Chinese proverbs

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Many Chinese proverbs exist, some of which have entered English in forms that are of varying degrees of faithfulness. A notable example is "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step", from the Dao De Jing , ascribed to Laozi. [1] They cover all aspects of life, and are widely used in everyday speech, in contrast to the decline of the use of proverbs in Western cultures. [2] The majority are distinct from high literary forms such as xiehouyu and chengyu, and are common sayings of usually anonymous authorship, [2] originating through "little tradition" rather than "great tradition". [3]

Contents

Collections and sources

In the preface and introduction to his 1875 categorized collection of Chinese proverbs, Wesleyan missionary William Scarborough observed that there had theretofore been very few European-language works on the subject, listing John Francis Davis' 1823 Chinese Moral Maxims, Paul Hubert Perny's 1869 Proverbes Chinois, and Justus Doolittle's 1872 Vocabulary and Handbook of the Chinese Language as exhaustive on the subject to that point. [4] He also observed that there were few collections in Chinese languages. [5] Two such collections he named as ‌Chien-pên-hsien-wen, "A Book of Selected Virtuous Lore" (a.k.a. ‌Tsêng-huang, "Great Collection"), and the ‌Ming-hsin-pao-chien, "A Precious Mirror to throw light on the mind". [6]

He observed that the proverbs themselves are numerous, with the whole of China probably able to supply some 20,000, [7] a figure that modern scholars agree with. [2] Sources of such proverbs he found in the aforementioned collections, in the ‌Yu-hsio ("Youth's Instructor"), the 1859 ‌Chieh-jen-i, the 1707 ‌Chia-pao-chulan-ci ("Complete Collection of Family Treasures"), the 聖語Sheng-yu ("Sacred Edict"), the ‌Kan-ying p'ien ("Book of Rewards and Punishments"), and 主子家言Chutzu-chia-yen ("The Household Rules of the Philosopher Chu"). [8]

The modern popularity of Chinese proverbs in Chinese literature led to an explosion in the availability of dictionaries, glossaries, and studies of them in the middle to late 20th century. [9]

Definition, forms, and character

There are two set literary forms in Chinese that have been much studied: [1]

However, Chinese proverbs are primarily not these high literary forms, but rather the product of thousands of years of an oral culture of peasant people, often illiterate. [1] The informal and oft-quoted proverbs of everyday conversation are largely not the sayings of Confucius, but are rather of anonymous origin. [10] Many sayings commonly attributed to Confucius, often in the form "Confucius said...", are not correctly attributed, or their attribution is disputed by scholars. [11] [12] Whilst the sayings of philosophers such as Laozi and Confucius form part of the "great tradition" (a notion introduced by Robert Redfield in 1956) amongst Chinese literati over the centuries; proverbs largely come from the "little tradition" of the overwhelming peasant majority of Chinese society. [3] Professor of linguistics John Rosenhow of the University of Chicago characterized most such proverbs as "witty, pomposity-piercing proverbs for which peasants are famous all over the world". [13] Scarborough observed that wit, humour, and puns can be found in abundance. [14]

In terms of form, Scarborough tried to characterize ‌Su-'hua, "Common Sayings", more clearly than a metaphorical description by Alfred Lord Tennyson and by the descriptions of proverb in several contemporary dictionaries, which he stated to be inaccurate descriptions. [15] He observed that most proverbs were couplets, [16] which he divided into three major groups (with a smaller number of minor outliers [17] ):

Rosenhow made similar observations on the difficulty of aligning Chinese proverbs with western definitions of the idea, stating that the closest equivalent Chinese term is ‌yanyu, which itself does not have a single meaning. [13] Sun Zhiping's 1982 definition of ‌yanyu (translated and recounted by Rosenhow) is "complete sentences, expressing a judgement or an inference, [which] may be used to validate [or to] represent [one's] own [individual] views, [whereas] chenyu, xieouyu, and suyu generally can only serve as parts of a sentence, [and are] used to give a concrete description of expression of the quality, state, degree, etc. of some objective material phenomenon". [10]

