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Chinese Proverbs // Larn Mandarin through Chinese Sayings
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The Most Common Chinese Proverbs, Revealed and Explained
So what are Chinese proverbs (谚语 yànyŭ in Chinese)?
In a nutshell…
Chinese proverbs (or Chinese idioms) are sayings which originate from famous Chinese philosophers and writers.
Some of the most famous Chinese proverbs are 成语 (chéngyǔ) — these are proverbs that are four characters long, occasionally six.
For those longer, these proverbs are called 谚语 (yányǔ).
Confucius is probably the well-nigh well-known Chinese philosopher to whom many proverbs are attributed.
There are hundreds of popular proverbs which ordinarily give the reader an inspirational or motivational idea for the day.
These sayings accost all aspects of traditional Chinese society but are very applicable to modern day life, from education and piece of work to relationships and personal goals.
And think, each ten,000 mile journeying begins with just 1 step.
千里之行,始於足下
qiānlǐ zhī xíng, shǐyú zú xiàLaozi (Chinese philosopher)
They're also a slap-up fashion to expand your Chinese vocabulary when you're learning Standard mandarin.
And so, before getting stuck into the all-time Chinese proverbs, we wanted to give yous our Chinese Proverb of the Day… come dorsum every twenty-four hour period for a new pearl of wisdom from the Chinese language!
Nosotros've put together a list of some of our favourites to get you started, with a short explanation of the tricky vocabulary and the meanings.
Chinese Proverbs #1 – Dig the Well Before You Are Thirsty
Chinese Proverbs #2 – Teach A Homo to Fish
Chinese Proverbs #3 – 1 Merely Learns From One's Mistakes
Chinese Proverbs #4 – Information technology Is Improve to Make Deadening Progress
Chinese Proverbs #5 – Opportunity Knocks But One time
Chinese Proverbs #6 – Learn to Walk Before You lot Run
Chinese Proverbs #seven – The Principal Leads You to the Door
Chinese Proverbs #eight – He Who Asks A Question
Chinese Proverbs #9 – BONUS: 3 More Chinese Proverbs
i. Dig the Well Before Y'all Are Thirsty
Proverb in Chinese: 未雨绸缪
Pinyin: wèiyǔchóumóu
English translation: dig the well before you are thirsty. Plan ahead.
Here, 未雨 (wèiyǔ) means before information technology rains.
未 (wèi) usually refers to something in the hereafter, i.e. something that hasn't happened yet, then in this case the pelting.
绸缪 (chóumóu) means to demark something with silk.
Here, the proverb literally means repair (bind with silk) your house before the rain comes, make sure that you are prepared for a rainy solar day.
The English pregnant is sometimes equated to the saying "Dig the well before you are thirsty".
2. Teach a Human being to Fish
Proverb in Chinese: 授人以鱼不如授人以渔
Pinyin: shòu rén yǐ yú bù rú shòu rén yǐ yú
English translation: This is a very well-known proverb, meaning that it's much more constructive to teach someone how to practice something for themselves than to simply do it for them in the long-term.
In Chinese, the saying can be literally translated to…
"Giving a human a fish is non equal to teaching a man to fish".
In English language, information technology is most often translated as "Give a human being a fish and you feed him for one day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime".
three. Ane Only Learns From One'due south Mistakes
Proverb in Chinese: 吃一堑,长一智
Pinyin: chī yī qiàn, zhǎng yī zhì
English translation:This maxim is all about learning from your experiences or mistakes.
The Chinese word 堑 (qiàn) literally means moat or pit.
So eat one pit/moat, grow ane noesis betoken.
There are several translations we can cull from in English. Hither we've used: "One just learns from one's mistakes".
But more literal translations could be: "Autumn into the pit, a gain in your wit" or "Fall into the moat and you'll be wiser next time".
three. Information technology's Improve to Make Slow Progress Than No Progress at All
Proverb in Chinese: 不怕慢,就怕站
Pinyin: bù pà màn, jiù pà zhàn
English translation: This proverb means that the only thing we should be afraid of is stopping completely.
It reminds united states to exist patient and that some things accept fourth dimension, slow progress is yet progress after all.
This best translates into English to…
"Be not afraid of growing slowly, be agape of standing notwithstanding".
Wise words there!
5. Opportunity Knocks Only Once
Proverb in Chinese: 机不可失,时不再来
Pinyin: jī bù kě shī, shí bù zài lái
English translation: This proverb reminds us that we need to seize opportunities when they nowadays themselves.
Hither, 机 (jī) means opportunity (机会, jīhuì), and 不可失 (bùkě shī) refers to something that we can't miss.
时不再来 means the time (时 shí) won't come again another time.
In English language, this saying all-time translates to: "Opportunity knocks only once".
COOL BLOG Alarm – Want to larn how to swear in Shanghainese…?!
