Chinese proverbs

This is a collection of Chinese proverbs (&#35578;&#35486; yànyŭ) and idioms (&#25104;&#35486; chéngyŭ), given in and sorted by their pinyin transcription. Chinese proverbs and four-plus character idioms are developed from the formulaic or social dialect/saying/expression (&#27463;&#24460;&#35486; in pinyin: xiēhòuyŭ) and historical story in Chinese.

Some proverbs are literary; that is, from a written source. (See the historical written language or the more modern written language.) Others originated among families, street vendors, and other commoners--all walks of life.

Proverbs
All proverbs/idioms are ordered by their pinyin transcription in the following order.
 * 1) First character
 * 2) Initial
 * 3) End
 * 4) Tone
 * 5) Radical strokes
 * 6) Total strokes
 * 7) Next character following the same procedure (if previous is the same)
 * 8) Least amount of character

Initials: B Ch D F G H J K R S Sh T Y Z

B

 * Transliteration (pinyin): Bù wén bù ruò wén zhī, wén zhī bù ruò jiàn zhī, jiàn zhī bù ruò zhīzhī, zhīzhī bù ruò xíng zhī; xué zhìyú xíng zhī ér zhǐ yǐ.
 * Traditional: 不聞不若聞之，聞之不若見之，見之不若知之，知之不若行之；學至於行之而止矣
 * Simplified: 不闻不若闻之，闻之不若见之，见之不若知之，知之不若行之；学至于行之而止矣
 * From Xun Zi (荀子 8.儒效 23）.
 * From Xun Zi (荀子 8.儒效 23）.


 * 小洞不补，大洞吃苦
 * Transliteration: xiǎo dòng bù bǔ, dà dòng chī kǔ
 * A small hole not mended in time will become a big hole much more difficult to mend.
 * English equivalent: "What's past is prologue." or "A stitch in time saves nine."
 * Meaning: Fix something while it can be fixed. Don't wait until it's too late to do so.
 * "Destroy the seed of evil, or it will grow up to your ruin."
 * Aesop, "The Swallow and the Other Birds" (c. 6th century BC)


 * 读书须用意，一字值千金
 * Transliteration: dú shū xū yòng yì, yī zì zhí qiān jīn
 * Intention of required study, the word worth a thousand gold.
 * Meaning: Study requires utmost attention and overlooking one thing can cost all credibility.
 * "When reading, don’t let a single word escape your attention; one word may be worth a thousand pieces of gold."
 * Famous Chinese Sayings


 * 宝剑锋从磨砺出，梅花香自苦寒来
 * Transliteration: Bǎojiàn fēng cóng mólì chū, méihuā xiāng zì kǔhán lái.
 * The edge of the sword comes from sharpening, and the fragrance of plum blossom comes from the bitter cold.
 * Meaning: Hardship can make a person stronger

Ch

 * Transliteration (pinyin): Chángjiāng hòulàng tuī qiánlàng.
 * Traditional: 長江後浪推前浪
 * Simplified: 长江后浪推前浪
 * Simplified: 长江后浪推前浪


 * Meaning: The energy of the old generation inspires the new.

D

 * Transliteration (pinyin): Dú wàn juǎn shū bùrú xíng wànlǐ lù.
 * Traditional: 讀萬卷書不如行萬裡路
 * Simplified: 读万卷书不如行万里路
 * Reading ten thousand books is not as useful as traveling ten thousand miles.
 * English equivalent: An ounce of practice is worth a pound of theory.
 * English equivalent: An ounce of practice is worth a pound of theory.

F

 * pinyin: fēng xiàng biàn shí, yǒu rén jìng qiáng, yǒu rén zào fēng chē
 * English: When the wind changes direction, some people build walls while others build windmills
 * English: When the wind changes direction, some people build walls while others build windmills


 * Transliteration (pinyin): Fáng rén zhī xīn bùkě wú.
 * Traditional: 防人之心不可無
 * Simplified: 防人之心不可无
 * Careful with others is a must have.
 * English equivalent: He that reckons without his host must reckon again.
 * "This proverb is usually applied to such persons, who are apt to be partial in one Affair, flattering themselves with the Advantages they fansy to be on their side, and making no Allowances for the Disadvantages that will or may attend them."
 * "This proverb is usually applied to such persons, who are apt to be partial in one Affair, flattering themselves with the Advantages they fansy to be on their side, and making no Allowances for the Disadvantages that will or may attend them."


 * Transliteration (pinyin): Fú wú chóng zhì, huòbùdānxíng.
 * Traditional: 福無重至,禍不單行
 * Simplified: 福无重至,祸不单行
 * Fortune does not come twice. Misfortune does not come alone.
 * Meaning: Good things will only come once. Bad things will always come in groups.
 * English equivalent: Misery loves company.
 * Meaning: Opportunities should not be taken for granted. A problem ignored is a problem doubled.
 * Meaning: Opportunities should not be taken for granted. A problem ignored is a problem doubled.


