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Idioms are such an important part of Chinese popular culture that there is a game called 成語接龍 'connect the chengyu' that involves someone calling out an idiom, with someone else then being supposed to think of another idiom to link up with the first one, so that the last character of the first idiom is the same as the first character of ...
A tertiary meaning is "something that seems tangible and simple but has a deeper ephemeral quality." This name references 鏡中的花，水裡的月, which is the shorter form of a Chinese idiom (or chéngyǔ), literally meaning a "flower seen in the mirror, moon on the water's surface".
Many Chinese proverbs (yànyǔ 諺語) [1] 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. [2]
Kill the chicken to scare the monkey (traditional Chinese: 殺雞儆猴; simplified Chinese: 杀鸡儆猴; pinyin: Shājījǐnghóu; Wade–Giles: Sha-chi-ching-hou, lit. kill chicken scare monkey) is an old Chinese idiom. It refers to making an example out of someone in order to threaten others. [1]
The basic format for a head entry gives the character, the Instant Index System code, the pronunciation(s) in Simplified GR, the part or parts of speech, optionally other speech levels (e.g., "sl." for slang), English translation equivalents for the head character and usage examples of polysyllabic compounds, phrases, and idioms, subdivided by ...
Heaven is high and the emperor is far away is a Chinese proverb thought to have originated from Zhejiang during the Yuan dynasty. [1] Both historically and in contemporary China, the proverb has a variety of uses, for example: (1) in reference to local government autonomy, (2) in reference to corruption of local officials or lawlessness, or (3) in reference to minor offenses committed outside ...
This category is for Chinese idioms for which there is an English equivalent (in terms of connotation). Pages in category "Chinese idioms with an English equivalent" This category contains only the following page.
Xiehouyu are examples of anapodota, a class of rhetorical device found across different languages. Compare English an apple a day (keeps the doctor away) and speak of the devil (and he shall appear). The Chinese word xiehouyu may be literally translated as 'truncated witticism'. Puns are often involved in xiehouyu. In this case, the second part ...