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20 Famous and wise Chinese proverbs ( 谚语 yanyu), sayings and quotes_ Chinese, pinyin, English translation and Standing still - Jewel (lyrics) _ Learn Chinese Help - Free audio Mandarin lessons & songs - Easy Fun Effective
20 Famous and wise Chinese proverbs ( 谚语 yanyu), sayings and quotes_ Chinese, pinyin, English translation and Standing still - Jewel (lyrics) _ Learn Chinese Help - Free audio Mandarin lessons & songs - Easy Fun Effective
Learn Chinese Help – Free audio Mandarin lessons & songs – Easy Fun Effective
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20 Famous and wise Chinese proverbs ( 谚语 yanyu), sayings and quotes: Chinese, pinyin,
English translation and Standing still – Jewel (lyrics)
Posted on 06/05/2014 by Learn Chinese Help
1 A bird does not sing because it has an answer. It sings because it has a song.
鸟儿唱歌不是因为它们有了答案,而是因为它们有歌要唱。
niǎor chànggē bú shì yīnwèi tāmen yǒule dáàn ,érshì yīnwèi tāmen yǒu gē yào chàng 。
书中自有黄金屋。
shū zhōng zì yǒu huángjīn wū 。
书(book)中(within)自(itself)有(have)黄金(gold)屋(house)
书是随身携带的花园。
shū shì suíshēn xiédài de huāyuán 。
赠人玫瑰,手有余香。
zèng rén méiguī ,shǒu yǒuyú xiāng 。
赠(give)人(person/people)玫瑰(roses),手(hand)有(have)余(lingering)香(fragrance)。
狗嘴里吐不出象牙。
gǒu zuǐlǐ tǔ bù chū xiàngyá 。
宁做有瑕玉,不做无暇石。
nìng zuò yǒu xiá yù ,bú zuò wúxiá shí 。
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20 Famous and wise Chinese proverbs ( 谚语 yanyu), sayings and quote... http://www.chinesetolearn.com/20-famous-and-wise-chinese-proverb...
7 A gem will be polished without carving and polishing, nor a man perfected without trials.
玉不琢、不成器。
yù bù zhuó 、bùchéng qì 。
不怕慢,就怕停。
bú pà màn ,jiù pà tíng 。
不(not)怕(afraid)慢(slowness),就(just)怕(fear/afraid)停(stop)。
疑惑深,智慧深;疑惑浅,智慧浅。
yíhuò shēn ,zhìhuì shēn ;yíhuò jiān ,zhìhuì jiān 。
疑惑(doubt)深(deep),智慧(wisdom)深(deep);疑惑(doubt)浅(shallow),智慧(wisdom)浅(shallow)。
饮水思源。
yǐn shuǐ sī yuán 。
11 A thousand cups of wine do not suffice when true friends meet, but half a sentence is too much when there is
no meeting of minds.
酒逢知己千杯少,话不投机半句多。
jiǔ féng zhījǐ qiān bēi shǎo ,huà bù tóu jī bàn jù duō 。
12 If heaven made him, earth can find some use for him.
天生我材必有用。
tiān shēng wǒ cái bì yǒu yòng 。
13 Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.
授人以鱼不如授人以渔。
shòu rén yǐ yú bùrú shòu rén yǐ yú 。
授(give)人(people)以(with)鱼(fish)不如(rather)授(give)人(person/people)以(with)渔(fishing)。
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20 Famous and wise Chinese proverbs ( 谚语 yanyu), sayings and quote... http://www.chinesetolearn.com/20-famous-and-wise-chinese-proverb...
未雨绸缪。
wèi yǔ chóumóu 。
未(not yet)雨(rain)绸缪(bind around with silk (idiom, from Book of Songs 詩經|诗经); fig. to plan ahead)。
15 Each generation will reap what the former generation has sown.
To enjoy the benefits of the hard work of one’s predecessors.
前人栽树,后人乘凉。
qián rén zāi shù,hòu rén chéng liáng 。
善有善报,恶有恶报。
shàn yǒu shàn bào,è yǒu è bào 。
善(goodness)有(have)善(good)报(repay),恶(badness)有(have)恶(bad)报(retribution)。
若要人不知,除非己莫为。
ruò yào rén bù zhī,chú fēi jǐ mò wéi 。
若(if)要(want)人(people)不(not)知(know),除非(unless)己(oneself)莫(not)为(do)。
师傅领进门,修行在个人。
shīfu lǐng jìn mén ,xiūxíng zài gèrén 。
师傅(master/ teacher)领(bring)进(enter)门(door),修行(cultivate/
学如逆水行舟,不进则退。
xué rú nì shuǐ xíng zhōu ,bú bú jìn zé tuì 。
20 If you are patient in one moment of anger, you will escape a hundred days of sorrow.
忍得一时之氣,免得百日之忧。
rěn dé yīì zhī qì,miǎn de bǎi rì zhī yōu。
忍(tolerate)得(particle)一(one)时(time)之(connecting particle)氣(anger),免(save)得(particle)百(hundred)日
(day)之(connecting particle)忧(sorrow)。
3 of 8 3/22/2016 22:16
20 Famous and wise Chinese proverbs ( 谚语 yanyu), sayings and quote... http://www.chinesetolearn.com/20-famous-and-wise-chinese-proverb...