 * Transliteration (pinyin): Fù zhài zǐ huán.
 * Traditional: 父債子還
 * Simplified: 父债子还
 * Father's debt, son to give back.
 * Meaning: The new generation can fix the mistakes made by previous ones.
 * "New generation can put right the mistakes of the old."
 * "To do the opposite of something is also a form of imitation."
 * Georg Lichtenberg, The Waste Books, R. J. Hollingdale trans. (2000), D96.
 * Georg Lichtenberg, The Waste Books, R. J. Hollingdale trans. (2000), D96.

H

 * Transliteration (pinyin): Hài rén zhī xīn bù kě yǒu.
 * Traditional: 害人之心不可有
 * Simplified: 害人之心不可有
 * Do not harbour intentions to hurt others.
 * Note: This is usually used before 防人之心不可無 (see above)
 * English translation: Do not desire to hurt others in the depths of your heart.
 * English translation: Do not desire to hurt others in the depths of your heart.
 * English translation: Do not desire to hurt others in the depths of your heart.

J

 * Transliteration (pinyin): Jīnrì shì, jīnrì bì.
 * Traditional: 今日事，今日畢
 * Simplified: 今日事，今日毕
 * Things of today, accomplished today.
 * Meaning: Don't put off until tomorrow what can be finished today.
 * Meaning: Don't put off until tomorrow what can be finished today.


 * Jiŭ fā xīn fù zhī yán.
 * Wine makes words from secrets.
 * Meaning: Alcohol can make you or others say things they shouldn't
 * English equivalent: In wine there is truth.

K

 * Transliteration (pinyin): Kōngxuéláifēng, wèibì wú yīn
 * Traditional: 空穴來風，未必無因
 * Simplified: 空穴来风,未必无因
 * English equivalent: Where there's smoke, there's fire.
 * "Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood."
 * "It is supposed that if there is a rumour, there must be some truth behind it."
 * Marie Curie, As quoted in Our Precarious Habitat (1973) by Melvin A. Benarde, p. v
 * Marie Curie, As quoted in Our Precarious Habitat (1973) by Melvin A. Benarde, p. v
 * Marie Curie, As quoted in Our Precarious Habitat (1973) by Melvin A. Benarde, p. v

L

 * Transliteration (pinyin): Liángyào kǔkǒu
 * Traditional: 良藥苦口
 * Simplified: 良药苦口
 * Good medicine tastes bitter.
 * Meaning: What may be good for us later may be hard for us now.
 * English equivalent: Bitter pills may have blessed effects.
 * "Present afflictions may tend to our future good."
 * "Present afflictions may tend to our future good."


 * Transliteration: Yǒu qí fù bì yǒu qí zǐ.
 * Having such a father must be such a son.
 * English equivalent: Like father, like son.
 * Meaning: Every person bears resemblance to the ones who brought them into this world.
 * Source for meaning and proverb:
 * Source for meaning and proverb:

R

 * Transliteration (pinyin): Rén suàn bùrú tiān suàn
 * Traditional: 人算不如天算
 * Simplified: 人算不如天算
 * Man's schemes are inferior to those made by heaven.
 * English equivalents: Man proposes and God disposes; The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.
 * English equivalents: Man proposes and God disposes; The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.


 * 一
 * Transliteration (pinyin): Ròu bāozi dǎ gǒu 一 qù bù huítóu.
 * Traditional: 肉包子打狗一去不回頭
 * Simplified: 肉包子打狗一去不回头
 * To hit a dog with a meat-bun, so it leaves never turning around.
 * Meaning: Punishment gives less incentive than a reward.

S

 * Transliteration (pinyin): Sān gè héshàng méi shuǐ hē.
 * Traditional: 三個和尚沒水喝
 * Simplified: 三个和尚没水喝
 * Three monks have no water to drink.
 * English equivalent: Too many cooks spoil the broth.
 * English equivalent: Too many cooks spoil the broth.