Rosenhow notes however that some sentence fragments also fall within the category of Chinese proverbs, with ellipsis accounting for their fragmentary natures, and that a better definition is the purpose of Chinese proverbs, which is morally instructional; informing people what to do in a given situation by reference to familiar ideas, and repeatedly used in conversation in order to promote and continue a shared set of values and ways of going about things. [19]

Influence

Numerous Asian proverbs, in particular, Japanese, Vietnamese, and Korean ones, appear to be derived from older Chinese proverbs, although in often is impossible to be completely sure about the direction of cultural influences (and hence, the origins of a particular proverb or idiomatic phrase). [20]

Falsely ascribed origin

In English, various phrases are used and claimed to be of Chinese origin – "..., as they say in China" or "An ancient Chinese proverb says...", and may be specifically attributed to Confucius, sometimes facetiously. [21] [22] Notable examples include:

Modern popularity

The widespread use of Chinese proverbs in everyday speech, even in the 21st century, contrasts with the decline of the use of proverbs in Western cultures. [2] As stated earlier, they have historically been a part of a long-standing oral culture amongst the Chinese peasantry, [3] and their continued existence in an age of more widespread literacy and written communication is explained by the political events in China of the 20th century. [28]

One factor was the May 4th Movement not only encouraging vernacular language over Literary Chinese but at the same time including proverbs into modern Chinese literature, exemplified by Cheng Wangdao's inclusion of popular sayings in the chapter on quotations in his 1932 Introduction to Rhetoric and by the parting admonition to writers in Hu Shih's 1917 Tentative suggestions for Literary Reform: "Do not avoid popular expressions." [29] The Potato School of writing even required the use of proverbs. [30]

Another factor was the deliberate use of proverbs as a rhetorical technique by leaders such as Mao Zedong addressing primarily peasant audiences. [30] Mao encouraged others to do the same as he himself did, in his 1942 Talks on Literature and Art at the Yan'an Forum, stressing to writers the importance of the use of folk idioms and proverbs in order to make their writing accessible to the majority of their audience. [29]

Parallels to English proverbs

Scarborough noted that there are many proverbs with parallels to European ones, including: "Too many cooks spoil the broth," with the parallel "Seven hands and eight feet," "a pig in a poke" with the parallel "a cat in a bag," and "When in Rome, do as the Romans do," with "Wherever you go, talk as the people of the place talk." [31]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Proverb</span> Short traditional saying that expresses a perceived truth

A proverb is a simple, traditional saying that expresses a perceived truth based on common sense or experience. Proverbs are often metaphorical and use formulaic language. A proverbial phrase or a proverbial expression is a type of a conventional saying similar to proverbs and transmitted by oral tradition. The difference is that a proverb is a fixed expression, while a proverbial phrase permits alterations to fit the grammar of the context. Collectively, they form a genre of folklore.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Polish proverbs</span> Adages in the Polish language

Tens of thousands of Polish proverbs exist; many have origins in the Middle Ages. The oldest known Polish proverb dates to 1407. A number of scholarly studies of Polish proverbs (paremiology) exist; and Polish proverbs have been collected in numerous dictionaries and similar works from the 17th century onward. Studies in Polish paremiology have begun in the 19th century. The largest and most reputable collection of Polish proverbs to date, edited by Julian Krzyżanowski, was published in 1970s.

A Japanese proverb may take the form of:

<i>Chengyu</i> Chinese idioms

Chengyu are a type of traditional Chinese idiomatic expressions, most of which consist of four characters. Chengyu were widely used in Classical Chinese and are still common in vernacular Chinese writing and in the spoken language today. According to the most stringent definition, there are about 5,000 chéngyǔ in the Chinese language, though some dictionaries list over 20,000. Chéngyǔ are considered the collected wisdom of the Chinese culture, and contain the experiences, moral concepts, and admonishments from previous generations of Chinese speakers. Nowadays, chéngyǔ still play an important role in Chinese conversations and education. Chinese idioms are one of four types of formulaic expressions, which also include collocations, two-part allegorical sayings, and proverbs.

