Chinese adages, the shortcut to understanding Chinese culture #2

#19

qiáng dǎo zhòng rén tuī
墙倒众人推

墙: the wall
倒: fall down
众人: a group of people
推: push

A group of people push the wall to make it fall. It means that when someone is in trouble or lost his/her power, other people will crack down on his/her to make it worse.




#18

dāng jú zhě mí,páng guān zhě qīng。
当局者迷,旁观者清。

当局者: people who are playing the chess
迷: lost
旁观者: people who are watching them playing the chess
清: clear

People who are playing the chess can be lost in the current situation, but people who are watching might have a clearer understanding of what's happening. It means that people who're involved in the matter can be too concentrated to see the whole situation, while people out of the matter can have a better understanding. Sometimes, you need to get of out the matter to know what's you are doing!



#17

jīng chéng suǒ zhì,jīn shí wéi kāi。
精诚所至,金石为开。

精诚: earnestly and sincerely
所至: where it reaches
金/石: gold/stone
开: break

If you do things earnestly and sincerely, even gold can stone can be broken. It means that nothing is impossible if you really want to do it!




#16

ruò yào rén bù zhīchú fēi jǐ mò wéi。

若要人不知,除非己莫为。

若: if
要: want
人: other people
不知: do not know
除非: only if
己: yourself
莫: do not
为: do it

If you don't want other people to know what you've done, you should not do it! It's impossible to hide forever. People will find out what you've done.


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