Chinese Proverbs and Popular Sayings by Qin Xue Herzberg

Author:Qin Xue Herzberg
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Stone Bridge Press
Published: 2014-09-15T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14 Animal Metaphors

Every culture has used animals in parables and metaphors to describe the range of human flaws and foibles, on the assumption that people are much more likely to accept criticism if it is made indirectly and humorously through animal, rather than human, figures. Because different cultures see a particular animal as representing a certain human virtue or vice, the use of animal imagery also allows for more colorful commentary on the human condition.

The English language, too, is full of proverbs that use examples from the animal world to cast light on the world of human beings. It has expressions like “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks,” “Curiosity killed the cat,” “A leopard can’t change its spots,” “Birds of a feather flock together,” and so on—to the point that most of the animal kingdom has been used metaphorically.

The Chinese language is especially rich with sayings that refer to animals. Some animals, like the tiger or the mythological dragon and phoenix, represent noble or heroic qualities. Other animals, including the snake, the rat, and the fox, embody the evil side of human nature. Still others, such as the horse, the ox, or the sheep, are symbolic of ordinary people.

What’s interesting here is that, although most cultures in the world view the snake as evil, the fox as wily, and the ox as docile, other animals are viewed rather differently from one culture to another. The dragon, for instance, was viewed in the West as an evil monster that threatened human beings and should be killed. In China, however, the dragon represented the force of nature that controlled the sky and the life-giving rain. It was neither good nor bad, but rather the embodiment of a powerful natural phenomenon. The emperor of China was for centuries the only person in the kingdom allowed to wear robes embroidered with dragons or to have his walls adorned with them, including the famous Nine-Dragon Gate in the Forbidden City, the emperor’s palace in Beijing.

For dog lovers, it is painful to note that, while the dog was usually portrayed as a rather lowly creature in English-language proverbs, in countless Chinese proverbs it is referred to as representative of the basest of people. In traditional China, most people were so poor that they had to struggle to feed themselves and could not afford to keep a dog. Only the rich landlord class raised dogs, which they kept not as pets but as guard dogs. These dogs would often chase and bite common people when they passed by, so they hated dogs because of what they represented.

English has sayings like “He who lies down with dogs gets fleas” and “Let sleeping dogs lie,” with the latter advice implying that when the dogs awakes, it might attack you. When someone has sunk really low in life, it is said that he has “gone to the dogs.” But it is also said that “Every dog has its day,” and the dog is called “man’s best friend.”

The

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