Zhou Yanxian - Two Thousand Zhuang Proverbs from China with Annotations and Chinese and English Translation

Alan Dundes
Founding Editor
Wolfgang Mieder
General Editor
Vol. 11

This book is a volume in a Peter Lang monograph series.
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PETER LANG

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Zhou Yanxian

Two Thousand Zhuang Proverbs from China with Annotations and Chinese and English Translation

PETER LANG

New York Bern Frankfurt Berlin
Brussels Vienna Oxford Warsaw

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Zhou, Yanxian (Professor), editor, translator.
Title: Two thousand Zhuang proverbs from China with annotations and Chinese and English translation / [edited and translated by] Zhou Yanxian.
Description: New York: Peter Lang
Series: International folkloristics; Volume 11 | ISSN 1528-6533
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016014987 | ISBN 978-1-4331-3445-6 (hardcover: alk. paper)
ISBN 978-1-4539-1892-0 (ebook pdf) | ISBN 978-1-4331-3652-8 (epub)
ISBN 978-1-4331-3653-5 (mobi) | DOI 10.3726/978-1-4539-1892-0
Subjects: LCSH: Proverbs, Chinese. | Zhuang language.
Classification: LCC PN6519.C5 T96 | DDC 398.9/951dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016014987
Bibliographic information published by Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek.
Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available on the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de/.

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CONTENTS

220 | 221

AANIMALS AND PLANTS

BFESTIVALS

CFOOD, DRINKS, AND FRUITS

DGEOGRAPHY

EHISTORICAL FIGURES

FINSTRUMENTS

GLITERARY WORKS

HOCCUPATIONS

IPERIODS OF TIME

JRELIGIOUS TERMS/WORDS

KSOLAR TERMS (all dates refer to the Chinese lunar calendar)

LTOOLS AND TECHNOLOGY

MUNITS OF WEIGHT, LENGTH, AREAS, ETC.

NOTHERS

April the eighth (B)

also called Ox Day, a traditional festival for some ethnic groups in South China, like the Zhuang, the Dong, the Gelao, and the Molao, to worship the Ox God

Bailu (K)

White Dew, the 15th solar term, usually falls on September 7 or 8 221 | 222

Baogong (E)

Bao Zheng, a celebrated historical figure, is portrayed as Baogong in a classic Chinese novel. Baogong in popular usage refers to someone who is upright and honest.

calabash (A)

a round gourd of the calabash tree

chicken (A)

an important livestock Zhuang people have raised for a long time, and a very popular food Zhuang people eat

civet cat (A)

a catlike mammal, usually a favorite meat for the Zhuang

Chunshe Festival (B)

a festival celebrated by the Zhuang at the beginning of spring before rice planting when they worship the Land God and pray for a good harvest in the coming year

Chushu (K)

Limit of Heat, the 14th solar term, usually falls around August 23

Ciba (C)

a kind of Zhuang traditional food made of sticky rice

Chi (M)

a unit of length, equals one third of a meter

Cun (M)

a unit of length, ten Cun makes a Chi, three Chi makes a meter

Dahan (K)

Great Cold, the 24th solar term, usually falls on January 20 or 21

Daogong (H)

an expert who performs religious rites of Daoism, a foreign religion that has been merged into Zhuang indigenous religions

Dashu (K)

Great Heat, the 12th solar term, usually falls on July 23 or 24

Daxue (K)

Great Snow, the 21st solar term, usually falls around December 7

Dongzhi (K)

Winter Solstice, the 22nd solar term, usually falls on December 21, 22, or 23

dragon (A)

A traditional pictorial figure of China and a creature in Chinese mythology. Chinese people call themselves Descendants of the Dragon ().

dragon dances (B)

a traditional dance played with a man-made dragon during Zhuang festivals like March the Third and the Spring Festival

drum (F)

a very common instrument used by the Zhuang on traditional festivals or during religious rites 222 | 223

Duanwu Festival (B)

falls on May the fifth, a festival in the memory of Quyuan, a great patriot and poet of the Chu State during the Warring States Period

Eating Fresh Rice Day (B)

June (in the Chinese lunar calendar) is a harvest season. Zhuang people eat fresh rice to celebrate the harvest on June the sixth.

five-colored sticky rice (C)

Cooked sticky rice with five colors (red, black, yellow, purple and white) which are dyed with plant leaves; is used as offerings by the Zhuang during the Qingming Festival, also called Tomb Sweeping Day and March the Third. Its a very important Zhuang festival when its time to sweep tombs of the dead and their ancestors.

flood dragon (A)

in Zhuang ancient legends, flood dragons live in deep water and often cause floods; flood dragons are given offerings every year, esp. when there is a flood.

flute (F)

a high-pitched woodwind instrument; a slender tube closed at one end with finger holes on one end and an opening near the closed end across which the breath is blown

fox (A)

usually represents as a small fry or a person of little importance

gong (F)

a very common instrument used by the Zhuang in traditional festivals and during religious rites

ghost (J)

in Zhuang primitive religious belief, a ghost is the visible disembodied soul of a dead person that has an ugly look and usually frightens people.

Ghost Festival (B)

Falls on the fourteenth day of lunar July so it is called July 14. In some places, people also call it the Zhongyuan Festival. This is the most important traditional festival for Zhuang people, and duck is the most popular food to eat then.

Guyu (K)

Grain Rain, the 6th solar term, usually falls on April 19, 20, or 21

indigo (A)

a kind of plant used to dye cloth black or blue, as well as to paint walls

ink (L)

A metaphor of learning and knowledge. The saying A learned man has ink inside implies that a learned man has a lot of knowledge.

Jin (M)

a unit of weight, equals 500 grams

Jingzhe (K)

Insects Awaken, the 3rd solar term, usually falls on March 5, 6, or 7

Journey to the West (G)

An epic written by Wu Chengen during the Ming dynasty about the historical journey taken by Xuanang. On this seventeen-year overland journey to India, he was accompanied 223 | 224 by his disciples Sunwukong, Zhubajie, and Shaseng. In the end, they arrived successfully and got the scriptures, so Xuan Zang was honored with Zhantan Buddha by Rulai Buddha Palm. The Buddha in this proverb refers to Xuan Zang.

Kitchen Gods Day (B)

Falls on December 23 in the Chinese lunar calendar. It is also called Small Year as it is viewed as the beginning of the Spring Festival. Zhuang people clean their kitchens and offer sacrifices to the Kitchen God, sending him to heaven before welcoming him back on New Years Eve.