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Looking for a chengyu


Zamenhof

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Chinese has so many wonderful chengyu's so I wonder if one of them covers this old quote from the Cuban writer José Martí:

"It's better to die standing than to live on your knees."

(Es mejor morir a pie que vivir arrodillado).

It's probably hard to squeeze down to four characters, but the Chinese imagination usually sees no end.

Kind regards,

Peter

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宁可站着死,绝不跪着生

This is not a chengyu.It's just a traslation of "It's better to die standing than to live on your knees."

the similar chengyu of this in chinese is 宁死不屈;宁折不弯;宁为玉碎,不为瓦全。

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寧死不屈 is good.

Another common translation is 寧為玉碎, 不作瓦存

"Better to be a broken jade rather than a perfect tile."

This idiom is very famous.

In a drama, when someone was insulted, it's common to say this too:

士可殺, 不可辱

"One (an government official or scholar) can be killed but can't be insulted".

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