A comparative study of proverbs in Chinese and Japanese

Abstract

Proverbs, in nature, are greatly associated with culture. They are comprehensive and vivid images, and select materials widely delivering different types of psychological information, cultural knowledge and human lives. This study has provided a focus on the language family of both Chinese and Japanese languages. Chinese language belongs to the Sino-Tibetan language family and Japanese language belongs to the Japonic language family. Sino- Tibetan languages can be regarded as a group of languages that includes the Chinese and Tibeto Burman languages. Japonic or Japanese-ryukyuan language family includes the Japanese language spoken in the main islands of Japan. The objective of this study is to provide the language learners with a comparative understanding of the proverbs in Japanese and Chinese. This study has been based on the literary sources. In order to discover the comparison between Chinese and Japanese proverbs, a qualitative comparative method has been used. And also many articles written on the proverbs and philosophy have been studied. It is observable that the relationship between culture and proverbs is inseparable. In any type of proverb, the cultural reflection is evident. Japanese culture has been tied to agricultural atmosphere. Therefore, number of proverbs are derived from agricultural customs and practices. In addition, four character Japanese proverbs have been derived from Chinese philosophy written in classical Chinese. The proverbs in Chinese have been influenced by Confucius philosophy and Buddhism. Eventually, it is possible to offer a hypothesis that, similar proverbs are evident in both Chinese and Japanese due to the philosophical relationship between Japanese philosophy and Chinese Confucius philosophy.