Skip to main content

Famous Chinese Proverbs - Chinese Proverbs About Life

By Ency 123
The Chinese are indeed remarkably fond of proverbs. They not only employ them in conversation, but they have a practice of adorning their reception rooms with these sententious bits of wisdom, inscribed on decorated scrolls or embroidered on rich crapes and brocades.
They carve them on door-posts and pillars, and emblazon them on the walls and ceilings in gilt letters.
The following are a few specimens of this sort of literature:
-As a sneer at the use of unnecessary force to crush a contemptible enemy, they say: "He rides a fierce dog to catch a lame rabbit."
-Similar to this is another, "To use a battle-ax to cut off a hen's head."
They say of wicked associates: "To cherish a bad man is like nourishing a tiger; if not well-fed he will devour you."

Here are several others mingling wit with wisdom:
  • "To instigate a villain to do wrong is like teaching a monkey to climb trees;"
  • "To catch fish and throw away the net,"
  • "To climb a tree to catch a fish" is to talk much to no purpose;
  • "A superficial scholar is a sheep dressed in a tiger's skin;"
  • "A cuckoo in a magpie's nest," equivalent to saying, "he is enjoying another's labor without compensation;"
  • "If the blind lead the blind they will both fall into the pit;"
  • "A fair wind raises no storm;"
  • "Vast chasms can be filled, but the heart of man is never satisfied;"
  • "The body may be healed, but the mind is incurable;"
  • "He seeks the ass, and lo! he sits upon him;"
  • "He who looks at the sun is dazzled; he who hears the thunder is deafened." i. e., do not come too near the powerful;
  • "Prevention is better than cure;"
  • "Wine and good dinners make abundance of friends, but in adversity not one of them is to be found."
  • "Let every man sweep the snow from before his own door, and not trouble himself about the frost on his neighbor's tiles."

The following one is a gem of moral wisdom: "Only correct yourself on the same principle that you correct others, and excuse others on the same principles on which you excuse yourself."

  • "Better not be, than be nothing."
  • "One thread does not make a rope; one swallow does not make a summer."
  • "Sensuality is the chief of sins, filial duty the best of acts."
  • "The horse's back is not so safe us the buffalo's"—the former is used by the politician, the latter by the farmer.
  • "Too much lenity multiplies crime."
  • "If you love your son give him plenty of the rod; if you hate him cram him with dainties."
  • "He is my teacher who tells me my faults, he my enemy who speaks my virtues."
Having a wholesome dread of litigation, they say of one who goes to law, "He sues a flea to catch a bite."

Their equivalent for our "coming out at the little end of the horn" is, "The farther the rat creeps up (or into) the cow's horn, the narrower it grows."

The truth of their saying that "The fame of good deeds does not leave a man's door, but his evil acts are known a thousand miles off," is illustrated in our own daily papers every morning.

Finally, we close this list with a Chinese proverb which should be inscribed on the lintel of every door in Christendom:
"The happy-hearted man carries joy for all the household."

Excerpt from the book: Burroughs' Encyclopaedia of Astounding Facts and Useful Information, 1889
Author: Barkham Burroughs
Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

Folding step stool woodworking plan - Step by Step Guide

By Ency 123
A Step-Ladder Stool is of just the right height for general household use, for washing woodwork, or for reaching upper shelves in the pantry. It also makes an excellent kitchen stool, the lower step serving the purpose of a foot-rest. When the ladder-stool is not in use, it may be folded into the compact form shown in Fig. 119, and stood behind a door or in some other out of the way place. The Ladder consists of three portions, the steps (Fig. 120), the rear legs (Fig. 125), and the seat or top step (Fig. 128). The Side Rails of the steps (A, Fig. 120) should be cut of the dimensions shown in Fig. 121. Mark the ends to be cut to the angle shown, the top to be notched to receive an end of the crosspiece D (Fig. 120). The diagram shows the positions for steps B and C. The steps must pitch at the same angle as the rail ends. Groove the side pieces to a depth of 3/8 inch, to receive the ends of the steps (Fig. 123). You will see by Fig. 120 that the sides of the grooves must ...
Read more

Morse Code for Kids and Morse Code Alphabet

By Ency 123
In 1832, an American artist sailed home from Europe. He had spent some time painting in Europe and hoped to sell his pictures when he arrived home.  His name was  Samuel Morse. The journey on the ship was to change Samuel Morse’s life. Read more: How to make a morse code machine... He met a young chemist from Boston, named Charles Jackson, who showed him how an electromagnet works. Morse became interested in electricity and in the idea of sending messages along electric wires. Samuel Morse was one of the first people to make an electric telegraph.  An electric telegraph uses an electric current to send messages along a wire. - - - - - - - - - Read more about:  Why do wisdom teeth cause so many problems? - - - - - - - - - Operators of this electric telegraph machine sent messages down the line in Morse Code. Morse Code Alphabet This telegraph was not what made Morse famous. He gave his name to the code of dots and dashes which he invente...
Read more

Moro carrot soup - Natural Remedy for Diarrhea - Professor Ernst Moro Carrot Soup

By Ency 123
In the early XXth century diarrhea was the cause of death for many babies in Germany and in the whole world.  Professor Ernst Moro (1874 - 1951) the head of the children's hospital in Heidelberg at that time, found out by experiment that a simple carrot soup decreased the death rate of babies suffering from diarrhea by nearly 50%. Ernst Moro in 1904 A German study published in 2002[1] outlines that acidic oligosaccharides formed in aqueous extracts from carrots (carrot soup) may lead to less adherence of bacterial agents to the mucosal wall of the bowel, thus being a more effective treatment for acute gastrointestinal infections of children than glucose-electrolyte-solution oral rehydration. In 2009, experiments showed that Professor Moro's Carrot Soup can cure diarrhea caused by bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics.[2] Even today the diarrhea is one of the main causes of death among children in developing countries. Many lives can be saved by using this simple recipe...
Read more