The proverb, Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still ( 不怕慢,就怕停 bú pà màn, jiù pà
tíng ), made me recall this song.
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26 Responses to 20 Famous and wise Chinese proverbs ( 谚语 yanyu), sayings and quotes:
Chinese, pinyin, English translation and Standing still – Jewel (lyrics)
Interesting Links for learning Chinese Thanks I would like to have this handy on my list of resourses
Reply
Hope says:
03/20/2015 at 3:01 PM
My name is Hope and I’m a senior editor at World Trade Press, a publishing and digital media resources company in
California. We create educational and travel websites, and are in the process of upgrading our AtoZWorldCulture product.
This website offers detailed, country-by-country cultural and social information for schools and colleges. To see the website
as it is currently, click here: http://www.atozworldculture.com and enter az as the user name and macau as the password.
4 of 8 3/22/2016 22:16
20 Famous and wise Chinese proverbs ( 谚语 yanyu), sayings and quote... http://www.chinesetolearn.com/20-famous-and-wise-chinese-proverb...
This password will grant you free access through the end of March.
One new section we are adding contains proverbs from around the world. We would like to provide this cultural aspect of
China on our website by including proverbs in Chinese, along with the English translation and meaning. We found your
website to be a valuable resource for Chinese proverbs, and would like to request the use of this information on our site. In
exchange, we will link directly to your website, as well as offering you a free one-year subscription to AtoZWorldCulture.
Thank you for your time and your consideration of our request. Please let me know if you have any questions. I look forward
to hearing from you soon.
Best,
Hope Kang
Senior Editor
World Trade Press
Petaluma, CA
hope@worldtradepress.com
Reply
Hi Hope,
You can do so. Thank you for visiting.
Reply
qwerty says:
05/10/2015 at 4:45 AM
NICEEEEEEEE
I used to live in Shanghai, China and these are correct. Whoever owns this website is realllllllllllyyyyyyyy good at Chinese. I
actually learned a lot!
Reply
Qwerty,
I am glad to hear that:) Have good time learning Chinese and have fun!!
Reply
5 of 8 3/22/2016 22:16
20 Famous and wise Chinese proverbs ( 谚语 yanyu), sayings and quote... http://www.chinesetolearn.com/20-famous-and-wise-chinese-proverb...
Hi Jeng Siu,
It means it is OK to do it slow, as long as the action is still occurring. But, it is not good to stop (never do it again).
Thank you for visiting:)
Reply
Liam says:
09/06/2015 at 10:10 AM
Hi I was just wondering the quote “be not afraid of growing slowly, be only afraid of standing still” in Chinese would it be the
same characters writing vertically
Reply
Liam says:
09/09/2015 at 2:56 PM
Would the Chinese writing still say the same thing written vertical or would it say something completely
different
Reply
You can write Chinese sentence from left to right or from top to bottom. However, if you upside
down a character or change it from horizontal to vertical, then it is not quite right. Characters’
placement has its own certain way, change it randomly will make it difficult to read and to
understand. Hope that answers your question:)
Reply
Liam says:
09/13/2015 at 3:40 PM
Thanks
Liam says:
09/14/2015 at 3:01 PM
Could you write “be not afraid of growing slowly, be only afraid of standing still” in chinese top to bottom for me please. If
6 of 8 3/22/2016 22:16
20 Famous and wise Chinese proverbs ( 谚语 yanyu), sayings and quote... http://www.chinesetolearn.com/20-famous-and-wise-chinese-proverb...
you can.
Thanks
Reply
不
怕
慢
,
就
怕
停
。
Reply
Liam says:
09/16/2015 at 3:11 AM
Thank you
Reply
Welcome:)
Reply
Chloe says:
11/19/2015 at 4:57 AM
Thank you for both the pinyin, the 字母and the translations. This helps me study my Chinese better, and helps my
calligraphy a lot. I’m making paintings done in traditional style to send back to my family in America, since I’ve been
studying over here in China. I’m glad you did it so accurately as well.
Reply
Hi Chloe,
You are very welcome:) Have good time learning Chinese every time:)
Reply
Sophia says:
11/20/2015 at 11:24 AM
Thank you very much for putting this page online, I learned so much from it.
Reply
John says:
12/06/2015 at 6:58 AM
Very informative, however it is becoming a bit tiresome to have to inspect the page source in order to copy the characters. Is
there any way you could remove the mouse guard? (Ctrl + Shift + C then copy/paste) Thanks.
7 of 8 3/22/2016 22:16
20 Famous and wise Chinese proverbs ( 谚语 yanyu), sayings and quote... http://www.chinesetolearn.com/20-famous-and-wise-chinese-proverb...
Reply
Hi John,
You can print the page out. It is what I did for my students. Thank you for visiting.
Reply
Gabrielle says:
01/12/2016 at 4:34 AM
can you write the quote, “To conquer oneself is greater task than conquering others,” in Chinese top to bottom for me? Please
and thank you!
Reply
克
服
自
己
比
克
服
别
人
难。
Reply
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