Chinese
Proverbs
Concerning
Families
All
quotations
“Every family
has
a goddess
of
Mercy;
every place
has
Amita Buddha.”
(p.291)
“There is
no dipper
which
never
strikes the edge
of
the cooking boiler.”
[“The ladle
is made of brass,
and
in dipping out
the food,
it is certain
now and then
to hit
the iron kettle.
This is used
to indicate
that
there is no family
ideally harmonious,
for
there are
sure to be
little domestic
‘unpleasantnesses’,
as unpremeditated
and
as inevitable
as
the collision
between
dipper and kettle.”
(p.293)]
[“... children
“The family
which stores up
virtue,
will have
an exuberance
of happiness;
the family
which stores up
vice,
will have
an exuberance
of calamity.”
(p.43)
hardly decide
family disputes.”
(p.292)
a visitation
of Heaven
to punish
the
parents’ sin.”
(p.305)]
family foes,
and
‘oppressors
of the family’;
no sons
and
no daughters --
freedom
from
care
and anxiety.”
(p.300,
paraphrased)
[“... when
twist around
the thigh.”
[“This means
that
a younger
generation
cannot hope
to circumvent
an elder.”
(p.258)]
one daughter,
one
flower-stalk;
many sons
and
many daughters,
many
family wrongs.”
(p.301)
rear two --
if you
rear two
you will be
like
Ling Kuan's
horses;
if you
rear sons
do not
rear three --
if you
rear three,
you
will have
no home
at all.”
[This
proverb
is based on
the
understanding
that
the final object
of
having children
is
to benefit
the parents.
When,
for example,
the mother
has
grown old,
and
is obliged
to live
with
her children,
if there
are two
she will
be made
to go
from one
to another,
and
have no rest.
Ling Kuan
is
said to be
the title
of
a deified
Chou Dynasty
officer
named
Wang,
who
was always
on
a detail
to subjugate
some kingdom
in
the extreme West,
or
to tranquilize
some region
in
the remote East.
Thus his
horses’ hoofs
never
had
any rest.
A mother
who lives
with
two sons,
may expect
a similar experience,
but
if she
have three,
‘It will be
still worse,
for then
she
will never be
at home
anywhere.’
In
a word
‘He
who has
many sons,
will
have
many fears’.”
(p.301)]
dutiful,
there is
no need
of wishing
for many,
one such
is equal
to ten
[of
the ordinary kind].”
(p.301)
[“The parental
love
for children,
even
at
their worst,
is indicated
in
the expression,
‘Pleasure-going
troubles’.
So also,
‘Children
are
visible joys’.”
(p.302)]
the relations
between
Chinese parents
and
their children
is
to be found
an explanation
of
the otherwise
inexplicable dislike
of daughters.
‘Men
rear sons
to
provide for
old age;
they
plant trees,
because
they want
the shade.’
But this
holds true
of sons
only,
not
of daughters.
By
the time
a girl
would begin
to repay
the trouble
expended
in rearing her,
she
is betrothed
and
becomes
an
additional burden.
Her wedding
is
a drain
on
the family resources,
for
which
there is
no compensation.
After
her marriage
she is
the exclusive
property
of
the husband’s
family,
and
as beyond
control
of her parents,
as water
which has
burst
its banks.”
(p.302)]
helpless,
and
widowed,
the daughter
cannot
care
for her.
‘Wild grain
does not
go for
Grain Taxes;
a daughter
does not
support
her mother.’
Upon
these terms,
it is not,
perhaps,
surprising
that
when daughters
are
most enthusiastically
welcomed
at their birth,
it is
with
the philosophic
reflection,
‘Girls
too
are necessary!”
(p.303)]
of two
old dames
who had not
seen each other
for
many
a long year,
and
who
one day met.
‘How
do things go?’,
said one
to
the other,
‘How is
your son’s business,
and
what kind
of
a daughter-in-law
have you?’
To this
the
answer was,
‘My
son’s business
is fairly good,
but
the daughter-in-law
is bad --
she steals
from us
for
her mother.’
‘And
your
married daughter,
what
about her?’
‘Ah!’
was
the reply,
‘If it had
not been
for the help
I got from
that
daughter,
we
should not
have been able
to
get on
at all!’”
(p.293)]
[“In
“Beat
the mule,
and
terrify
the horse
as well.”
