General Information about Item:

• Verbal Folkore, Proverb
• Language: Chinese
• Country of Origin: China
• Informant: Raymond Hsu
• Date Collected: 10-20-18

Informant Data:

The informant is a Taiwanese American sophomore from outside Seattle. He was born and raised in the Seattle suburbs. At home, he speaks Mandarin with his parents and older sister who is also a Dartmouth student. His family celebrated most holidays associated with Chinese speaking regions. He also knows how to write in traditional Chinese characters. Raymond plays for the Dartmouth Symphony Orchestra, is majoring in Philosophy, and is also on the Pre-Health track.

Contextual Data:

The informant learned this phrase from his parents. This is a common proverb in Chinese speaking communities and one that many parents tell their children. Often this proverb is taught to kids so that they can be more aware of with whom they are making friends and what their friends are doing. For example, if a child were to start slacking off in their studies, a parent may say this phrase so that the child reflects on who their friends influence their surrounding environment.

Item:

观其友，知其人

guān qí yŏu, zhī qí rén

Literal Translation: Look at friend, know their people.

Meaning: You shall know a person by knowing their friends.

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

Transcript:

• “guān qí yŏu, zhī qí rén and that means you shall know a person by knowing their friends. I learned that phrase from my parents as well. ”

Informant’s Comments:

Raymond said he first thought of this proverb again when he entered college. As a Pre-Health student, he is very worried about his academics and GPA. Entering Dartmouth, he wanted like minded people to be his friends as he knew that people like himself would best support him when classes presented challenging situations.

Collector’s Comments:

Being pre-med at Dartmouth is extremely difficult. This is reflected in how Raymond uses this proverb to select who his friends are so that he never gets distracted from his courses. Analyzing the proverb itself, it follows the 2 clause structure typical of Chinese proverbs. There is symmetry with three characters in each clause and audio symmetry with qí being the second character on both sides.

Collector’s Name: James Wen

Tags/Keywords:

• Chinese
• Friends
• Company