Summary of Previous Chinese Proverbs

1.
luó bo bái cài ，gè yǒu suǒ ài　
萝　卜 白　菜， 各 有　所　爱　

This proverb means "every man has his hobbyhorse".
In this sentence, the word "luó bo" means carrot, the word "bái cài " means cabbage. Literally, this sentence means some people like carrot, and some people like cabbage, which is "every man has his hobbyhorse".

2.
jì huà méi yǒu biàn huà kuài
计 划　没   有   变    化   快　

This proverb means changes always happen faster than your plan. So say you plan to do something and you have a perfect plan. There always is a possibility that something comes up and you can’t follow you plan anymore. When this happens, you can say:”计划没有变化快。”


世(shì)界(jiè)总(zǒng)在(zài)变(biàn)化(huà)中(zhōng)，让(ràng)我(wǒ)们(men)以(yǐ)“不(bù)变(biàn)”应(yìng)“万(wàn)变(biàn)”。

Meaning: The world is in the state of forever changing. Let’s prepare and be ready for the change. 变(biàn)化(huà) - change; 不(bù)变(biàn) - no change; 万(wàn)变(biàn)- ten thousand changes, many changes ; 应(yìng) - confront. This is a very positive mind set.

3.
tiān xià méi yǒu miǎn fèi de wǔ cān
天    下   没   有   免     费 的  午  餐

This sentence means there is no free lunch in the world. In this sentence, 天下（tiān xià）means the world, and 免费 (miǎn fèi) means free. 午餐(wǔ cān) is lunch.


tiān xià méi yǒu bù sàn de yán xí
天    下   没   有   不  散   的  筵  席

This sentence means there is an ending for everything. In this sentence, 天下（tiān xià）means the world, and 不(bù)散(sàn)means not ending, 筵(yán)席(xí)is party.

4.
lín shí bào fó jiǎo
临  时   抱  佛  脚

This term is used to describe those people who don’t prepare for what they need to and only make effort at the last minute.
Take a student for example, this student are lazy most of the time and only try to cram before the exam, then you can say “Ta linshi bao fojiao.” 
And you can use this term in similar circumstances.

5.
rén bù kě mào xiàng 
人   不  可  貌　 相　

This Chinese proverb is similar to the one ‘don't judge a book by its cover’. Here it means don’t judge a person by his or her appearance.

6.
jì huà méi yǒu biàn huà kuài 
计 划　没　有　 变　 化　 快　

This proverb means changes always happen faster than your plan. So say you plan to do something and you have a perfect plan. There always is a possibility that something comes up and you can’t follow you plan anymore. When this happens, you can say:”计划没有变化快。”

7.
Dú wàn juàn shū bù rú xíng wàn lǐ lù.
读 万 卷 书 不如 行 万 里路

This proverb literally means reading ten thousand books is not as useful as travelling ten thousand miles which means practical experience is more useful than theory.

读(dú)—Read; 万(wàn)卷(juàn)—Ten thousand (books) 卷(juǎn/juàn)usually means roll, here it is used to describe book because before Chinese invent paper, Chinese books were made of bamboo and wooden slips. For delivery and reading convenience, these slips were usually stored in rolls; 书(shū)—Book(s); 行(háng)—Walk, travel; 万(wàn)里(lǐ)—Ten thousand miles; 路(lù)—Distance, way

8.
quán bù lí shǒu, qǔ bù lí kǒu.
拳 不 离 手， 曲 不 离 口。

This proverb literally means you cannot punch without hand, you cannot sing without mouth which means you need to practice more instead of just talking about it.

拳(quán)–fist, here means punch (with fist); 不(bù)离(lí)—without; 手(shǒu) – hand；曲(qǔ)–song， here means sing (a song)；口(kǒu)–mouth.

In classical Chinese language, many words were used to be noun. However, when you put it into context, it would become a verb. In this sentence, 拳(quán) and曲(qǔ) are verbs but they are noun by themselves. Usually, this kind of word would have a noun comes after.

There are many other examples such as:

衣(yī)—clothes, in certain context it means wear E.g. 衣(yī)褐(hè), wearing plain clothes 

杖—stick, in certain context it means hit (by a stick) E.g.旬余，杖至百。 After a while, (he) was hit by a stick for a hundred times.