(p.349)
[“The words
CHIEN KU JOU,
‘cheap bones
and meat’,
signify one
who
is without
sense
of propriety
and
self-respect,
and
who needlessly
provokes
others
to vilify
and
to beat him."
(p.361)]
[“The
words
P’I CHIANG
signify
one
who works
in leather,
but
KUA P’I CHIANG
is
a satirical designation
for one
who is
an
insufferable nuisance --
as
if he
rubbed
the skin off
from
others.”
(p.361)]
[“...as
Mencius
observes,
when
those
in
a superior station
are devoted
to anything,
those
below them
will be
even
more devoted
to
the same thing.”
(p.321)]
their origin
have
a nature
which is
originally good.”
(p.303)
a child
is like
the heart
of Buddha."
(p.303)
[“The
common jest
on
a rainy day,
when one’s
ordinary occupation
is
interrupted:
‘A
cloudy day --
leisure
to beat
the children’.”
(p.304)]
“A broken arm
is
hidden
in
the sleeve;
tears
flowing
into
one’s stomach.”
[“Used
of one
who
quietly
suffers loss."
(p.258)]
[“The phrase
WO NANG PAO
is used
of one
much abused,
but
not daring
to make
a disturbance,
or
not knowing
how
to carry it
through,
and
who
therefore
is
compelled
to smother
his Wrath.”
(p.298)]
in contempt
of one
who
has been
reviled,
but
who
has made
no defense,
that
he feels
no pain --
he has
grown used
to it.”
(p.295)]
to children
is
alluded to
in many sayings:
‘The tiger,
though
fierce,
does
not devour
its cubs.’
(p.305)]
with
a child
in
one’s arms --
willing
oneself
to pawn
the child,
but
the Shopkeeper
will not
take him
in pawn.”
of Chinese
residence,
those
who
have become
bitter enemies,
reviling
each other
at sight,
are
‘Still
neighbors
as before’,
just as
a daughter,
though
often beaten,
is
still
an 'own daughter'.
This
saying
is employed
to urge
to
Kind Treatment
of children,
and
to
Forbearance
toward neighbors.
(p.295)]
repeatedly
called
to
the constant
Chinese habit
of using language
intended
to be
indirectly abusive
of another.
(...)
The command
of
a vocabulary
of abuse
is
apparently
universal
in China,
as well
among women
and children
as
among men.
Children
are
often taught
it assiduously
as
soon as
they can talk,
that
their elders
may
be amused
by
the strange contrast
between
the infantile innocence
of the speaker,
and
the vileness
and
virulence
of
its language.
The result
is that
everyone
can
hold his own
in
a reviling match,
which
is
the form
which many
Chinese quarrels
assume.
‘In reviling,’
says
the proverb,
‘it is
not necessary
to prepare
a preliminary draft.’
aspect
of
Chinese
human nature
is presented
in
the saying:
‘Strike
a man’s
head,
but
do not
strike him
in
the face;
when
you
revile
a man,
do not
attack
his character.’
The explanation
of this
somewhat
singular direction,
is that
a man’s skull
can be hammered
for
a long time,
and
with considerable
violence,
yet
without
much
apparent damage,
and
without causing
great loss
of blood;
whereas
if
his face
were battered,
and
if
he should go
to
the Magistrate
with
a complaint,
he
would have
a strong case
against
the assailant.
In
like manner,
one
may go
great lengths
in reviling,
but
should he
‘twit on facts’
to
too great
an extent,
his enemy
will be
so exasperated,
as to
make
serious trouble!”
(p.295)
Dominoes
in
a family
will introduce
Retribution.”
(p.366)
ten fingers
there are
long
and
short ones.”
[“This
proverb
is used
to denote
that
however numerous
the sons
of
the same parents
they are
all
of different
dispositions.”
(p.258)]
“Of
the hundred
Virtues
filial conduct
is
the chief,
but
it must be
judged
by
the intentions
and
not
by acts,
for
judged
by acts
there
would
not be
a filial son
in
the world.”
(p.292)
[“The doctrine
of Filial Piety
upon
which
the Chinese
lay
so much stress,
is,
as has been
often pointed out,
so entirely
defective
in enforcing
the duties
of parents
to children,
that
we here find
one
of the
weakest spots
in
the Chinese
social system.”
(p.306)]
Proverbs
Concerning
Families
quotations
from
“PEARLS
OF
WISDOM
FROM
CHINA”,
by
Arthur H. Smith,
first published
in 1888
under
the title
“PROVERBS
AND
COMMON
SAYINGS
FROM
THE CHINESE”:
[Commentaries
on
Chinese customs
by
Arthur H. Smith
will appear
in brackets
like this.]
