General Information about Item:

• Verbal Folkore, Proverb
• Language: Chinese
• Country of Origin: China
• Informant: Michelle Chen
• Date Collected: 11-01-18

Informant Data:

The informant is a Chinese American student from Irvine, California. Michelle is the daughter of two Chinese immigrants. She is an only child as well. At home she speaks Mandarin and communicates with her parents using a mixture of English and Chinese. At Dartmouth, Michelle is an active member of her sorority. In addition, she is an Anthropology modified with Chemistry major and is also on the Pre-Health track. She hopes to become an anesthesiologist.

Contextual Data:

As an only child with two working parents, Michelle had to learn how to be independent from an early age. As such, she developed a tendency to not rely on other people when she was in stressful situations. There was one incident in which her parents knew she was really stressed out due to her physical appearance. One day at dinner they decided to sit her down with the hopes that she would accept their advice. They told her this proverb as way to get her to listen to them.

Item:

一个篱笆三个桩，一个好汉三个帮

yí gè líba sān gè zhuāng, yí gè hăohàn sān gè bāng

Literal Translation: One fence three posts, one good man three helpers.

Meaning: Just as a fence has to be built with pegs, an able person needs the help of three others. 

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

Transcript:

• “The proverb I was discussing with you goes yí gè líba sān gè zhuāng, yí gè hăohàn sān gè bāng so what it literally mean is just as a fence has to be built with pegs, an able person needs the help of three others but it translates to in a practical message even if you are the most capable and able person, you will not be able to succeed without teamwork, without others helping you. So I learned that with my family because as an only child I got used to dealing with things on my own. What this meant is that I took on responsibilities that I should have delegated or other should have helped me on. They told me this when I was having a rough time over the phone and said look, Michelle, you have to learn how to spread the work out to fully achieve what you want to do…and that was really helpful to me in framing my actions moving forward. ”

Informant’s Comments:

Michelle often thinks of this proverb as a college student when she is in stressful situations as when she was a younger child. It has helped her learn how to listen to her friends more and be open to advice during hard situations. In addition, the proverb also reminds her to not take on too many responsibilities in her extracurricular life here on campus.

Collector’s Comments:

What was interesting was how Michelle applies this proverb to her current life. She often thinks of this proverb as a college student when she is in stressful situations as when she was a younger child. It has helped her learn how to listen to her friends more and be open to advice during hard situations. In addition, the proverb also reminds her to not take on too many responsibilities in her extracurricular life here on campus.

Collector’s Name: James Wen

Tags/Keywords:

• Chinese
• Friends
• Help