 * Transliteration (pinyin): Sǐ mǎ dāng huó mǎ yī.
 * Traditional: 死馬當活馬醫
 * Simplified: 死马当活马医
 * Try to save the dead horse as if it is still alive.
 * "You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think."
 * Karl Geurs, Pooh’s Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin (1997)
 * Karl Geurs, Pooh’s Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin (1997)

Sh

 * Transliteration (pinyin): Shī fu lǐng jìn mén, xiū xíng zài gè rén.
 * Traditional: 師傅領進門，修行在個人
 * Simplified: 师傅领进门，修行在个人
 * Meaning: Teachers open the door. You enter by yourself.
 * "Boys must not have th' ambitious care of men, Nor men the weak anxieties of age."
 * Horace, Of the Art of Poetry, Wentworth Dillon's trans, line 212. (19 BC)
 * "But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world - and none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities. Unless you show up to those schools; pay attention to those teachers; listen to your parents, grandparents and other adults; and put in the hard work it takes to succeed. And that’s what I want to focus on today: the responsibility each of you has for your education. I want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself. Every single one of you has something you’re good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That’s the opportunity an education can provide. Maybe you could be a good writer - maybe even good enough to write a book or articles in a newspaper - but you might not know it until you write a paper for your English class. Maybe you could be an innovator or an inventor - maybe even good enough to come up with the next iPhone - but you might not know it until you do a project for your science class. Maybe you could be a mayor or a Senator or a Supreme Court Justice - but you might not know that until you join student government or the debate team."
 * Barack Obama, Speech at Arlington, Virginia (2009)
 * Barack Obama, Speech at Arlington, Virginia (2009)


 * Transliteration (pinyin): Shòu rén yǐ yú bùrú shòu zhī yǐ yú.
 * Traditional: 授人以魚不如授之以漁
 * Simplified: 授人以鱼不如授之以渔
 * Translation: Teach a man to take a fish is not equal to teach a man how to fish.
 * English equivalent: Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.
 * English equivalent: Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.


 * Transliteration (pinyin): Shù dǎo húsūn sàn.
 * Traditional: 樹倒猢猻散
 * Simplified: 树倒猢狲散
 * Translation: When the tree falls, the monkeys scatter.
 * English equivalent: Rats desert a sinking ship.
 * "When a leader loses power, his followers become disorganized. This proverb is often used to describe fair-weather friends."
 * "When a leader loses power, his followers become disorganized. This proverb is often used to describe fair-weather friends."


 * Transliteration (pinyin): Shuǐ néng zài zhōu, yì néng fù zhōu.
 * Traditional: 水能載舟，亦能覆舟
 * Simplified: 水能载舟，亦能覆舟
 * Translation: Not only can water float a boat, it can sink it also.
 * Meaning: Nature can help and harm you. The people (the water) can raise someone (a boat) to power, but can also take that power away (sinking the boat).
 * English equivalent: A double-edged sword.
 * English equivalent: A double-edged sword.

S

 * 三思而后行
 * Transliteration: Sān sī ér hòu xíng.
 * Think three times before you move.
 * English equivalent: Measure twice, cut once.
 * Meaning: One should always act only after due consideration. A hasty action may involve an improper consideration of important aspects.
 * Source for meaning and proverbs:

T

 * Transliteration (pinyin): Tiān gāo huángdì yuǎn
 * Traditional: 天高皇帝遠
 * Simplified: 天高皇帝远
 * The sky is big and the emperor is far away.
 * English Equivalent: When the cat is away, the mice will play.
 * "When authorities warn you of the sinfulness of sex, there is an important lesson to be learned. Do not have sex with the authorities."
 * Matt Groening, Life in Hell
 * Matt Groening, Life in Hell


 * 听取所有人的意见，从每一只鹅身上摘下一根羽毛，但绝对不要跟随任何人.
 * Listen to all, 'plucking a feather from every passing goose,' but follow no one absolutely.
 * Quoted in Proverbs and Common Sayings from the Chinese Together with Much Unrelated Matter, Interspersed with Observations on Chinese Things-in-general by, 1914, p. 33, Presbyterian Mission Agency Press

Y

 * Transliteration (pinyin): Yī zhāo bèi shé yǎo, shí nián pà jǐng shéng.
 * Traditional: 一朝被蛇咬，十年怕井繩
 * Simplified: 一朝被蛇咬，十年怕井绳
 * One bitten by a snake for a snap dreads a rope for a decade.
 * English equivalent: A burnt child dreads the fire; Once bitten, twice shy.
 * Meaning: Having done something wrong for the first time, you are afraid/do not want to do it again.
 * Meaning: Having done something wrong for the first time, you are afraid/do not want to do it again.


 * Transliteration (pinyin): Yī fēn gēngyún, yī fēn shōuhuò.
 * Traditional: 一分耕耘，一分收穫
 * Simplified: 一分耕耘，一分收获
 * If one does not plow, there will be no harvest.
 * English equivalent: Sow thin, reap thin.
 * Meaning: Work hard and you shall gain success.
 * Meaning: Work hard and you shall gain success.


 * Transliteration (pinyin): Yǒu qián néng shǐ guǐ tuī mò.
 * Traditional: 有錢能使鬼推磨
 * Simplified: 有钱能使鬼推磨
 * If you have money you can make the devil push your grind stone.
 * English equivalents: Money talks; money makes the world go round.
 * Meaning: Money is power.
 * Meaning: Money is power.


