General Information about Item:

• Verbal Folkore, Proverb
• Language: Chinese
• Country of Origin: China
• Informant: Celine Guan
• Date Collected: 10-15-18

Informant Data:

The informant is a Chinese American student from New York City. She lived and grew up in the city. Specifically, the he comes from a Cantonese speaking family. Her parents speak to her in Cantonese but also understand and can speak Mandarin. As a child, she attended Chinese school. As such, Celine is trilingual. On campus, Celine is a Math/Economic major and is involved with the Dali lab and Women in Business.

Contextual Data:

The informant heard her parents say this proverb a lot growing up. As such, she started using it on her own when speaking Chinese. This is a common proverb parents use to reassure children or to help them learn how to accept other people’s advice during challenging situations.

Item:

朋友的眼睛是最好的镜子

péngyou de yănjing shì zuìhăo de jìngzi

Literal Translation: Friend’s eyes are the best mirror

Meaning: Friends give the best advice.

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

Transcript:

• “I heard my parents say this a lot when I was younger so I guess I just picked it up. péngyou de yănjing shì zuìhăo de jìngzi ”

Informant’s Comments:

Celine often thinks about this proverb when facing tough decisions. From picking a sorority to deciding which job opportunities are best for her, Celine has often used this proverb to remind herself that she needs to take into account consultations with her friends before making a final decision. She says it helps her feel less alone when making these hard decisions which fundamentally makes the situation easier and allows her the think more clearly.

Collector’s Comments:

What was interesting was how Celine has used this proverb in many situations while at Dartmouth. It seems this proverbs has been very applicable throughout her life and will likely shape her future decisions.

Structurally, what makes this proverb interesting is that it is one of the few proverbs that does not use the two clause structure. However, it does follow’s Dundes’s formula that A is B. Here the A is the friend’s eyes and the B is the mirror. Such metaphorical statement makes this proverb very similar to more Western proverbs that follow this structure.

Collector’s Name: James Wen

Tags/Keywords:

• Chinese
• Friends
• Opinion
• Help