Chinese Proverbs

Harmony makes both a family and a nation prosperous.
(Chinese original: 家和日子旺，国和万事兴； Chinese Pinyin: Jiā hé rìzi wàng; guó hé wàn shì xīng.)

Aged ginger is more pungent.
(Chinese original: 姜是老的辣； Chinese Pinyin: Jiāng shì lǎo de là.)

Concentrate on small matters to the expense of more important ones.

A friend made is a road paved; an enemy created is a wall built.
(Chinese original: 交个朋友多条路，树个敌人多堵墙； Chinese Pinyin: Jiāo gè péngyou duō tiáo lù, shù gè dírén duō dǔ qiáng.)

How true: friends help while people you offend may turn out to be your liability. We should make more friends than enemies.

A sly rabbit has three burrows.
(Chinese original: 狡兔三窟； Chinese Pinyin: Jiǎo-tù-sān-kū.)

To succeed one must have several alternatives.

Regular feet can't be affected by irregular shoes.
(Chinese original: 脚正不怕鞋（邪）歪； Chinese Pinyin: Jiǎo zhèng bù pà xié wāi.)

Same as "If you have not done anything evil, you should not worry too much": the good/regular always overwhelms the bad/irregular though in real life it is not necessarily

An overcrowded chicken farm produce fewer eggs.
(Chinese original: 鸡多不下蛋，人多打瞎乱； Chinese Pinyin: Jī duō bù xià dàn, rén duō dǎ xiā luàn.)

Scientifically, it may not be true. But the connotation of this proverb is that when too many people try to do one thing, it proves less efficient. A similar English proverb goes: "The more the eggs, the worse the hatch."

Present Buddha with borrowed flowers.
(Chinese original: 借花献佛； Chinese Pinyin: Jiè-huā-xiàn-fó.)

You say "I am presenting Buddha with borrowed flowers" to someone with whom you present a gift that someone else has given to you. It is a humorous way of mitigating the awkwardness. You get away easily as you compare the receiver of the gift to Buddha, which shows a lot of respect albeit its lack of seriousness.

A frog in a well shaft
(Chinese original: 井底之蛙； Chinese Pinyin: Jǐng-dǐ-zhī-wā.)

A frog who lived in a well all his life never knew what the real body of waters was until a sea turtle told him about it. This proverb refers to somebody who has a very narrow-minded view of what they see or think.

For a complete story, please read my book Magic Lotus Lantern and Other Tales of the Han Chinese, to be published in spring 2006 by Libraries Unlimited.

Add a flower to a bouquet.
(Chinese original: 锦上添花； Chinese Pinyin: Jǐn-shàng-tiān-huā.)

Living at a river, one comes to know the nature of the fish therein; Dwelling by a mountain, one learns to recognize the language of the birds thereupon.
(Chinese original: 近水知鱼性，近山识鸟音； Chinese Pinyin: Jìn shuǐ zhī yú xìng, jìn shān shí niǎo yīn.)

Familiarity and vicinity breed more understanding.

He who stays near vermilion gets stained red; he who stays near ink gets stained black.
(Chinese original: 近朱者赤，近墨者黑； Chinese Pinyin: Jìn zhū zhě chì, jìn mò zhě hēi.)

One takes on the color of his company.

Drinking with a bosom friend, a thousand shots are too few; Talking with a disagreeable person, half a sentence is too many.
(Chinese original: 酒逢知己千杯少，话不投机半句多； Chinese Pinyin: Jiǔ féng zhījǐ qiān bēi shǎo, huà bù tóujī bàn jù duō.)

Help the needy instead of the poor.
(Chinese original: 救急不救穷； Chinese Pinyin: Jiù jí bù jiù qióng.)

There are too many poor people to help. Those who are in dire need are the ones that need your help the most.

It doesn't matter if your tavern sits in a remote location so long as the smell of your wine is appealing.
(Chinese original: 酒香不怕巷子深； Chinese Pinyin: Jiǔ xiāng bù pà xiàngzi shēn.)

Superb quality of your product or service may compensate for lack of publicity. But this argument may be outdated when people today can't wait to Tweet their products.

Fragments of fox fur, sewn together, will make a robe.
(Chinese original: 集腋成裘； Chinese Pinyin: Jí-yè-chéng-qiú.)

"Many a mickle makes a muckle."

Fearing laws makes one happy every day; withholding truth from heaven worries one all the time.
(Chinese original: 惧法天天乐，欺天日日忧； Chinese Pinyin: Jù fǎ tiān tiān lè, qī tiān rì rì yōu.)