“Each
generation
is worse
than
the last.”
(p.245)“Every family
has
a goddess
of
Mercy;
every place
has
Amita Buddha.”
(p.291)
“There is
no dipper
which
never
strikes the edge
of
the cooking boiler.”
[“The ladle
is made of brass,
and
in dipping out
the food,
it is certain
now and then
to hit
the iron kettle.
This is used
to indicate
that
there is no family
ideally harmonious,
for
there are
sure to be
little domestic
‘unpleasantnesses’,
as unpremeditated
and
as inevitable
as
the collision
between
dipper and kettle.”
(p.293)]
“Every
family
has a book
that is
hard to read."
[“There
is a skeleton
in every house.”
(p.291)]
“Nobody’s
family
can hang up
the sign
‘NOTHING
THE MATTER
HERE’.”
[“Every
family
has
its troubles.”
(p.293)]
are
by no means
considered
an
unmingled blessing.”
(p.299)]
which stores up
virtue,
will have
an exuberance
of happiness;
the family
which stores up
vice,
will have
an exuberance
of calamity.”
(p.43)
“When virtue
is
not stored up,
fame
cannot
be attained;
when
wickedness
is
not accumulated,
it does not
destroy
the body."
(p.44)
[“... a vicious
child
is
a punishment
inflicted
in
the present life.”
(p.300)]
“Even
an
upright Magistrate
canhardly decide
family disputes.”
(p.292)
[“... children
area visitation
of Heaven
to punish
the
parents’ sin.”
(p.305)]
“Many sons
and
many daughters --
manyfamily foes,
and
‘oppressors
of the family’;
no sons
and
no daughters --
freedom
from
care
and anxiety.”
(p.300,
paraphrased)
“A poor
family
rearing
a child,
is oppressed
by
poverty
for
three years.”
(p.300)
the father
is unkind
and
the son
un-filial,
this is
‘Wrong
and Injustice’;
when
the father
and son
are inharmonious,
this is
‘Resentment’.
But
when
the father
is
truly paternal,
and
the son
really filial,
this is
‘Fate’.”
(p.301,
paraphrased)]
“The elbow
cannottwist around
the thigh.”
[“This means
that
a younger
generation
cannot hope
to circumvent
an elder.”
(p.258)]
“A son
successfully
reared
is
a real son,
otherwise
he is
a trouble
to the family.”
(p.301)
“One son
andone daughter,
one
flower-stalk;
many sons
and
many daughters,
many
family wrongs.”
(p.301)
“If you
rear sons
do notrear two --
if you
rear two
you will be
like
Ling Kuan's
horses;
if you
rear sons
do not
rear three --
if you
rear three,
you
will have
no home
at all.”
[This
proverb
is based on
the
understanding
that
the final object
of
having children
is
to benefit
the parents.
When,
for example,
the mother
has
grown old,
and
is obliged
to live
with
her children,
if there
are two
she will
be made
to go
from one
to another,
and
have no rest.
Ling Kuan
is
said to be
the title
of
a deified
Chou Dynasty
officer
named
Wang,
who
was always
on
a detail
to subjugate
some kingdom
in
the extreme West,
or
to tranquilize
some region
in
the remote East.
Thus his
horses’ hoofs
never
had
any rest.
A mother
who lives
with
two sons,
may expect
a similar experience,
but
if she
have three,
‘It will be
still worse,
for then
she
will never be
at home
anywhere.’
In
a word
‘He
who has
many sons,
will
have
many fears’.”
(p.301)]
“If one’s
sons
are onlydutiful,
there is
no need
of wishing
for many,
one such
is equal
to ten
[of
the ordinary kind].”
(p.301)
love
for children,
even
at
their worst,
is indicated
in
the expression,
‘Pleasure-going
troubles’.
So also,
‘Children
are
visible joys’.”
(p.302)]
“When
a child
goes abroad
he takes
his
mother’s hand.”
[“This
would appear
to be
another form
of the saying
that
‘The child
cannot
leave
his mother,
as
a melon
cannot
be separated
from
its stem’.
But
the word ‘hand’
here
represents
‘handiwork’,
and
the proverb means
that
the character
and
workmanship
of
the child’s dress
show
what kind
of work
the mother
does,
whether
she is
industrious
or idle.”
