Chinese Proverbs

The Chinese language is well suited to the writing of short and snappy idioms and proverbs. Here is an index of a few examples. Each one links to a page giving its history and similar proverbs in English.

Yu hu mou pi �뻢ıƤ	To negotiate with a tiger for its skin
Tuo mian zi gan ��Ը�	If anyone spits in your face, let it drip dry
Liu de qing shan zai, bu pa mei chai shao ��ɽ�ڣ��]��	Hold on to the blue mountain, there'll be no shortage of faggots for fire.
Gua yang tou mai gou rou ��ͷ��	Hanging out a sheep's head to sell dog meat.
Bu ru hu xue, yan de hu zi ��뻢Ѩ �ɵû��	Without entering the tiger's lair, how can one catch the tiger's cub?
Ye chang meng duo ҹ��ζ�	The night is long and dreams are legion
Zui weng zhi yi bu zai jiu ��֮�ⲻ�ھ�	The drinker's heart is not in the drop
Ban jun ru ban hu ��黢	Keeping the company of an emperor is like keeping the company of a tiger
Bai wen bu ru yi jian �ټ䲻��һҊ	Hearing a hundred times is not as good as seeing once
You peng zi yuan fang lai, bu yi le hu! ��Զ��ֺ�	To have friends coming in from afar, how delightful!
Tou ji bu cheng she ba mi	Failing to steal chickens and losing a fistful of rice into the bargain.
Xin you ling xi yi dian tong ��Ϭһ��ͨ	Hearts meet on the dot in a unicorn's horn.
Bei jing yi chi shi quan kao tian	Like the feeding of Peking Ducks - all a matter of stuffing.
Chu sheng zhi du bu wei hu	A new-born calf fears no tiger.
Shui zhang chuan gao ˮ�Ǵ��	When the tide rises, boats float higher.
Yang mao chu zai yang sheng shang ��ë��	Sheep's wool comes off the sheep's back.
Dao ke dao, fei chang dao. Ming ke ming, fei chang ming ��ɵ��ǳ��; ��ǳ��	The Way that can be expressed is not the everlasting way. Names that can be named are not changeless names.
Tong chuang yi meng ͬ��	Same bed, different dreams.
Jie ling hai xu ji ling ren ��廹��ϵ��	Whoever tied the knot on the bell is the one to untie it.
Zhi xu zhou guan fang huo, bu xu bai xing dian deng ֻ��ݹٷŻ𣬲��յ��	While a County mandarin is at liberty to set houses on fire, a common man is not allowed to light a lamp (lantern).
Qi bu ru jie, jie bu ru tou, tou bu ru tou bu zhao	A wife is not as good as a concubine.