Chinese allegories
歇后语
Two-part allegorical saying (of which the first part, always stated, is descriptive, while the second part, often unstated, carries the message)

dà gū niang zuò huā jiào – tóu yī huí
大姑娘坐花轿 – 头一回
A girl sitting in a bridal sedan chair – the very first time (Traditionally, a bride was carried in a special sedan chair to the groom’s home, which was a first-time experience for every girl.)

diē sĭ niáng jià rén – gè rén gù gè rén
爹死娘嫁人 – 各人顾各人
After Dad’s death, Mom gets married again. – Everyone is for him/herself.

fēi jī shàng liáo tiān – kōng tán
飞机上聊天 – 空谈
Talk in the plane; talk in the air – empty or idle talk

dă kāi tiān chuāng – shuō liàng huà
打开天窗 – 说亮话
Open the skylight and say blunt words. – speak frankly; let’s call a spade a spade

jiàn zài xián shàng – bù dé bù fā
箭在弦上 – 不得不发
The arrow on the bowstring has to be shot. or When the arrow is on the string, it must go. – At some point, the situation will have developed to the point that one will have to take action.

chóu rén xiāng jiàn – fèn wài yăn hóng
仇人相见 – 分外眼红
When enemies face each other, their eyes blaze with hatred.

huáng lián shù xià tán qín – kǔ zhōng zuò lè
黄连树下弹琴 – 苦中作乐
Play the lute by a bitter herbal tree – enjoy life in adversity; seek joy in hardship; try to enjoy oneself despite one’s suffering

băi jiā xìng bú niàn dì yī ge zì – kāi kŏu jiù shì qián
百家姓不念第一个字 – 开口就是钱
Skip over the first family name when reading Book of (China’s) Family Names. The first four family names listed in this book are Zhao (赵), Qian (钱), Sun (孙) and Li (李), respectively. – “Qian” (钱) came first. Figuratively, it means “to talk about money all the time”. (The Chinese character “钱” can not only be taken as a surname, but refer to “money”.)

Chinese allegories
歇后语
Two-part allegorical saying (of which the first part, always stated, is descriptive, while the second part, often unstated, carries the message)

kŏng fū zǐ chuān xī zhuāng – bù tŭ bù yáng
孔夫子穿西装 – 不土不洋
Confucius in Western-style clothes – neither fish nor flesh

jí xìng zi pèng dào màn xìng zi – nǐ jí tā bù jí
急性子碰到慢性子 – 你急他不急
An impetuous person comes across a slowcoach. – One is impatient to do something but the other not.

huŏ shāo méi mao – gù yăn qián
火烧眉毛 – 顾眼前
The fire is singeing the eyebrows. – concentrate on immediate matters.

hăi dǐ lāo yuè – bái fèi jìn
海底捞月 – 白费劲
Try to fish out the moon from the bottom of the sea – strive for the impossible or illusory; efforts in vain

guān cai shàng huà lăo hǔ – xià sǐ rén
棺材上画老虎 – 吓死人
Paint a tiger on a coffin – (literally) frighten the dead; (as a pun) frighten somebody to death

guān cai lǐ shēn shŏu – sǐ yào qián
棺材里伸手 – 死要钱
Reach out a hand for money even in one’s coffin – be greedy unto death; be a money-grubber

fēng chuī dēng long – yáo băi bù dìng
风吹灯笼 – 摇摆不定
The wind blows a lantern. – (literally) swing to and fro; (figuratively) blow hot and cold; vacillate; waver

fēi jī shàng diăn dēng – gāo míng
飞机上点灯 – 高明
Light a lamp in the airplane – 高 means “high” while 明 refers to “bright”. When the two Chinese characters put together, the word “高明” means “brilliant, wise”. This allegory is always used to imply it’s brilliant to do something.

Spring Festival falls on January 1 in Chinese lunar calendar. It is also called lunar New Year, or popularly referred to passing the year. It is the most important and the most bustling traditional folk festival in China. Spring Festival has a very long history, originated from the activities worshiping gods and ancestors at the turning of the year in Shang dynasty. According to our national lunar calendar, January 1 is called in the ancient times Yuanri, Yuanchen, Yuanzheng, Yuanshuo, Yuandan, etc., also popularly called Danianchuyi, meaning the first day of the new year. In Republic of China, the official calendar was changed to Gregorian calendar, on which January 1 is called Yuandan, while its counterpart on traditional lunar calendar is called Spring Festival.

