Chinese Proverbs: The Wisdom of Cheng-Yu

by James Trapp (Compiler)

A gorgeously illustrated and designed exploration of Eastern spirituality and culture through more than 80 proverbs drawn from Chinese philosophy. 
 
The sayings known as Cheng-yu, represented in four elegantly drawn Chinese characters, are comparable to proverbs or idioms in English, but each has a depth of meaning and linguistic color very unlike their English equivalents. Many are rooted in ancient Chinese culture, and make oblique references to poetry, philosophy, or history. Chinese Proverbs features a selection of the most famous and most interesting of the more than 5,000 Cheng-yu, including “beat grass warn snake” (give the game away, tip someone off) and “sorrowing army must win” (justice will prevail). Alongside each phrase is an accessible and inspiring explanation, its literal translation in English, what the particular calligraphic strokes symbolize, and its various uses.

96 pages, Hardcover

Published April 2, 2019

Reviews

[Clurtle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED THIS. This was such a fun and quirky adventure through lots of common and even obscure idioms used throughout Chinese History. I really enjoyed every minute of the book, and the only that probably could have made it better is if there were illustrations next to each chenyu to help the more visually inclined.

I actually look forward to telling my kids some of these stories one day. They make really good bedtime stories and have important lessons attached.

Overall, this was just really well done. The translator has a real jovial nature about them, and you could tell they had fun putting this book together which made it all the more fun to read. This was a happy reprieve from the incessant venting of the version of Confucious’ Analect’s I recently read. Fantastic addition to my library.

[Heri · Rating 3 out of 5]

buku yang cukup bagus dan informatif tentang pepatah china. meski diterjemahkan dari bhs inggris yg diterjemahkan dari buku asli berbahasa china, kualitas isinya tidak berkurang dan mampu menjelaskan dengan baik makna dan nasehat yang terkandung dalam pepatah tersebut

perlu disadari bahwa sejarah dan budaya china yg berumur 4000 tahun pasti ada sangat banyak pepatah atau kalimat terkenal, buku ini hanya berisi sebagian kecilnya saja dari sejumlah tokoh, kisah dan sejarah yang berkaitan dgn pepatah yg dimuat

disertai dgn aksara dgn ejaan pinyin yang membantu memudahkan cara membaca secara belajar masing2 karakter dan huruf yg bunyinya mirip tapi bentuk karakternya berbeda

[Terry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very nice review of Chinese Proverbs and the story behind them.