Chinese Proverbs and Popular Sayings

To become fat in traditional China, and indeed in almost every traditional society in the world, was a sign that you were prosperous enough to have an abundance of food. So being “fat” was a good thing!

Starting as early as the seventh century, China chose all its government officials, except for the emperor, exclusively through an examination system based on the study of classical literature

The most revered teacher of all time in China is, of course, Confucius.

To this day temples all over the country are dedicated to his memory and to the realm of books and of study that he represents.

The book is divided into eighteen chapters, which group the sayings according to the various aspects of the human experience on which they comment, ranging from family and friends to money and morality to food. Each chapter begins with an explanation of the Chinese cultural background that relates to each of those topics.

We have also included a few of the most famous quotations from Chinese writers, poets, and philosophers in the past three thousand years.

Confucius, the most revered of all Chinese sages.

In Western countries like the United States, proverbs are heard less and less. Because individuality and creativity are prized, quoting age-old sayings is considered trite and outdated.

In China, however, sayings like the ones collected here are still peppered throughout daily speech.

In such a group-centered society, the emphasis is not on originality but, rather, on enjoying a shared cultural background.