Category: Spoken Chinese
Daily conversion: In the Market
Military Sports in Ancient Times 中国古代的军事运动
＂To play the lute to a cow＂
The Learning Point The proverb "对牛弹琴" is used by Chinese people to describe someone who is telling something complicated to the fool, or sometimes this idiom is used to describe a person who is trying to tell something to the wrong audience or listener. In English, people sometimes joke around by ironically saying "whistle jigs to a milestone" or "cast pearls(a hard round object which is shiny and creamy white in colour. Pearls grow inside the shell of an oyster and are used for making expensive jewellery) before swine" to mean "对牛弹琴."
The Useful Proverb with Chinese Meaning
Ancient years, the Chinese have generated numberless proverbs. There can be a proverb (谚语yànyǔ) for almost any situation. Judicious use of proverbs in Chinese writing is regarded as a sign of good education rather than pedantry or showing off one’s knowledge of clichés(stereotyped expression). Following are some useful Proverbs(至理名言zhìlǐ míngyán), I have come up with a list of proverbs that have some kind of equivalence between Chinese and English for your reading.
The famous Chinese Confucius Proverbs
Since it comes to Chinese proverbs (中国谚语Zhōngguó yànyǔ), Confucius quotes(孔子语录Kǒngzǐ yǔlù) tend to be the most entertaining and enlightening. To learn great proverbs better, record them and play the recording once in a while(now and then or here and there). By this you may rise to make much better use of them, or the sensible wisdom or life knowledge, The following is a collection of proverbs attributed to Confucius and Confucius disciples.
The Chinese Happiness Proverbs
The Happiness is we are always looking for. Without happiness everything else has no use. The following Chinese proverbs(中国谚语Zhōngguó yànyǔ) is whole about happiness which might change you thoughts about happiness(快乐kuàilè). Do we need money or other luxuries to be happy? Are they important at all? You can decide after reading the following Chinese happiness Proverbs.
Chinese Proverbs on Marriage or Family
The Chinese proverbs(中国谚语Zhōngguó yànyǔ) and four-plus character idioms are developed from the formulaic(If you describe a way of saying or doing something as formulaic, you are criticizing it because it is not original and has been used many times before in similar situations) or social saying/dialect/expression and historical meaning in Chinese language. Here's the collection of some of the most family proverbs and famous marriage(婚姻hūnyīn) in China. Feel free to use any of those for your need.
Short Chinese Proverbs
Chinese language, which is well suited to the writing of short and snappy idioms and proverbs (谚语yànyǔ). Here is an index of some idiomatic(uses words in a way that sounds natural to native speakers of the language) examples. Each one is given its similar proverbs meaning in English language.
Chinese Proverbs about Life
The Life(生活shēnghuó) is a dream walking death is a going home. Life is partly what we make it, and partly what it is made by the friends whom we choose. Here is a delightful collection of Chinese proverbs on lifes which gives us a fascinating glimpse into the lives of the people in China. Their wise sayings are drawn from experience of their daily lives, observation on subjects ranging from friendship to folk wisdom and common sense. The value of Chinese proverbs(中国谚语Zhōngguó yànyǔ) has increased with the passing of the ages because they ring as true today as they were thousands of years ago.
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