female gender . Heuchelheim 2006

Collections of proverbs

Patrick Doan: Calembours et subjections de la langue chinoise. Xiēhòuyǔ xuǎnjí . Paris 2003
Hong Hu. Chinese idioms made easy (汉语熟语学习书册). Chinabooks, 2011. ISBN 978-3-905816-35-8
Li Lanqin and Wang Xin: Stories of Chinese Proverbs (中国成语故事). China Book Trading, 2009. 236 pages. ISBN 978-7-119-06018-7
Erh-li Pao, Ying Cheng: Dictionary of Chinese Sayings: Chinese-German; Modern Chinese tetragrams . Berlin 1982
John S. Rohsenow: Chinese-English Dictionary of Enigmatic Folk Similes (Xiēhòuyǔ) . Tucson 1991
Elke Spielmanns-Rome and Wolfgang Kubin (eds.): Dictionary of Chinese sag words (Xiehouyu). Based on a manuscript by Barbara Chang . Hamburg: Buske, 2009. 623 pages. ISBN 978-3-87548-548-6
Chia-chun Sun: As the saying goes: an annotated anthology of Chinese and equivalent English sayings and expressions, and an introduction to Xiēhòuyǔ (Chinese wit) . New York 1981
Xu Zhenmin (许震民) and a .: Chinese-German lexicon of proverbial sayings (汉德成语词典). Beijing: Commercial Press, 1981. 343 pages. ISBN 978-7-100-00098-7
Xu Zhenmin (许震民): The idiomatic lexicon Chinese-German (汉德熟语词典). Beijing: China International Book Trading Corporation, 2010. German-Chinese, 1,026 pages. ISBN 978-3-905816-38-9

Web links

Wikiquote: Chinese Proverbs - Quotes

成语大全 Chéngyǔ Dàquán (11,522 Chinese proverbs in Chinese)

Dictionary of Chinese sayings (German website on Xiēhòuyǔ 歇后语)

Stories on Chinese Proverbs (China Radio International, in German)

Chinese Idiom Stories (中国成语故事 Zhōngguó chéngyǔ gùshi) (Proverbs and Proverb Stories in English and Chinese)

There's a Chinese proverb ... ( East Asia Institute at Ludwigshafen University )

[1] Margrith A. Lin-Huber: Learning to understand the Chinese . ISBN 3-456-83630-9

[2] 歇后语 “被窝里放屁” 下一句是什么 , from 谭对对 in Baidu Zhidao, September 14, 2018