Author Archives: Juan Bravo

Chinese Four-Character Proverb

Nationality: Chinese-American
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 27, 2011
Primary Language: English
Language: Some Spanish and Mandarin

The informant is an eighteen-year old student from Irvine, California currently studying in Los Angeles. His dad was born in India, and his mother was born in Hong Kong before they met in San Jose, CA and moved down to Orange County. He speaks some Spanish and can understand Cantonese, which is how he learned many of his proverbs. He shall be referred to as KT.

KT states that in Chinese culture, there are a series of four-character proverbs that can be summed up in a short, metaphorical sentence that relates back to a full tale.

KT: It was something like, to drain the fish- to drain the pond and catch all the fish. And it’s the story about this one warlord…and he wanted to win this battle, so he asked his two advisors how to win this battle and one of them tells him like how to basically, like, basically cheat in order to win with, like, dishonorable tactics. And the other one was like, ‘you, if you cheat this time, then no one will have any respect for you.’ It’s like you can drain the pond and get the fish, but then next year there won’t be any more fish for you to get.

KT went on to describe how the latter advisor was the wiser one, and the warlord opted to follow his advice. He explained how the proverb tells us that a shortcut may serve in the short term, but will hurt your reputation in the long term.

I agree with KT’s assessment. The proverb emphasizes that all actions taken are investments in one’s reputation, which is not something worth gambling with. This is in stark contrast to the idea of “all’s fair in love and war.” Even as a warlord, the man decided that it was better to act honorably and fairly than to risk damaging his image from a long term perspective. This devotion to honesty even in battle demonstrates a strict adherence to this value that not even the threat of fatal failure can deter.

Furthermore, the nature proverb of the pond emphasizes a cyclical idea. Draining a pond is beneficial in catching fish, but interrupts the natural flow of life. As such, the honest route seems to be more reflective of nature and the way things are meant to be, rather than an explosive interruption of cheating.

Chinese Four-Character Proverb

Nationality: Chinese-American
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 27, 2011
Primary Language: English
Language: Some Spandish and Mandarin

The informant is an eighteen-year old student from Irvine, California currently studying in Los Angeles. His dad was born in India, and his mother was born in Hong Kong before they met in San Jose, CA and moved down to Orange County. He speaks some Spanish and can understand Cantonese, which is how he learned many of his proverbs. He shall be referred to as KT.

KT states that in Chinese culture, there are a series of four-character proverbs that can be summed up in a short, metaphorical sentence that relates back to a full tale.

KT: It was something about, um, something like, ‘with sheer will, the mountain moves by itself.’ And If I recall correctly it was, it was about this guy, he was, um, one of those, he worked in a quarry, like a stonemason, I guess, and one day he wanted to, uh, he was for some reason he wanted to, like, carve a path through this mountain, to like, to get to the other side. For some reason, I can’t remember what. But, so every day he would go out to this mountain and he would, um, like, chip away at it to get some of like the crags and stones off the mountain, carve them away, but, um ,no matter how often he did that, the mountain didn’t seem to, like, change, because it’s a freakin’ mountain, he can’t really .. so he did this for years, like decades and then, um, I believe Buddha or like a god in heaven looks at this guy and he’s like, ‘oh he’s so determined, no matter how hard he tries, um, to move this mountain, he’s not going to be able to do it,’ but he has just, like a sheer amount of determination that, um, the Buddha actually decides to move the mountain for him. So after, like, decades of work, and he doesn’t, like, produce anything, he finally wakes up one morning, goes out to the mountain and he sees the mountain is gone, so his goal is finally realized.

KT went on to explain that he couldn’t remember the exact four characters that gave the moral of the story, but that it basically encapsulated the idea that hard work is rewarded. He went on to explain that he deeply believes this, thinking that sheer will and determination can cause something outside of one’s control to work for them.

This seems to be reflective of the intense discipline of Chinese culture. The man goes about his task alone (never asking for help), working for decades to accomplish his goal. Even faced with the daunting task of carving through a mountain, he does not deviate from his goal. In fact, it is his discipline rather than actual productivity that brings about his goal. As KT told me, Chinese culture is very much about enduring the struggles of life for great reward (see “Chinese proverb” in my collection), and this short story seems to be a form of encouragement: Even when one’s efforts don’t seem to be causing much good, the motivation behind them will ultimately result in great reward.

Annotation:

Eliot, Charles William, Aesop, Wilhelm Grimm, Jacob Grimm, and H. C. Andersen. Folk-lore and Fable: Æsop, Grimm, Andersen. [Whitefish, MT]: Kessinger Pub., 2004. Google Books.

This story immediately reminded me of a reversal of the Aesop fable of Hercules and the waggoner. In this story, a man is taking his wagon to market when it gets stuck in the mud. Before making any attempt, he prays to Hercules to help him. When Hercules appears, he demands that the man put his shoulder to the wheel before asking for help. In both stories, divine intervention has something to do with the accomplishment of a task. In the Chinese story, the man never asks for help. Instead, he receives help from the heavens due to his raw determination, as opposed to the waggoner who instead demonstrates no discipline but instead asks for help immediately. This comparison heightens the importance of a strong work ethic in Chinese culture, even more so than the story itself.

Chinese Proverb

Nationality: Chinese
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 27, 2011
Primary Language: English
Language: Some Spanish and Mandarin

The informant is an eighteen-year old student from Irvine, California currently studying in Los Angeles. His dad was born in India, and his mother was born in Hong Kong before they met in San Jose, CA and moved down to Orange County. He speaks some Spanish and can understand Cantonese, which is how he learned many of his proverbs. He shall be referred to as KT.

