Two thousand proverbs

Author: Sun Zhiping, Wang Fang ed.
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2000-02-01
Features: In China, the understanding of idioms can be broadly and narrowly defined. Broadly, idioms include proverbs, puns, common expressions, set phrases, and dialectal terms that are passed down orally in the folk. Narrowly, idioms refer to a fixed, figurative expression. The narrow definition of idioms is what we refer to here, and the expressions collected in this book also fall into this category. Idioms can be divided into three types: one is the metaphorical type, which can be either derogatory or commendatory. For example, "holding an axe while chopping" implies unfairness and expresses a negative attitude toward such behavior, while "Huang Zhong refuses to grow old at seventy" carries a commendatory meaning. Some others, like "an old heart never grows old," change their connotations depending on the context. The second type is the explanatory type, such as "when the ox matter is not finished, the horse matter begins." The third type is the descriptive type, such as "searching with a lantern but finding no place." The latter two generally do not carry metaphorical meanings. Idioms are a very distinctive category of language, but as an independent category of study, research on them has only just begun, and no scientific definition has yet emerged. In the past, when idioms were discussed, they were often examined only from the perspectives of "transmission" and "popularity," but these criteria make it difficult to distinguish them clearly from other categories of language. Our understanding and classification, of course, may not be scientifically sound, and thus we hope to attract the attention of folk literature scholars and linguists, encouraging discussion and joint research to seek a unified perspective.