12 Chinese Proverbs That Will Change How You View Life
If you’re studying Chinese, you’ve likely realized the language has a great richness of Chinese proverbs.But you may not know where to start learning them – which ones to remember, how to remember them, and when to use them properly. Proverbs often go unnoticed because they require further explanation to fully grasp.
The fact is, understanding the meaning behind proverbs enhances your passive vocabulary. Seeing the characters within a proverb helps your brain develop a broader understanding of the concepts those characters represent. Here is a research on benefits of proverbs education.
Today we will go through twelve Chinese proverbs which you can actually use in your everyday life. They should serve as a first basis for you to use colourful language in your speech! We divided them into four proverbs per category: Success, People, and Animals. You must be very excited. Let’s jump right in!
Chinese Proverbs about Success
千里之行，始于足下
(Qiān lǐ zhī xíng, shǐyú zúxià) – literally: a thousand miles journey starts by making a step
This Chinese proverb translates to: “The journey of a thousand miles starts with one step.” You probably have used it in English before! Can you guess its origin? It actually derives from a famous saying by the ancient Chinese Philosopher Laozi, you find it in chapter 64 of the Daodejing! Be sure to remember that one…
Let us imagine, now that you have set your mind to achieve something and made the first step, it suddenly seems so grand and you are worrying whether you can actually make it… Your friends come along and tell you:
不怕路长，只怕志短 !
(Bùpà lù cháng, zhǐpà zhì duǎn) – literally: not afraid the way is long, only afraid the will is short
Your friends have just expressed to you that there is no way too long and nothing you cannot achieve. Instead, what you should in fact worry about is your will. Once your will vanishes, all your courage and skills you possess sink with it.
And you would also agree that practice makes perfect, right? It is not enough for you to just possess the skills and then see and wait. No, you have got to put some effort in it, don’t you? Alright, so let us say:
熟能生巧
(Shú néng shēng qiǎo) – literally: practice can create skills
冰冻三尺，非一日之寒
(Bīngdòng sān chǐ, fēi yírì zhī hán) – literally: three feet of ice do not freeze in one day
Chinese Proverbs about People
Let us now move from the individual level to a broader level: People around us. Because our family and friends are the ones who encourage us, we will start with proverbs that have to do with them (your friends certainly will be surprised when they actually hear you say one of them!). We will then consider proverbs which let you describe states of people in general.
患难见真情
(huànnàn jiàn zhēnqíng) – literally: (in times of) adversity, see the true state of affairs
If despite hardship your friends still stay by your side and support you, it has become clear that truly they are friends for life and care about you sincerely.
同病相怜
(Tóngbìngxiānglián) – literally: the same illness, pity each other
Though you would not wish for your friends to feel bad, sometimes sharing the same problems with someone, especially your friends, lets both parties have a sense of emotional support as you may feel like the burden is lighter to carry and you are not alone with it.
Even new people you meet, just like you, deserve to be treated with respect as each comes with a story of their own which we have had no access to. We should always preserve an open-minded attitude towards each other. Even more so as even strangers may help us in unfolding ourselves, be it without them knowing. Look at this beautiful proverb below:
三人行，必有我师
(sān rén xíng, bìyǒu wǒ shī) – literally: three people walk, there must be a teacher of mine
This proverb stems from “The Analects” (Confucius). It expresses that we shall pay attention to and learn the good of others, see their shortcomings, reflect on whether we have the same shortcomings and then correct them if so. We can become a better person by focusing on the good in other people, which also humbles us in a way to appreciate the distinctiveness of human beings.
What about some people that are not so kind? There are some proverbs that let you describe such situation by still preserving a tinge of elegance. Below is one of them:
善有善报，恶有恶报
(Shàn yǒu shàn bào, è yǒu è bào) – literally: good has good repays, bad has bad repays
What goes around comes around, right? The proverb can be used in both negative as well as positive circumstances, whereby it is often shorted to only the first part 善有善报 (Shàn yǒu shàn bào). In English, you may also have said at times “You sow what you reap”. Guess what, whilst this phrase is of biblical origin, there exists an almost identical phrase in Chinese – of Buddhist origin! It is: 种瓜得瓜 (Zhòng guā dé guā) – literally translating to “plant a melon, reap a melon”.
Related Video: “Speak of the devil, and he appears” in Chinese
Chinese Proverbs about Animals
Lastly, let’s look at proverbs involving animals. Languages often use animals to express certain wisdom in interesting ways.
井底之蛙
(Jǐng dǐ zhī wā) – “Frog at the bottom of the well”
This Chinese proverb refers to people with a narrow perspective who don’t “think outside the box.” It means we shouldn’t view things in a limited way, but consider different angles to find innovative solutions. It can also describe stubbornness and unwillingness to look beyond what’s right in front of us. The frog isn’t bound to the well bottom, but chooses to stay there, missing what’s above.
鱼与熊掌，不可兼得
(Yú yǔ xióngzhǎng, bùkě jiāndé) – “The fish and the bear’s paw, we cannot have both”
This proverb implies you often can’t have everything – you must let go of one thing to attain another. It teaches the important lesson of making choices and accepting trade-offs.
一石二鸟，一举两得
(Yīshí’èrniǎo, yījǔ liǎngdé) – “One stone kills two birds, one move attains two things”
If you multitask often, this Chinese proverb is for you! It’s like the English “Kill two birds with one stone.” You can use it when proudly accomplishing two things at once.
Here is a video by GoEast Mandarin explains: How to express “Kill two birds with one stone” in Chinese
爱屋及乌
(Ài wū jí wū) – “Love the house and the crow”
This beautifully expresses loving someone wholly, including their flaws, like loving the crows on their roof. It means your love extends beyond just what you like about them.
This is it, we are at the end of our list! All of the proverbs above are well-known by Chinese speakers and if you could remember and use some of them, it would make you sound much more authentic in your speech. It expresses that you are able to go beyond simple ways of referring to a situation and cherish the Chinese culture at the same time. Most of all Chinese proverbs derive from ancient Chinese and have a long history!
Read More about Chinese Idioms and Sayings
- Post 1: Common Chinese idioms and sayings
- Post 2: Quotes on learning Chinese & languages
- Video 1：Chinese Sayings Related to Food
- Video 2：How to say “beauty lies in lover’s eyes” in Chinese
- Video 3: “Speak of the devil, and he appears” in Chinese
- Video 4:How to say “long story short” in Chinese?
- Video 5: Chinese idioms workshop by GoEast Mandarin
- Video 5: How to Say “Different Strokes for Different Folks” in Chinese
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