6. Larn to Walk Before You Run
Proverb in Chinese: 一口吃不成胖子
Pinyin: yī kǒu chī bù chéng pàngzi
English translation: The Chinese and English language, when taken in literal terms, are quite different for this proverb.
In Chinese, 一口 means one mouthful, 吃 (chī) translates to consume, 不成 (bùchéng) to impossible, and 胖子 (pàngzi) ways a fat person.
Altogether, it'due south impossible to go fat with just 1 mouthful.
The pregnant here is to take things slowly; don't try to stuff your face up at the starting time.
In English is best translated to "Acquire to walk before you run".
7. The Primary Leads Yous to the Door, the Rest is Upward to You
Maxim in Chinese:师父领进门,修行在个人
Pinyin: shī fu lǐng jìn mén, xiū xíng zài gè rén
English translation:This idiom translates into English language quite smoothly.
Masters open the doors (师父领进门).
Yous enter by yourself: hither, 修行 (xiūxíng) literally means practising Buddhism or Daoism, just really refers to the action of opening the door. 在个人 (zài gè rén) means "is on the individual".
In other words, the act itself is up to the private.
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8. He Who Asks A Question
Proverb in Chinese: 请教别人一次是五分钟的傻子,从不请教别人是一辈子的傻子
Pinyin: qǐng jiào bié rén yī cì shì wǔ fēnzhōng de shǎzi, cóng bù qǐng jiào biérén shì yī bèizi de shǎzi
English language translation: He who asks a question is a fool for five minutes; he who does not ask a question remains a fool forever.
This Chinese maxim is very well known too. It encourages the reader to be curious and ask questions nigh what they don't know.
In Chinese, 请教 (qǐngjiào) means to ask someone for advice, 五 分钟的傻子 (wǔ fēnzhōng de shǎzi) means a "five-minute fool", whereas 一辈子的傻子 (yī bèizi de shǎzi) ways a "fool for life".
9. Chinese Proverbs – Just 3 More…
It'due south hard to know when to draw the line and merely cease, nosotros could write on and on and on…
There are thousands of proverbs after all and we love educational activity y'all them just for at present, information technology'due south time to have stock, learn the ones above and give yous just three more which might be useful in day-to-24-hour interval life.
Allow's take a look!
In that location nosotros accept it — 11 great Chinese proverbs to learn.
If you lot want to detect even more Chinese idioms and sayings, bank check out our other article.
These proverbs are great not just for day-to-day speech but also for learning useful vocabulary and bones (or advanced) Chinese grammer.
HOW Almost TRYING SOMETHING NEW? Nosotros fifty-fifty wrote an article about some of the virtually commonly used Vietnamese proverbs and besides the height Korean proverbs to know.
Come up and see how they compare to these Chinese ones.
For now, we go out you with one of our other actually popular blogs, take a look…
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Follow our guide to Chinese names to detect the most popular names in Red china (for boys and girls). Ever wanted your ain Chinese proper noun? We can help.
Ready to endeavour your manus at our Chinese Proverbs quiz?
We've prepared a quick-fire quiz to meet how much y'all actually know about Chinese Proverbs.
Accept our Chinese Proverbs quiz here.
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Chinese Proverbs – FAQs
How do you say Chinese Proverbs in Standard mandarin?
Chinese proverbs 4 characters long (sometimes six) are chosen 成语 (chéngyǔ).
Those longer are called 谚语 (yànyŭ).
What are Chinese Proverbs?
Chinese proverbs (or Chinese idioms) are sayings which originate from famous Chinese philosophers and writers.
What is an ancient Chinese saying?
An ancient Chinese proverb is 师父领进门,修行在个人 (shī fu lǐng jìn mén, xiū xíng zài gè rén).
This translates to "the master leads to you to the door, the residual is up to yous."
What are some other Chinese sayings?
不怕慢,就怕站 (bù pà màn, jiù pà zhàn) means information technology'south better to make slow progress than no progress at all.
授人以鱼不如授人以渔 (shòu rén yǐ yú bù rú shòu rén yǐ yú) translates to "Give a human a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a human being to fish and you feed him for a lifetime."
欲速则不达 (yù sù zé bù dá) means haste makes waste.
If you want to discover more Chinese sayings and idioms check this postal service out.
Is information technology useful to learn Chinese proverbs?
Yep, proverbs are used in day-to-mean solar day speech all the time.
Learning these, when you get to an advanced level of Chinese, is a very beneficial thing to do and will help your spoken Chinese greatly.
Where did the starting time Chinese proverbs come from?
Confucius is probably the near well-known Chinese philosopher to whom many proverbs are attributed.
There are hundreds of pop proverbs which ordinarily give the reader an inspirational or motivational thought for the twenty-four hour period.
What are some smashing techniques to larn Chinese?
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