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)

sān ge chòu pí jiang – d?ng ge zhū g? liàng
三個臭皮匠 – 頂個諸葛亮
Three cobblers with their wits combined equal the mastermind Zhuge Liang – Collective wisdom often proves superior; two heads are better than one.

zhōu yú d? huáng gài – yī ge yuàn d? yī ge yuàn ái
周瑜打黃蓋 – 一個愿打，一個愿挨
Zhou Yu (a famous military strategist for the State of Wu during the period of the Three Kingdoms) beats Huang Gai (a military general for the State of Wu during the Three Kingdoms) – The punishment is appropriately given by one and willingly accepted by the other.

liú dé qīng shān zài – bù pà méi chái shāo
留得青山在 – 不怕沒柴燒
As long as the green mountains are there, one need not worry about firewood. – Where there is life, there is hope.

shān zhōng wú l?o hǔ – hóu zi chēng dà wáng
山中無老虎 – 猴子稱大王
The monkey rules the mountain when there is no tiger. – In the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed man rules.

wài sheng d? dēng long – zhào jiù (jiù)
外甥打燈籠 – 照舊（舅）
Nephew carrying a lantern to give light to his uncle – same as before (a pun on 照舅 and 照舊, which are homophones in Chinese. "照舅" means "to give light to one's uncle, while "照舊" refers to "same as before".)

l?o hǔ de pì gu – mō bu de
老虎的屁股 – 摸不得
Like a tiger whose backside no one dares to touch – one who won't allow any different opinions; one who is not to be crossed

bàn jīn bā li?ng – li?ng ge chà bu duō
半斤八兩 – 兩個差不多
Six of one and half a dozen of the other – There is no difference between the two.

tuō kù zi fàng pì – duō c? yī j?
脫褲子放屁 – 多此一舉
Take off one's trousers before breaking wind – carry coals to Newcastle; make an unnecessary move

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