作者：《古谣谚》杜文澜

周怡引諺
訥溪奏議
近朱者赤。 近墨者黑。When one associates with good people, one becomes a good person. When one associates with bad people, one becomes a bad person.

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軍民為張栻謠
歷代名臣奏議
百萬生靈由五十學士。Words said by people and the military about Zhang Shi. The words said that the lives of millions of people are in his hand.

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郭祚引古諺
歷代名臣奏議
敵不可縱。One should never let one’s enemy escape.

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開竇初定州軍中謠
歷代名臣奏議
三千打六萬。Using an army of three thousand men to defeat the enemy with sixty thousand men.



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晏子作歌練起大臺
晏子春秋
庶民之言曰。凍水洗﹑我若之何。太上靡散﹑我若之何。

A song sung by Yan Zi to advise King Jing of the Lu Kingdom to stop the construction of a platform in the harsh winter weather in which the laborers were freezing to death.



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晏子作歌諫為長庲
晏子春秋
穗乎不得穫。秋風至兮殫零落。

風雨之弗殺也。太上之靡弊也。Another song sung by Yan Zi to advise King Jing of the Lu Kingdom to stop the construction of a house when the annual crop yield was not good, and when a rain storm was going on.



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晏子引諺論讒佞
晏子春秋
社鼠不可熏去。Those people who only know how to please the king and then abuse the power the king entrusted in them are like mice that live in the earth deity’s shrine, and are so hard to get rid of.

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西王母侍女歌
漢武內傳
仰上升絳庭。下遊日窟阿。顧盼八落外。遠指九空遐。

A song sung by the servant maid of the mythological figure Xi Wang Mu (the Mother of Western King). The song indicates the vast expanse that someone can travel and see.



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遼東里老誦邴原
邴原別傳
邴君行仁。居邑無虎。邴君行廉。路樹成社。Bing Yuan does only kind deeds, therefore, there is no tiger bothering his neighborhood. Bing Yuan does not take money he sees on the road, but ties it on a tree. That tree covered with moneythen becomes the landmark of his community.



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榮陽民為殷褒歌
殷氏世傳
滎陽令。有異政。脩立學校人易性。令我兄弟恥訟爭。

A song sung by people of Ying Yang praising their mayor Yin Bao who was outstanding in terms of building more schools and educating people, to the extent that people were ashamed tohave legal disputes.



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時人為殷亮謠
殷氏世傳
石里之勇殷子華。 暴虎見之合爪牙。A song sung by people about the brave man Yin Zi Hua who saw two tigers fighting over a sheep and took his sword out and split the sheep in half for the two tigers to have half each.



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宣城民為陶汪歌
陶氏家傳
人當勤學得主簿。 誰使為之陶明府。

A song sung by people of Xuan Cheng praising a good scholar who was educating people to become civil servants.

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時人為陶覆之語
陶氏家傳
定禮決疑。 問陶覆之。

If one has questions concerning the proceedings of a ritual for the ancestral temple, one should ask Tao Fu Zhi.

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時人為沈警語
潤玉傳
玄機布席。 顛倒賓客。Words said about Shen Jing who was good at reciting poems and was always invited to perform in any social gathering of his time.



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時人為賈昌語
東城老父傳
生兒不用識文字。鬥雞走馬勝讀書。賈家小兒年十三。富貴榮華代不如。能令金距期勝負。白羅繡衫隨軟輿。

父死長安千里外。差夫持道挽喪車。

Words said about Jia Chang who got a position in the imperial court to organize cock fights to entertain the emperor. He achieved both wealth and fame for that. The words suggeset that aperson who knows mock fighting is better off than a learned scholar.

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唐玄宗居南內時歌
太真外傳
庭前琪樹己堪攀。 塞外征人殊未還。

The beautiful tree in the front of the court yard had grown tall enough for someone to climb on it. Yet the person who went on a military mission beyond the border still has not returned.

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時人為楊氏謠
長恨歌傳
生女勿悲酸。生男勿喜歡。

男不封侯女作妃。君看女卻為門楣。If one has a baby girl, one should not be sad. If one has a baby boy, one does not have to be happy. Just look at Empress Yang who brought both prestige and wealth to her entire family.

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京師為牛僧孺楊虞卿語
牛羊日歷
太牢筆﹑少牢口﹑東西南北何處走。Words said about two court officials, Niu Seng Ru and Yang Yu Qing, who were framing people with different ideas, and causing them to be sent into exile.

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遼宮中為懿德皇后語
焚椒錄
孤穩壓帕女古靴。菩薩喚作耨斡麼。

Words said about Empress Yi De in the court of Liao dynasty. The words explain that the empress looks like Guan Yin Bodhisattva.