Excerpt from Proverbs and Common Sayings From the Chinese: Together With Much Related and Unrelated Matter, Interspersed With Observations on Chinese Things-in-General With the exception of the last fifty pages, this volume consists of material published in the Chinese Recorder, from 1882 to 1885. About 1,900 Phrases, Proverbs, Couplets, Odes, etc., are explained, but few of which, so far as the writer is aware, have been previously published. The hundred pages devoted to "Puns and other Linguistic Diversions," embracing more than 300 examples, open into an expansive territory, hitherto singularly neglected. Those who have not examined the proverbial sayings of the Chinese are surprised at the richness of the language in this respect. The inquiry has been often made where so many proverbs are to be found, and the suggestion occasionally hazarded that the author "made them up out of his own head." Those most acquainted with the resources of the colloquial will best understand how unnecessary is such a theory. Only a small part of the ample materials available has been here presented. In several instances unauthorized characters, or authorized characters in unauthorized senses, have been allowed to stand, since there seemed to be no better way to express the colloquial idea. To the articles as originally published there was for a great length of time appended an invitation to any reader who observed in them errors of fact, or mistranslations, to communicate them to the author, who promised to be duly grateful. To this suggestion no attention was ever paid by any human being. This might be accounted for either on the supposition that there were no readers, that there were no mistakes, or that such readers as there were preferred to attend to their own terrestrial concerns, and, as the Chinese adage runs, allow the sick man to furnish his own perspiration. In so wide a field as is covered by this volume, it is indeed certain that there must be many errors, due, as Dr. Johnson said of one of his false definitions, to "pure ignorance." The method of publication has greatly facilitated the multiplication of mistakes. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.