“Bitter medicine is the best medicine.”

KT told me that this came from his mother when she tried to get him to eat bitter melon as a child. She always believed that the healthiest foods are often the least appetizing and thus worth suffering through. KT then said that he initially believed that this was meant to encourage him to eat bitter foods because of their health, but later interpreted it in a broader context. He now believes it has more to do with how the best things in life often come at some expense, but are ultimately rewarding.

I felt this was largely reflective of KT’s Chinese culture, which emphasizes hard work and discipline. KT himself exemplifies this in his studies, as he is an honors student majoring in biology. The proverb recognizes that life is not always easy, but asserts that the best rewards come with the greatest challenges. Furthermore, the use of the term “medicine” has a corrective value to it. Thus, it seems that discipline is more than just a path to being exemplary: By KT’s broader, life-based interpretation, it is the cure to mediocrity.

Muslim Fable- Caliph Umar bin al-Khattab and his Slave

Nationality: Egyptian
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 28, 2011
Primary Language: Arabic
Language: English, French

The informant is a nineteen-year old student born in Australia who’s lived in Egypt for two years, England for two years, Jordan for four years, Egypt for two years, India for four years and currently resides in Los Angeles, CA for university.  He is the son of an Egyptian ambassador and speaks Arabic, English and French. He shall be referred to as SH. SH explains that there are a series of fables relating to Caliph Umar bin al-Khattab, mostly morality tales telling of his incredible sense of justness that is admired widely by Muslims. He details that he learned these orally from relatives when he was growing up. Here, he tells one that features the Khalifa entering the newly conquered city of Jerusalem:

SH: He, I believe like, they, this Caliph had actually, um, taken Jerusalem, and so he was traveling to Jerusalem to sort of like enter the city and one of the things he did, for example, was he would switch off between him and his slave, like, they were on a camel traveling the desert to Jerusalem and that’s when he would enter the city as the Caliph and sort of like, I dunno, I’m not sure exactly what that would entail. But he would enter the city so he was switching between him and his slave uh, you know, and, uh, at some point they were about to reach Jerusalem and it was the slaves turn to, you know, ride the camel so the slave tells him ‘you’re the Caliph, you can’t enter Jerusalem except on the camel’ and he says ‘no, no, it was your turn,’ so he enters Jerusalem, you know, holding the camel while the slave’s sitting on top of the camel, so that’s, you know, very fair, very just. This tale exhibits justness to the point of almost-shocking regal humility. While the Caliph is obviously ranked above his slave, he insists on allowing him his proper turn on the camel. As the relative of an important figure, SH heard this story within the context of relatives telling him about leadership. Aside from being an incredibly generous gesture to the slave, it is a very public gesture of his greater devotion to fairness than to his own high ranking. By my own analysis, I feel that this gesture would have seemed even more shocking in that time period. Today, if a president were seen letting an assistant drive his car, this would be worthy of great media attention. The social class difference between a Caliph and slave would be far greater, thus dramatizing the Caliph’s generous nature. By publicly entering the city this way, I feel the story is saying that such an expression was made to set a widespread example, which is clearly demonstrated by the story’s continued popularity in Muslim culture. Thus, listeners should take away that justness and fairness should always be practiced, even in the face of public scrutiny. Annotation: Mukarram, Ahmed M., and Muzaffar Husain Syed. Encyclopaedia of Islam. New Delhi: Anmol Publications, 2005. Google Books. A similar version of this story appears in an account of the history of Islam. In this version, the Caliph responds to the slave’s offer to ride with, “The honour of Islam (i.e. being Muslim) is enough for all of us.” This story also extends past SH’s version, as it includes the Caliph becoming angry at the Muslim commanders in the city for wearing expensive clothing and not living humbly as demanded by their religion. While still suggestive of great justness and humility, this story also shows a darker side of the Caliph and does not function as well as a fable. The focus of SH’s telling on the Caliph and the slave emphasizes humility in relations with others as opposed to engagement in an opulent lifestyle, thus serving as a better fable about leadership.

Southern Egyptian Proverb

Nationality: Egyptian
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 27, 2011
Primary Language: Arabic
Language: English, French

The informant is a nineteen-year old student born in Australia who’s lived in Egypt for two years, England for two years, Jordan for four years, Egypt for two years, India for four years and currently resides in Los Angeles, CA for university.  He is the son of an Egyptian ambassador and speaks Arabic, English and French. He shall be referred to as SH.

“If you have a lot of enemies, you probably have a very high fence.”

SH explains that this is used alternatively with the reflexive version (“If you have a high fence, you probably have a lot of enemies”). He further elaborates that it is usually told in the context of leaders (either to a leader, from a leader, or between leaders) in regards to justness. He explains how someone who is just has no reason to fear anyone, and thus should not worry about retribution from anyone. However, someone who is very defensive is likely to have wronged someone.

I thought that as the relative of an important figure, SH would likely have come across this proverb in that context. Upon further analysis, this proverb suggests that injustice will always receive retribution. As this is a common phrase in a Muslim area, there is a belief in a higher power that will doll out justice for someone who has been wronged. This seems to be an understanding on a mortal level as well; someone who has a lot of enemies does not expect to get away with their crime, but instead chooses to build a tall fence to protect him or herself. Thus, even those who commit injustice expect it to be returned to them in this society.