(p.358)]
“Even
a skillful
housewife
cannot
manage
four children.”
[“This
saying
is one
of those
touches of nature
which show
that
the whole world
is kin.
What
with
cooking,
mending,
and the
general management
of domestic affairs,
the most expert
administrator
must
soon reach
the limit
of her powers.”
(p.302)]
[“In
the selfish nature
ofthe relations
between
Chinese parents
and
their children
is
to be found
an explanation
of
the otherwise
inexplicable dislike
of daughters.
‘Men
rear sons
to
provide for
old age;
they
plant trees,
because
they want
the shade.’
But this
holds true
of sons
only,
not
of daughters.
By
the time
a girl
would begin
to repay
the trouble
expended
in rearing her,
she
is betrothed
and
becomes
an
additional burden.
Her wedding
is
a drain
on
the family resources,
for
which
there is
no compensation.
After
her marriage
she is
the exclusive
property
of
the husband’s
family,
and
as beyond
control
of her parents,
as water
which has
burst
its banks.”
(p.302)]
[“If
her mother
is old,helpless,
and
widowed,
the daughter
cannot
care
for her.
‘Wild grain
does not
go for
Grain Taxes;
a daughter
does not
support
her mother.’
Upon
these terms,
it is not,
perhaps,
surprising
that
when daughters
are
most enthusiastically
welcomed
at their birth,
it is
with
the philosophic
reflection,
‘Girls
too
are necessary!”
(p.303)]
“The
husband’s family
raises
its head,
the wife’s family
drops
its head.”
[“The
family
of
the husband
should be
superior
in wealth,
prestige, etc.,
to
that
of the wife --
should
hold
its head
higher.”
(p.354)]
“When
a daughter
has
grown up,
she
is like
smuggled salt.”
[“The
only security
is
to see her
safely married
as
early
as possible."
(p.292)]
“Daughters
must not be
kept home
unmarried;
if
they are
forcibly kept
in
this condition,
it
is sure
to breed enmity.”
(p.303)
[“There is
a storyof two
old dames
who had not
seen each other
for
many
a long year,
and
who
one day met.
‘How
do things go?’,
said one
to
the other,
‘How is
your son’s business,
and
what kind
of
a daughter-in-law
have you?’
To this
the
answer was,
‘My
son’s business
is fairly good,
but
the daughter-in-law
is bad --
she steals
from us
for
her mother.’
‘And
your
married daughter,
what
about her?’
‘Ah!’
was
the reply,
‘If it had
not been
for the help
I got from
that
daughter,
we
should not
have been able
to
get on
at all!’”
(p.293)]
China
names
are things --
sacred
things.
Even
a son
must not
speak
his
father’s name."
(p.45)]
[“... an
old man
presumes on
his being
an
old man,
to do
as
he pleases,
irrespective
of
Right or Wrong."
(p.344)]
[“One
of
the very few
current aphorisms
which
suggest
any
duties at all
on the part
of parents
towards
children,
bases
the demand
for
Kind treatment
on
the fact
that
extreme severity
will prevent
the children
from being
filial,
in
which case
the parents
may have
all
their trouble
for
nothing."
(p.303)]
[“... the
word
CH’UAN
means
to exhort,
and
TA HAI TZU
means
to
beat a child,
but
CH’UAN JEN
TA HAI TZU
means
to
exhort
a person
to
stop beating
a child.”
(p.348)
“Beat
the mule,
and
terrify
the horse
as well.”
(p.349)
[“The words
CHIEN KU JOU,
‘cheap bones
and meat’,
signify one
who
is without
sense
of propriety
and
self-respect,
and
who needlessly
provokes
others
to vilify
and
to beat him."
(p.361)]
[“The
words
P’I CHIANG
signify
one
who works
in leather,
but
KUA P’I CHIANG
is
a satirical designation
for one
who is
an
insufferable nuisance --
as
if he
rubbed
the skin off
from
others.”
(p.361)]
“If
the father
and mother
are
not lenient,
it
will be
difficult
to
bring about
a filial course
on
the part
of
the children.”
(p.303)
[“The same
reasoning
is
applied to
the behavior
of
the Prince
toward
his people,
and
with
a similar motive.
‘If
the Prince
is not upright,
the ministers
are sure
not to be
loyal;
if the father
is not
compassionate,
the son
is
certain
not
to be
filial’.”