In language, an archaism is a word, a sense of a word, or a style of speech or writing that belongs to a historical epoch beyond living memory, but that has survived in a few practical settings or affairs. Lexical archaisms are single archaic words or expressions used regularly in an affair or freely; literary archaism is the survival of archaic language in a traditional literary text such as a nursery rhyme or the deliberate use of a style characteristic of an earlier age—for example, in his 1960 novel The Sot-Weed Factor, John Barth writes in an 18th-century style. Archaic words or expressions may have distinctive emotional connotations—some can be humorous (forsooth), some highly formal, and some solemn. The word archaism is from the Ancient Greek: ἀρχαϊκός, archaïkós, 'old-fashioned, antiquated', ultimately ἀρχαῖος, archaîos, 'from the beginning, ancient'.

An aphorism is a concise, terse, laconic, or memorable expression of a general truth or principle. Aphorisms are often handed down by tradition from generation to generation.

"May you live in interesting times" is an English expression that is claimed to be a translation of a traditional Chinese curse. The expression is ironic: "interesting" times are usually times of trouble.

"Mind over matter" is a phrase that has been used in several contexts, such as mind-centric spiritual doctrines, parapsychology, and philosophy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A picture is worth a thousand words</span> Idiom suggesting seeing something is better for learning than having it described

"A picture is worth a thousand words" is an adage in multiple languages meaning that complex and sometimes multiple ideas can be conveyed by a single still image, which conveys its meaning or essence more effectively than a mere verbal description.

The word junzi is a Chinese philosophical term often translated as "gentleman," "superior person", or "noble man." The term is frequently translated as "gentleman", since the characters are overtly gendered. However, in recent years, scholars have been using the term without the gender component, and translate the term as "distinguished person", "moral person", and so on. The characters 君子 were employed both the Duke Wen of Zhou in the "Classic of Changes" 易經 (I-ching) and Confucius in his works to describe the ideal man.

Paremiology is the collection and study of paroemias (proverbs). It is a subfield of both philology and linguistics.

Blood is thicker than water is a proverb in English meaning that familial bonds will always be stronger than other relationships. The oldest record of this saying can be traced back to the 12th century in German.

The camel's nose is a metaphor for a situation where the permitting of a small, seemingly innocuous act will open the door for larger, clearly undesirable actions.

Xiehouyu is a kind of Chinese proverb consisting of two elements: the former segment presents a novel scenario while the latter provides the rationale thereof. One would often only state the first part, expecting the listener to know the second. Compare English "an apple a day " or "speak of the devil ".

"The devil is in the details" is an idiom alluding to a catch or mysterious element hidden in the details; it indicates that "something may seem simple, but in fact the details are complicated and likely to cause problems". It comes from the earlier phrase "God is in the details", expressing the idea that whatever one does should be done thoroughly; that is, details are important.

When in Rome, do as the Romans do, or a later version when in Rome, do as the Pope does, is a proverb attributed to Saint Ambrose. The proverb means that it is best to follow the traditions or customs of a place being visited.

"When two tigers fight" is a Chinese proverb or chengyu. It refers to the inevitability that when rivals clash, even though they are great figures, one of them must fall.

<i>Paradisus Judaeorum</i> Polish epigram

"Paradisus Judaeorum" is a Latin phrase which became one of four members of a 19th-century Polish-language proverb that described the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (1569–1795) as "heaven for the nobility, purgatory for townspeople, hell for peasants, paradise for Jews." The proverb's earliest attestation is an anonymous 1606 Latin pasquinade that begins, "Regnum Polonorum est". Stanisław Kot surmised that its author may have been a Catholic townsman, perhaps a cleric, who criticized what he regarded as defects of the realm; the pasquinade excoriates virtually every group and class of society.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Birds of a feather flock together</span> English proverb

Birds of a feather flock together is an English proverb. The meaning is that beings of similar type, interest, personality, character, or other distinctive attribute tend to mutually associate.

