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

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:

Raymond learned this proverb from his Chinese teacher in Chinese school. This is most likely due to the fact that this proverb is one of the more common ones. Overseas Chinese schools, in addition to teaching grammar and vocabulary, also try to make sure that students are aware of what is common and popular in native Chinese speaking areas.

Item:

道不同，不相为谋

dào bù tóng, bù xiāng wéi móu

Literal Translation: Values not same, no mutually act.

Meaning: Men of totally different principles can never act together.

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

Transcript:

• “dào bù tóng, bù xiāng wéi móu and that means men of totally different principles can never act together. And that is a phrase I learned from my Chinese school teacher ”

Informant’s Comments:

Raymond says he thinks of this proverb often when he is working on group projects for classes. It helps remind him that at times, there are valid reasons certain people do not get along. He also uses this proverb when he has disagreements with members of campus organizations to which he is a part of. Similarly, in these situations, he uses this proverb to remind him that underlying values may be fundamental in building a cohesive relationship.

Collector’s Comments:

What is interesting about this proverb is that while it has the similar two clause structure characteristic of many Chinese proverbs, it lacks character symmetry. There are three characters in the first clause and four characters in the second clause. It was also interesting to see that while this proverb is more negative, Raymond uses it in a constructive manor when dealing with hard situations with difficult group dynamics. 

Collector’s Name: James Wen

Tags/Keywords:

• Chinese
• Friends
• Thoughts
• Similarity

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:

Raymond learned this proverb from his parents when he was very young. He was going through a hard time at school and his parents wanted him to realize that only the people that were still supporting him were his true friends and not to worry about those that let him down

Item:

岁寒知松柏，患难见真情

suìhán zhī sōngbăi, huànnàn jiàn zhēnqíng

Literal translation: Only when the years grows cold do we see that the pine and cypress are the last to fade

Meaning: Only when we get into trouble do we know who our genuine friends are.

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

Transcript:

• “suìhán zhī sōngbăi, huànnàn jiàn zhēnqíng, and the meaning is only when the years grows cold do we see that the pine and cypress are the last to fade and that means only when we get into trouble do we know who our genuine friends are. And I learned this from my parents. ”

Informant’s Comments:

Raymond often thinks of this proverb during hard times in college. At Dartmouth, it is very easy to make superficial friends. The many challenging social and academic situations college presents students are opportunities to weed out these kinds of relationships. As Raymond is a sophomore, there have been many challenging situations for him this fall term. Sophomores go through Greek rush and start to take harder level courses. Such changes heavily contrast freshmen year and present many challenges.

Collector’s Comments:

Like many Chinese proverbs I have already collected, this one used a negative situation to describe how friends can bring positive effects to one’s life. As such, this proverb takes a very serious tone and lacks humor. It seems that many Chinese proverbs related to friendship use examples in which people are tested or have to go through a bad scenario.

Related to structure, this proverb follows a similar two clause structure in which both clauses have the same amount of characters. Unlike other proverbs that use this structure, there appears to be no attention paid to character symmetry (characters that sound similar in the same position in both clauses) nor does there to be a tonal pattern in which both clauses have the same tones.

Collector’s Name: James Wen

Tags/Keywords:

• Chinese
• Friends
• Help
• Hard Times

General Information about Item:

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

Informant Data:

The informant is a Chinese American student from the Bay Area. She grew up speaking Mandarin at home with her parents who are immigrants from China. At Dartmouth, Lillian is a Quantitative Social Science Major, opinion writer for The Dartmouth, and a leader in both The Dartmouth Consulting Club and Women in Business.

Contextual Data:

The informant reported that she heard this proverb from many times from her family as a child. Her parents wanted her to be more open minded. Growing up as a minority, especially in a multilingual family, leaves you very exposed to judgments of other people. This negative atmosphere can heavily influence one’s own impressions on the outside world. Lillian’s family wanted to make sure she grew up without being judgmental of others.

Item:

人不可貌相，海水不可斗量

rén bù kě mào xiàng , hǎi shuǐ bù kě dǒu liàng

Literal Translation: People cannot measure with facial feature, sea water cannot measure with little amount

Meaning: You can’t judge a person by appearance, just as you can’t measure the sea with a pint pot.

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

Transcript:

“This is something i heard a lot growing up about not judging people by what they look like rén bù kě mào xiàng , hǎi shuǐ bù kě dǒu liàng”

Informant’s Comments:

Lillian thinks about this proverb often during her interactions with other Dartmouth students. As a campus mainly filled by children of wealthy individuals, the college has a culture in which stereotypes of race and class easily permeate thoughts. Lillian uses this proverb to remind herself to learn about people as individuals and not pass immediate judgments.

Collector’s Comments:

Related to friendship, it seems Lillian has used this proverb a lot when meeting new people in college. I related a lot to her when she said that race and class really permeate the culture here at Dartmouth and that people can sometimes be a bit too presumptuous regarding these two characteristics.

Collector’s Name: James Wen

Tags/Keywords:

• Chinese
• Friends
• Judging
• Finding Friends

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

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