(p.303)]
Mencius
observes,
when
those
in
a superior station
are devoted
to anything,
those
below them
will be
even
more devoted
to
the same thing.”
(p.321)]
“To rear
and
not educate,
is
a father’s fault.”
(p.40)
“A Phoenix
is not
to be got
from
a hen’s nest.”
(p.254)
“There are
smoked chickens
and
smoked ducks,
but
no
smoked men.”
(p.206)
[“The
expression
‘smoking
a man’
is employed
of
abusive,
depreciatory
or
threatening language.
The saying
means
that
while fowls
are
to be cured
by
a smoking process,
this
treatment
should not
be extended
to
human beings.”
(p.206)]
“Men,
at
their birth,
are
by nature
radically
good.”
(p.40)
“All mankind
attheir origin
have
a nature
which is
originally good.”
(p.303)
“The heart
ofa child
is like
the heart
of Buddha."
(p.303)
[“And
when
the facts
recorded
by observation
and experience
cannot
readily
be harmonized
with
this generalization,
it is
equally easy
to argue,
as is
often done
when dissuading
from
punishing
a child:
‘When the tree
has
grown large
it will
straighten itself.’
In practice,
the method
of treating
a child
born
obstreperous --
is
to let him
alone,
and
hope for
the best.
To
this effect
is
the following
saying:
‘A violent
boy
will turn out
well;
a turbulent
girl
is sure
to be skillful’.”
(p.304)]
course
of things
when
anyone
really undertakes
any discipline
of children,
is
well expressed
in
the proverb,
‘Domestic
chickens
only fly
round and round,
wild chickens
fly
into
the skies.’
One’s
own children
cannot
get away --
those of others
run home.”
(p.304)]
[“It is
acommon jest
on
a rainy day,
when one’s
ordinary occupation
is
interrupted:
‘A
cloudy day --
leisure
to beat
the children’.”
(p.304)]
“A broken arm
is
hidden
in
the sleeve;
tears
flowing
into
one’s stomach.”
[“Used
of one
who
quietly
suffers loss."
(p.258)]
“To
knock out
a tooth,
and
swallow it.”
[“Used
of one
who
quietly
suffers loss.”
(p.258)]
WO NANG PAO
is used
of one
much abused,
but
not daring
to make
a disturbance,
or
not knowing
how
to carry it
through,
and
who
therefore
is
compelled
to smother
his Wrath.”
(p.298)]
[“It is
saidin contempt
of one
who
has been
reviled,
but
who
has made
no defense,
that
he feels
no pain --
he has
grown used
to it.”
(p.295)]
[“The love
of parentsto children
is
alluded to
in many sayings:
‘The tiger,
though
fierce,
does
not devour
its cubs.’
(p.305)]
“Cats
love
their kittens,
and
dogs
their pups --
if they
are not
one’s own,
one
does not
care
for them.”
(p.305)
“Entering
a Pawn Shopwith
a child
in
one’s arms --
willing
oneself
to pawn
the child,
but
the Shopkeeper
will not
take him
in pawn.”
[ Used
of one
who considers
himself
to be
‘Somebody’
but
who is
despised
by others.”
(p.209)]
[“Owing
to
the fixityof Chinese
residence,
those
who
have become
bitter enemies,
reviling
each other
at sight,
are
‘Still
neighbors
as before’,
just as
a daughter,
though
often beaten,
is
still
an 'own daughter'.
This
saying
is employed
to urge
to
Kind Treatment
of children,
and
to
Forbearance
toward neighbors.
(p.295)]
[“In
a country
where
‘the chief end
of
a man’
is
to leave
posterity,
to point out
that one
has
no children
is considered
not only
in
bad taste,
but
actually abusive.
‘A fallen tree
that casts
no shade;
a battle array
which destroys
all the enemy.’
(...)
‘A man
who
has no sons
is called
a
CHUEH HU;
a road
which
leads
nowhere ...”
(p.297)]
“What
fasten
to
the heart’s
strings,
and
pull on
the liver,
are
one’s
sons
and daughters.”
(p.305)
[“Attention
has beenrepeatedly
called
to
the constant
Chinese habit
of using language
intended
to be
indirectly abusive
of another.
(...)
The command
of
a vocabulary
of abuse
is
apparently
universal
in China,
as well
among women
and children
as
among men.
Children
are
often taught
it assiduously
as
soon as
they can talk,
that
their elders
may
be amused
by
the strange contrast
between
the infantile innocence
of the speaker,
and
the vileness
and
virulence
of
its language.