 * Transliteration (pinyin): yī shī zú chéng qiān gǔ hèn, zài huí toú yǐ yǐ nián shēn.
 * Traditional: 一失足成千古恨，再回頭已百年身
 * Simplified: 一失足成千古恨，再回头已百年身
 * English equivalent: A single slip may cause lasting sorrow.
 * Meaning: If you make a huge mistake(that may lead to jail or a death sentence), you'll regret it and you'll want to go back but won't be able to.
 * Meaning: If you make a huge mistake(that may lead to jail or a death sentence), you'll regret it and you'll want to go back but won't be able to.


 * 人无千日好，花无百日红
 * English equivalent: All that is fair must fade.

Z

 * Transliteration (pinyin): Zìzhù zhě tiānzhù.
 * Traditional: 自助者天助
 * Simplified: 自助者天助
 * Those who help themselves, God will help.
 * English equivalent: Heaven helps those who help themselves.
 * " If thy hope be anything worth, it will purify thee from thy sins."
 * Joseph Alleine, The Solemn Warnings of the Dead: or, An Admonition to Unconverted Sinners (1804), Chapter 3, p. 44
 * Joseph Alleine, The Solemn Warnings of the Dead: or, An Admonition to Unconverted Sinners (1804), Chapter 3, p. 44


 * Transliteration (pinyin): Zǎoqǐ de niǎo er yǒu chóng chī.
 * Traditional: 早起的鳥兒有蟲吃
 * Simplified: 早起的鸟儿有虫吃
 * Translation and English equivalent: Early bird gets the worm.
 * Meaning: "Those who are late to act, arrive, or get up tend to miss opportunities already seized by those who came earlier."
 * Source for meaning of English equivalent:
 * Source for meaning of English equivalent:


 * 百尺竿頭更進一步


 * 百聞不如一見
 * English equivalentː Seeing is believing.


 * 病來如山倒，病去如抽絲
 * English equivalent: Misfortune comes on horseback and departs on foot


 * 冰冻三尺，非一日之寒
 * English equivalent: Rome wasn't built in a day.


 * 千里之堤，潰於蟻穴
 * English equivalent: For want of a nail, the shoe was lost, for want of a shoe, the horse was lost, for want of a horse, the messenger was lost, for want of a messenger, the battle was lost, for want of a battle, the kingdom was lost.


 * 情人眼裏出西施
 * English equivalent: Love is blind.


 * 到什么山上唱什么歌
 * English equivalent: When in Rome, do as the Romans do.


 * 花开堪折直须折
 * English equivalent: Enjoy the present day, trusting little to what tomorrow may bring.


 * 法網恢恢，疏而不漏
 * English equivalent: The pitcher goes so often to the well that it is broken at last.


 * 塞翁失馬，焉知非福
 * English equivalent: It is a blessing in disguise.


 * 兼听则明，偏信则暗
 * English equivalent: Don't hear one and judge two.


 * 光阴似箭
 * English equivalent: Time flies like an arrow.


 * 重賞之下必有勇夫
 * English equivalent: Money talks


 * 行百里者半九十
 * English equivalent: The longest mile is the last mile home.


 * 苛政猛于虎
 * English equivalent: That government is best which governs least.


 * 人不可貌相
 * English equivalent: Do not judge a book by its cover.


 * 分耕耘，分收穫
 * English equivalent: He who sows the wind shall reap the whirlwind.


 * 其身不正，虽令不从
 * Latin equivalent: Like king, like people.


 * 凡事豫则立，不豫则废
 * English equivalent: If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.


 * 十年树木，百年树人
 * Latin equivalent: Life is short, and art long.


 * 三十年河东，三十年河西
 * English equivalent: The wheel of fortune is forever in motion.


 * 万变不离其宗
 * English equivalent: What is bred in the bone will not go out of the flesh.


 * 上山捉蟹——難
 * Catching crabs on the mountain — difficult
 * English equivalent: There is no building bridges across the ocean.
 * Meaning: Some tasks are as impossible as catching crabs on a mountain, emphasizing their inherent impracticality due to their nature.


 * 小別勝新婚
 * English equivalent: Absence makes the heart grow fonder.


 * 中国俗语谚语库
 * English equivalent: What goes around comes around.


 * . 盲, 引 眾 , 盲 . , 相 將 入 火坑
 * When one blind man leads several blind men, before long all will fall into a fire pit.
 * English equivalent: If the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.


 * 大路不走走捷徑,通常反而要繞路
 * English equivalent: He that leaves the highway to cut short, commonly goes about.