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

hé shang chī hūn – zhī f? fàn f?
和尚吃葷 – 知法犯法
A Buddhist monk takes meat. – know the law but break it; deliberately flout the law; knowingly violate the law

zhū bā jiè chī rén shēn gu? – quán bù zhī zī wèi
豬八戒吃人參果 – 全不知滋味
Zhu Bajie (Pig in Journey to the West, one of the four great classical novels of Chinese literature) eats ginseng fruit. – He doesn't know the taste at all. This allegory means either not appreciating the taste of food or not knowing the value of something.

sh?u ná jī dàn z?u huá lù – tí xīn diào d?n
手拿雞蛋走滑路 – 提心吊膽
Walk on a slippery road with eggs in your hands. – have one's heart in one's mouth; be on tenterhooks

jiāng biān mài shuǐ – duō cǐ yī jǔ
江邊賣水 – 多此一舉
Sell water at the riverside – make an unnecessary move

jiàn dào hú zi jiù shì yé ye – bù biàn zhēn ji?
見到胡子就是爺爺 – 不辨真假
Anyone is considered to be one's own grandpa, as long as he wears a beard. – fail to make a distinction between true and false

qiáng shàng guà rì lì – yī tiān biàn ge yàng
墻上掛日歷 – 一天變個樣
A calendar hangs on the wall. – It changes everyday; something changes all the time.

kuài dāo d? dòu fu – li?ng miàn guāng
快刀打豆腐 – 兩面光
Bean curd cut with a sharp knife – smooth on both sides. "兩面光 li?ng miàn guāng" is a common saying, meaning trying to please both parties, or being slick and sly.

l?o shǔ diào jìn shū xiāng lǐ – y?o wén jiáo zì
老鼠掉進書箱里 – 咬文嚼字
A mouse falls into a bookcase – chew up the pages. The phrase "咬文嚼字 y?o wén jiáo zì" is mostly used sarcastically to ridicule a pedant who is over-fastidious about wording but fails to grasp the essence of a text. Sometimes it refers to someone who parades his vocabulary just to show off.

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