Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A Collection Of Chinese Proverbs And Apothegms,
In China they require boats of paper , and watermen of iron . — - [ This proverb arises from the difficult navigation of several of the Chinese rivers , which , on account of their swift current among the rocks , & c . obliges them to have boats of very thin boards , like our slit deal , which are not nailed , but , somehow , fastened together with withs ; these boats split not against the rocks , but bend and give way . ] In the province of Can-tons : are three unusual things : the sky
without snow , the trees always green , and the inhabitants continually spitting blood . [ The last clause alludes to their deli ghting to chew areco , and betel , as is common in other parts of the East . ] If the river is deep that you are to pass on foot , go through it cloathed in the ancient manner : if it is shallow , tuck up your garments . — [ The Chinese believe that the first men went naked , or at most loosely clad in the skin of some animal . This proverb is
applied to inculcate the necessity of accommodating one-self to the different circumstances of life . ] Look for horns in the head of a Iamb newly brought forth . —[ Parallel to the coarse but expressive saying of Oliver Cromwell , ' Nits will be lice . ' '} May ' st thou be dragged through the hole of a prison . —[ A proverbial imprecation . The Chinese have a superstitious notion concerning the dead , that they must not be carried out at the same gate they entered when alive : on this account there is a hole in the outward
court of the prisons , whence the bodies are thrown out . j Money is blood , but gold is merchandize . —[ A proverb common among the Chinese at Macao . It expresses both the greedy temper of the Chinese , who stick at nothing for gain ; and explains the use of gold among them , wliich is not current as a medium of traffic , but is bought and sold as a commodity . ] Mountains and plainshowever fertiledo not produce the flower
, , lyen ; on the contrary , it grows easily in low neglected p / laces . —[ Intended to signify that virtue flourishes best in adversity , or in a low and humble station . It may be noted , that the mountains in China are generally cultivated , and most of them naturally fertile ; whereas the low grounds are swampy , a part of China having formerly been under water . The l-wha is a fine aquatic flowernot unlike
yen , a tulip , but of a charming smell . ] Shoes ever so well made will not make a pillow ; the cap , however neat , will not make shoes . —[ Equivalent to the English , You canriot make a silken purse of a sorv ' . s ear . The Latin is exactly the same with the Chinese— Ocream , capili , tibicegaleam adapiare . } That house will soon fall in which the hen assumes the office and
crow of the cock ; the contention between the bird and the oyster is the fisherman ' s gain —[ There is a kind of shell-fish on the coasts of China , which often lies asleep in the sun , with the shell open ; in which state , if it is espied by the sea fowls , it is greedily seized as a desirable prey ; but the fish clasping its shell together , often entraps and detains its enemy till both become the prize of the fisherman . ]
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A Collection Of Chinese Proverbs And Apothegms,
In China they require boats of paper , and watermen of iron . — - [ This proverb arises from the difficult navigation of several of the Chinese rivers , which , on account of their swift current among the rocks , & c . obliges them to have boats of very thin boards , like our slit deal , which are not nailed , but , somehow , fastened together with withs ; these boats split not against the rocks , but bend and give way . ] In the province of Can-tons : are three unusual things : the sky
without snow , the trees always green , and the inhabitants continually spitting blood . [ The last clause alludes to their deli ghting to chew areco , and betel , as is common in other parts of the East . ] If the river is deep that you are to pass on foot , go through it cloathed in the ancient manner : if it is shallow , tuck up your garments . — [ The Chinese believe that the first men went naked , or at most loosely clad in the skin of some animal . This proverb is
applied to inculcate the necessity of accommodating one-self to the different circumstances of life . ] Look for horns in the head of a Iamb newly brought forth . —[ Parallel to the coarse but expressive saying of Oliver Cromwell , ' Nits will be lice . ' '} May ' st thou be dragged through the hole of a prison . —[ A proverbial imprecation . The Chinese have a superstitious notion concerning the dead , that they must not be carried out at the same gate they entered when alive : on this account there is a hole in the outward
court of the prisons , whence the bodies are thrown out . j Money is blood , but gold is merchandize . —[ A proverb common among the Chinese at Macao . It expresses both the greedy temper of the Chinese , who stick at nothing for gain ; and explains the use of gold among them , wliich is not current as a medium of traffic , but is bought and sold as a commodity . ] Mountains and plainshowever fertiledo not produce the flower
, , lyen ; on the contrary , it grows easily in low neglected p / laces . —[ Intended to signify that virtue flourishes best in adversity , or in a low and humble station . It may be noted , that the mountains in China are generally cultivated , and most of them naturally fertile ; whereas the low grounds are swampy , a part of China having formerly been under water . The l-wha is a fine aquatic flowernot unlike
yen , a tulip , but of a charming smell . ] Shoes ever so well made will not make a pillow ; the cap , however neat , will not make shoes . —[ Equivalent to the English , You canriot make a silken purse of a sorv ' . s ear . The Latin is exactly the same with the Chinese— Ocream , capili , tibicegaleam adapiare . } That house will soon fall in which the hen assumes the office and
crow of the cock ; the contention between the bird and the oyster is the fisherman ' s gain —[ There is a kind of shell-fish on the coasts of China , which often lies asleep in the sun , with the shell open ; in which state , if it is espied by the sea fowls , it is greedily seized as a desirable prey ; but the fish clasping its shell together , often entraps and detains its enemy till both become the prize of the fisherman . ]