<i>Complete Treatise on Agriculture</i> 17th-century book by Xu Guangqi

Complete Treatise on Agriculture, or Complete Book of Agricultural Management, or Encyclopaedia of Agriculture, is a compilation of the scientific studies of agriculture written by Xu Guangqi. The book was composed from 1625 to 1628 and published in 1639, totalling 700,000 words.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Rohsenow 2003, p. xi.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Herzberg 2016, p. 295.
  3. 1 2 3 Rohsenow 2003, p. xvii.
  4. ↑ Scarborough 1875, p. i.
  5. ↑ Scarborough 1875, p. vii.
  6. ↑ Scarborough 1875, pp. vii–viii.
  7. ↑ Scarborough 1875, p. vi.
  8. ↑ Scarborough 1875, pp. viii–ix.
  9. ↑ Rohsenow 2003, pp. xxiii.
  10. 1 2 Rohsenow 2003, pp. xii–xiii.
  11. ↑ Bryan W. Van Norden (3 January 2002). Confucius and the Analects: New Essays. Oxford University Press. pp. 13–. ISBN   978-0-19-535082-1.
  12. ↑ Smith, Ann (2012-09-01). "Confucius, the Analects and Western Education. By Frank M. Flanagan". British Journal of Educational Studies. 60 (3): 287–288. doi:10.1080/00071005.2012.714549. ISSN   0007-1005. S2CID   142771880.
  13. 1 2 Rohsenow 2003, p. xii.
  14. ↑ Scarborough 1875, pp. xv–xvi.
  15. ↑ Scarborough 1875, p. v.
  16. 1 2 Scarborough 1875, p. x.
  17. ↑ Scarborough 1875, p. xiii.
  18. 1 2 Scarborough 1875, p. xii.
  19. ↑ Rohsenow 2003, p. xiii.
  20. ↑ Stone, Jon R. (2006-09-27). The Routledge Book of World Proverbs (PDF). Routledge. pp. xiv. ISBN   978-1-135-87054-6.[ dead link ]
  21. ↑ https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/48851081.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]
  22. ↑ Bemiller, Michelle L.; Schneider, Rachel Zimmer (2010). "It's Not Just a Joke". Sociological Spectrum. 30 (4): 459–479. doi:10.1080/02732171003641040. S2CID   144731801.
  23. ↑ Ole Bjørn Rekdal (2014). "Academic Citation Practice: A Sinking Sheep?" (PDF). Portal: Libraries and the Academy. Johns Hopkins University Press. 14 (4): 575, 577, 578, 584. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-04-25. Retrieved 2021-06-23.- link dead, see ;
    • citing:
      Stevenson, Burton (1949). Stevenson's book of proverbs, maxims and familiar phrases. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. p. 2611.
    • see also:
      D. H. Hepting. "A picture's worth". University of Regina. Retrieved 6 November 2016. Contains pictures and transcriptions of the original ads
  24. ↑ Zimmer, Benjamin (27 March 2007). "Crisis = danger + opportunity: The plot thickens". Language Log . Retrieved 19 January 2009.
  25. ↑ Bryan W. Van Norden. Introduction to Classical Chinese Philosophy. (Indianapolis: Hackett, 2011; ISBN   9781603844697), p. 53, sourcing Fred R. Shapiro, ed., The Yale Book of Quotations (New Haven: Yale University Press 2006), p. 669. Archived October 6, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
  26. ↑ May you live in interesting times, The Grammarphobia Blog
  27. ↑ Feng Menglong (1627). Stories to Awaken the World (醒世恆言) (in Chinese). Vol. 3.
  28. ↑ Rohsenow 2003, p. xix.
  29. 1 2 Rohsenow 2003, pp. xxi.
  30. 1 2 Rohsenow 2003, pp. xxii.
  31. ↑ Scarborough 1875, p. xvi.

Sources

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