The arrival of spring festival implies that the spring is coming, everything wakes up to life, trees and grass turn green again, and another new round of sowing and harvest begins. People have passed the long winter when the earth is covered with snow and ice, trees and grass get withered, they have long expected the arrival of spring when it gets warm and flowers blossom. It is quite natural that people will celebrate this special festival with singing and dancing, when the new spring comes. For hundreds of thousands of years, the spring festival celebration activities get extremely rich and colorful. Every year, on lunar calendar the period from December 23 to 30 are called days for welcoming the spring, also called dust cleaning days, on these days people clean their houses and have bath, which is a traditional custom for Chinese with a long history.

After spring cleaning and about ten days prior to the lunar New Year, each and every home prepares food and relevant stuff for spring festival, it is really a special time when people are busy purchasing. The items on the special purchase list include chicken, duck, fish, meat, tea, wine, oil, soya paste, baked nuts from south and north, sweets, fruits, and baked sunflower seeds, etc. Furthermore, people would prepare some gifts for visiting relatives and friends for the spring festival season. Parents would buy or make new clothes for the children to get ready for the new year.

Before Spring Festival, people would stick red paper with yellow blessing characters on the gate of the house, mainly in the form of spring couplets with red paper. Inside the house, bright colored pictures implying prosperity and good luck would be hung up on the wall, clever and deft girls make beautiful paper cuttings for window decoration. In front of the gate, red lanterns would be set up, and happiness paper, wealth god, door god would also be stuck on the gates. The happiness character can be stuck upside down, expecting passers-by may utter it is arranged upside down (same in pronunciation as coming), indicating that happiness and good fortune arrives. All of the above activities are to accumulate enough joyful atmosphere for the festival.

Another term for Spring Festival is passing the year. In the past, there is a legend which goes that, a fierce and evil monster called Nian (meaning year) would come to the human world and dash around to bring about bad luck and destructions. When it comes, all of the plants would wither and die; after it leaves, everything revives and flowers blossom everywhere on the earth. But, how can human beings drive away this horrible monster? Fireworks. People let off firecrackers to frighten off the vicious beast, so the custom of setting off fireworks comes into being. As a matter of fact, this custom is actually a way to escalate the joyous airs.

Spring Festival is a happy and harmonious festival, also an occasion for relatives to reunion. The children who are working or traveling away from home would have to return back home in this special time. The eve of the Spring Festival, i.e. the evening of lunar December 30 of the old year, is called Chuxi (meaning to eliminate the last evening of the old year), or reunion night. At this very turning point for old and new transference, sitting out the New Year’s Eve is one of the most important activities for spring festival customs. In this evening, all the members of the family would sit together to see off the old year and usher in the new year. People would sit around the table to eat delicious dishes and drink wine in the happiness of family reunion. People in the north have the custom of eating Jiaozi (a kind of dumpling). The first step of making Jiaozi is dough kneading, huomian in Chinese. The pronunciation Huo is the same as harmonious, while the pronunciation of Jiaozi is the same as connecting and midnight. Therefore, by eating Jiaozi, people celebrate the alternation of the old and new year at midnight, and expect the whole family be harmonious and successful in the next year. In the south, people would eat Niangao, a kind of Chinese New Year’s Cake made of glutinous rice. The sweet and sticky Niangao betokens that the life would be sweet and happy, and people would make higher and higher achievements in the next year. When the first crow of rooster comes, or the new year bell rings, firecrackers would be sounded one after another on streets – the new year arrives. Every one would dress up in their best clothes, greeting each other for new year wishes. Children would pay a formal respectful visit to their seniors saying wishes to them, while the seniors would often give some gifts or money to the young children. If the family members live separately, they would eat together today symbolizing reunion. From the second or third day of January, people begin to visit their relatives and friends to present gifts or wishes, expecting every one would be happy, fortunate, healthy, and successful in the new year. Ceremonies of worshiping ancestors would also be held.

The happy atmosphere is not only restricted inside homes, but also flows out to each street and alley. In some places, the local people would organize celebration activities, such as lion dancing, dragon dancing, folk music performing, flower market visiting, temple fair roaming, etc. In these days, colored lanterns are hung out everywhere, streets are packed with people, the view of which is extremely bustling. These rare-to-see celebrations would last to the Lantern Festival on lunar January 15, when the Spring Festival is formally over.

Spring Festival is the most important festival of Han Chinese, but a score of ethnic minorities also have the tradition to celebrate it, such as Manchurian, Mongolian, Yao, Zhuang, Bai, Gaoshan, Hezhe, Hani, Dawoer, Dong, Li, etc., only that they have their own special features, in which people can find interesting activities.