你們沒聽說過嗎﹖

[xuechengfeng]

中國人說﹕

活到老

學到老

還有三分學不到。

I like this saying.

Anybody else wanna share some good Chinese sayings in characters and translated to English?

(so i can learn more characters and wise saying!)

[skylee]

我聽說過.

Good Chinese sayings ... here is one -

"魚我所欲也；熊掌亦我所欲也，二者不可得兼，舍魚而取熊掌者也。

生亦我所欲也；義亦我所欲也，二者不可得兼，舍生而取義者也。"

"Fish is something I desire; bear's paw [a Chinese delicacy] is also something I desire. If I cannot have both, I will forsake fish and select bear's paw.

Life is something I desire; righteousness is also something I desire. If I cannot have both, I will forsake life and select righteousness. "

This is from Mencius 孟子. When there is a difficult choice to make, we describe it as "魚與熊掌".

[xuechengfeng]

crap, i knew i'd mess something up! lol, i used the country marker instead of "ever" marker.

anyways,

good saying , i like that. keep em up!

[Quest]

鹬蚌相争，渔翁得利

a yu(a bird) and a clam were in a fight, the fisherman was the ultimate winner. (if you have two enemies, let them fight each other, when they are both wounded, you do the ultimate killing.)

知已知彼，百战百胜

know yourself, know your enemy, win hundred wars.

不怕一万，就怕万一

not afraid of ten thousands, afraid of one ten thousandth.

(everything is ready and prepared, but one single error can ruin all)

斩草除根，萌芽不发。

when you cut the weed, make sure you remove its root.

(make sure every single one of your enemies is killed, lest they take revenge on you in the future)

螳螂捕蝉，黄雀在后

when the grasshopper hunts a beetle, the sparrow looms behind.

(know your situation, always be the sparrow!)

此地无银三百两

a thief buried the 300 taels of silver he stole from his neighbor, but he was afraid his neighbor would find out, so he put a sign there that said "there isn't 300 taels of silver at this spot". (liars and criminals do something deliberately to hide their evil deeds, but end up revealing themselves.)

留得青山在，哪怕没柴烧

As long as Mt. Qing remains, be not afraid of having no firewood to use. (if you lost the battle, retreat! where there is life, there is hope.)

星星之火,足可燎原

a spark of fire can burn down the entire forest

(dont underestimate small dangers)

当局者迷，旁观者清

in a chess game, the players themselves are confused and befuddled, but the bystanders know better. (foreigners understand the situation better than the natives)

君子之交淡如水

the friendship between two strangers is as light (insignificant) as water.

路遥知马力,日久见人心

through the length of a journey sees the strength of a horse, through the length of time sees the heart of a man.

天下乌鸦一样黑

Crows everywhere are equally black.

(bad people are evil everywhere)

一寸光阴一寸金,寸金难买寸光阴

An inch of time is worth an inch of gold, but an inch of gold cannot buy an inch of time.

无风不起浪

No wind, no waves.

(everything has a cause, every event has a plotter)

骑虎难下

Once on a tiger's back, it is hard to alight.

(it's hard to quit when you are already in)

纸包不住火

Paper can't wrap up a fire.

(something that happened will eventually be known)

夫妻本是同林鸟,大难临头各自飞

husband and wife are like birds in a forest, when there is danger, they fly/flee their own ways.

兵不厌诈，商不厌烦。

in a battlefield, all cunning tricks are to be expected, a soldier should not blame his loss on such tricks. same thing in business battlefields.

射人先射马，擒贼先擒王

if you want to shoot the man, shoot his horse.

if you want to catch the criminals, catch their leader.

人无远虑，必有近忧。

a man who does not plan far ahead must have "near" (present/recent) worries.

君子不立危墙下

a man does not stand under a falling wall.

(if something is dangerous, avoid it. if you know going against 5 gunmen empty handed is futile, run away, dont act heroic)

[xuechengfeng]

只許州官放火 不許百姓點燈

the magistrates are free to burn down houses, while the common people are forbidden even to light lamps.

[roddy]

There are two I know in English that I've forgotten the Chinese for.

One, I think I read in a guidebook: 'with one monkey in the way, a thousand men cannot pass' - about obstructive officials.

Similarly, used to refer to people you don't want to insult but can't say anything nice about - 'I cannot begin to sing his praises'

Any ideas anyone?

Roddy

[Quest]

'with one monkey in the way, a thousand men cannot pass'

一夫当关,万夫莫敌

'I cannot begin to sing his praises'

不敢恭維

[Disenchant]

...

I see nothing about monkeys on there. I don't think that's the right aphorism.

Here's some from my 成语磁带 I had when I was a kid. Simple ones.

杯弓蛇影

Overly paranoid.

复水难收 (复水難收)

What has happened can not become be reversed.

瓜熟蒂落

There's a right time for everything.

水滴石穿

Perserverance.

飞蛾扑火 (飛蛾扑火)

Unintentional self-destruction.

鱼目混珠

Fraud.

[skylee]

I think Quest's suggestions are the closest, although 一夫当关,万夫莫敌 is quite positive IMHO.

Here are some links with plenty of Chinese proverbs ->

英譯中國諺語

Chinese Proverbs

List of Chinese Proverbs

[skylee]

This saying is quite popular in Hong Kong -

講就天下無敵，做就有心無力

And recently we have started to use these to describe the fat in our bellies -

冰封三尺，非一日之寒

貧賤不能移，威武不能屈

呵呵

[keith]

Great! Please post some more!

[holyman]

复水难收 (复水難收)

should be 覆水难收。。。

[keith]

Can someone pls explain to me - what does this mean?

天涯何處無芳草。

Thanks.

[amperel]

天涯何處無芳草

i think it means that one can finds love everywhere in this world. it's generally applied to situations in which a man losing his lover and others trying to console him that there'll be more waiting for him in the future. i think there's a similar saying in english. forgot what it is.

[xuechengfeng]

other fish in the sea?

[amperel]

other fish in the sea

yes! guess chinese like grass better than fish

[Quest]

枝上柳绵吹又少

天涯何處無芳草

--大丈夫何患无妻

http://www.sunbo.com/main.php?xname=A8QJCV0&action=qui_read&id=963

other fish in the sea?

right.

Some more:

,

踏破铁鞋无觅处，得来全不费功夫。

The iron boots wore out, a hunting ground is still nowhere to be found.

but it turned out in the end, you got what you wanted effortlessly.

Meaning: When you try so hard to look for something/someone, you never find it/the person, but when you do not try at all, that something/someone comes to you.

塞翁失马，焉知非福。

Old man Mr. Sai's horse ran away, how do you know it was a bad thing?

The story goes like this: Mr. Sai's horse ran away, people told him to forget about his bad luck and look forward. Then Mr. Sai said "how do you know it was a bad thing that my horse ran away?" A few days later his horse really came back and brought back another horse. The story then goes on to say something that appears good might not be good, and something that appears bad might not be a bad thing at all.

命里有时终需有，命里无时莫强求。

If something is meant to be yours, it will be yours eventually.

If not, then just let it be, don't force it too hard.

天若有情天亦老

If God really had feelings, then God himself would have grown old, too.

This phrase is always said by people who feel desperate and helpless in this cruel world.

[skylee]

天若有情天亦老

人間正道是滄桑

[xuechengfeng]

chinese sayings are similar to english..

or maybe one stole from the other?

[Disenchant]

should be 覆水难收。。。

It came from a children's cassette (so it's simplified), and if you wrote it that way in China, nobody won't know what you're talking about.

---

or maybe one stole from the other?

I know you're joking, but English isn't a very old language. 1,500 years tops.