The result
is that
everyone
can
hold his own
in
a reviling match,
which
is
the form
which many
Chinese quarrels
assume.
‘In reviling,’
says
the proverb,
‘it is
not necessary
to prepare
a preliminary draft.’
Among
a people
who are
universal revilers
it might be
expected
that
abusive language
would pass
comparatively
unnoticed,
being
too common
to attract attention.
But
if used
otherwise
than as
a playful banter,
the person
toward whom
it is
directed
is obliged
to
take notice of it,
otherwise
he
‘loses face’.
An attack
of this sort
is like
‘check’
in Chess,
the player
must
either
take
a new position,
capture
his adversary,
or
interpose something
between
his adversary
and himself.
The latter
is
the most
common mode
of adjustment,
that
through
‘Peace-talkers’,
which ends
in
a grand feast
of native reconciliation,
or
failing that,
in
an irreparable Breach.
This
simple theory
of reviling,
and
its orthodox
treatment,
contains
an explanation
of
the inception
of thousands
of lawsuits
and millions
of fights.
A
characteristicaspect
of
Chinese
human nature
is presented
in
the saying:
‘Strike
a man’s
head,
but
do not
strike him
in
the face;
when
you
revile
a man,
do not
attack
his character.’
The explanation
of this
somewhat
singular direction,
is that
a man’s skull
can be hammered
for
a long time,
and
with considerable
violence,
yet
without
much
apparent damage,
and
without causing
great loss
of blood;
whereas
if
his face
were battered,
and
if
he should go
to
the Magistrate
with
a complaint,
he
would have
a strong case
against
the assailant.
In
like manner,
one
may go
great lengths
in reviling,
but
should he
‘twit on facts’
to
too great
an extent,
his enemy
will be
so exasperated,
as to
make
serious trouble!”
(p.295)
“Dice
andDominoes
in
a family
will introduce
Retribution.”
(p.366)
“Among
theten fingers
there are
long
and
short ones.”
[“This
proverb
is used
to denote
that
however numerous
the sons
of
the same parents
they are
all
of different
dispositions.”
(p.258)]
“Of
the hundred
Virtues
filial conduct
is
the chief,
but
it must be
judged
by
the intentions
and
not
by acts,
for
judged
by acts
there
would
not be
a filial son
in
the world.”
(p.292)
“No
Work
are
two Fairies”
[“The Chinese
dictum
corresponds
to the observation
in
the ‘Essays
of Elia:
“A man
can never
have too much
Time
to himself,
nor
too little
to do.
Had I
a little son,
I would
Christen him
'NOTHING
TO DO';
he should
do nothing.
Man,
I
verily believe,
is out
of his element
as long
as he
is operative.”
To
the same effect
is
the saying:
‘To be
entirely
at leisure
for one day
is to be
for
one day
an Immortal’.”
(p.291)]
[“The
Chinese
are
far too good
observers
of
human nature,
not to
have discovered
that
the love
of parents
for children --
especially
the mother-love
which knows
no oblivion,
and is
irrespective
of time --
is
of
a totally
different
quality
from
the love
of children
for parents,
which
under
no circumstances
can be
expected
to stretch
its mourning
beyond
the three years
fixed by
immemorial custom.
Hence
the saying:
‘There are
only
affectionate
fathers
and mothers,
but
no affectionate
sons
and daughters’.”
(p.305)]
“There are
in
the world
no parents
who are
not good,
and
the most
difficult thing
in life
is
to secure
brothers.”
(p.305)
“A father
and mother
can do
without
their
children,
but
children
cannot
do without
their father
and mother.”
(p.305)
“One
may
give up
a father
though
he be
a Magistrate,
but
not
a mother
though
she be
a Beggar.”
(p.305)
“You only
prognosticate
after
the horse
has gone!”
[“The
expression
is used
of one
who repents
of his acts
too late,
who sees
the folly
when
it cannot
be helped.”
(p.365)]
[“... it is
one thing
to
know
the right way,
and
another thing
to
walk
in it.”
(p.366)]
[“The doctrine
of Filial Piety
upon
which
the Chinese
lay
so much stress,
is,
as has been
often pointed out,
so entirely
defective
in enforcing
the duties
of parents
to children,
that
we here find
one
of the
weakest spots
in
the Chinese
social system.”
(p.306)]
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