Jun 15, 2006 10:50
18 yrs ago
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Chinese term

五里不同风,十里不同俗

Homework / test Chinese to English Other Idioms / Maxims / Sayings
I'm not sure if it is an idiom, but I suppose it cannot be translated literally:
所谓五里不同风,十里不同俗 in: http://news.xinhuanet.com/misc/2006-03/04/content_4255732.ht...

Proposed translations

+1
6 hrs
Selected

local cultures [/customs] vary over even small geographical distances

风 -- 风气,风俗 (I think it's historically linked to Shijing, the Book of Songs)

It all boils down to culture in fact... And "culture" is a generally preferred term in modern usage.

FYI:

shijingThere are four sections to the Shi jing: the "Guo feng" or "Airs of the States" (Mao ... The "Guo feng" is a collection of songs written and/or sung in the ...
sinologue.homestead.com/shijing.html - 34k - Cached - Similar pages


http://wiki.keyin.cn/index.php/诗经
风、雅、颂
《风》又称《国风》,一共有15组,“风”本是乐曲的统称。15组国风并不是15个国家的乐曲,而是十几个地区的乐曲。国风包括周南、召南、邶、鄘、卫、王、郑、桧、齐、魏、唐、秦、豳、陈、曹的乐歌,共160篇。国风是当时当地流行的歌曲,带有地方色彩。从内容上说,大多数是民歌。作者大多是民间歌手,但是也有个别贵族。

http://www.culture.hn.cn/whzt/lywh005.htm
(1)文化的地域性特征。人类在与大自然作斗争中,由于其特定地域条件的影响与制约,经过漫长的演化,形成了独具特色的文化内涵。在我国古代就有“五里不同风,十里不同俗”之说。居住在不同自然条件的人们,在闲暇、交往等生活的结构、范围和对象都会不同,以致形成带有强烈地域特点的文化形式,这些对人类的各种行为包括旅游活动产生诸多影响。
Peer comment(s):

agree wherestip
18 mins
Thanks wherestip!
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "谢谢你们回答我的问题。Thank you NK Wong for the links."
+1
1 hr

diversity in local customs

"风俗" means local customs; "不同" means not the same; "五里", "十里"means 5 chinese miles and 10 chinese miles respectively

Together 五里不同风,十里不同俗 means every 5 or 10 (Chinese)miles apart, local customs are not the same
Peer comment(s):

agree Naikei Wong
4 hrs
Thanks
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5 hrs

2 Proverbs: Every country has its customs.

So many countries, so many customs.
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