Chinese Proficiency Test: Idioms, Common Expressions, and Proverbs

Sometimes I wish this book had existed when I was a student. Chinese Proficiency Test: Idioms, Common Expressions, and Proverbs is one such book.

Long ago, when I was a student, I was obsessed with memorizing Chinese idioms. I am not a good speaker. My mind is also slow. For someone like me, idioms and proverbs were reliable allies, like small change in my pocket. Conversations with Chinese people. Natives would talk endlessly like a flood. I would mutter an idiom once every few minutes. When the usage hit the mark, I would be admired. If the meaning or usage was slightly off, I would be laughed at, but it would get a laugh. I feel the latter happened more often.

The people I conversed with in Chinese during my student days were mostly older than me, with decades more life experience—teachers, or members of the older generation of overseas Chinese who loved Peking opera. Ideally, I should have engaged in spirited conversation using my own original words and ideas. But for a weak conversationalist like me, that was impossible. Memorized set phrases were a reassuring weapon.

Now, Chinese Proficiency Test: Idioms, Common Expressions, and Proverbs is an orthodox study guide. However, I feel a unique "ambition" that sets it apart from similar books. What is it? You can understand it by reading the column article "Mao Zedong, the Genius Language Artist," which is casually placed near the end of the book. Mao Zedong skillfully used idioms, common expressions, and proverbs in his speeches and writings to capture people's hearts. It is a short column, but it explains in detail with concrete examples.

In his 1942 speech "Oppose Stereotyped Party Writing," Mao Zedong criticized those among our comrades who liked to write long articles that had no content, calling them "like the foot-binding cloth of a lazy woman, long and smelly." “烂婆娘的裹脚，又长又臭” is a vulgar, witty phrase that even illiterate commoners could understand by hearing it. His sense in using this to criticize intellectual pretension is truly remarkable.

In 1944, at a memorial service for a low-ranking soldier who died in a charcoal kiln accident, Mao Zedong quoted the famous classical Chinese saying by Sima Qian, “重于泰山，轻于鸿毛” (heavier than Mount Tai, lighter than a swan's feather), stating that death for the sake of the people's interests is heavier than Mount Tai. He did not distinguish between refined and vulgar. Sometimes with vulgar proverbs, sometimes with elegant idioms, he captured people's hearts. Setting aside political evaluations of Mao Zedong or personal likes and dislikes, there is no doubt that he was a master of power words.

This book has little political color. However, its purpose is clear. It is designed so that learners can master a total of 1,123 idioms, common expressions, and proverbs that span both the refined and the vulgar, using them as weapons in their own lives. This book is a serious study guide. However, thanks to the cartoonish illustrations by Shanghai artist Zhang Hui, and the subtle humor and soft, satirical wit found in the example sentences for each word, it is never boring to read.

Most of the 464 "idioms" in this book are four-character idioms derived from the classics. For example, in “水中捞月” (scooping the moon from the water; a futile effort), there is an illustration of a monkey hanging from a branch trying to scoop the moon from the water's surface, an explanation of its origin and synonyms, and a Chinese example sentence meaning, "It's like trying to catch the moon in the water; it's a fleeting dream."

The 414 "common expressions" range from the vulgar to the refined. It includes vulgar terms such as “擦屁股” (to clean up someone's mess) and “打屁股” (to spank; to criticize severely).

The 245 "proverbs" are a treasure trove of material that can be used in speeches, talks, letters, and greetings. In the entry for “家家有本难念的经” (every family has its own "difficult sutra" to recite; every family has its own troubles), a profound illustration and an example sentence, "It seems he has some troubles he cannot tell others," are provided.

At the end of the book, past questions and answers from the Chinese Proficiency Test (Levels 2, Pre-1, and 1) are included as practice exercises. Also, the index at the end lists words in alphabetical order, including those not listed as headwords. It is designed so that it can be read from cover to cover or used as a dictionary.

Readers of this book can utilize it for both the short-term goal of preparing for the Chinese Proficiency Test and the long-term goal of honing the sense to capture people's hearts using power words. It is a book I recommend not only to learners but also to teachers.

Tongxue (Issue 68), Dongakusha