金jīn山shān銀yín山shān，不bù如rú兒ér孫sūn滿mǎn山shān

What does 金山銀山，不如兒孫滿山 (jīn shān yín shān bù rú ér sūn mǎn shān) mean?

金山銀山，不如兒孫滿山 (jīn shān yín shān bù rú ér sūn mǎn shān) is a folk proverb (yànyǔ 諺語). Word for word it reads "mountain of gold, mountain of silver, not equal to children and grandchildren filling the mountain." In use it means: No amount of wealth compares to a thriving family and descendants. You reach for it when you want that idea in one breath, and the Earth note it carries is why we hand it to those born in the Year of the Pig.

Literally: "mountain of gold, mountain of silver, not equal to children and grandchildren filling the mountain."

The reading

The gold piled high goes cold in an empty house, and silver accumulated for no one in particular is just weight. What warms the family home is not the account but the voices in the rooms, the feet on the stairs, the names called across the courtyard. The living inheritance is the only one that matters.

What kind of proverb it is

• Typeyànyǔ 諺語
• FocusPresent-minded
• Element土 Earth
• Zodiac tie豬 Year of the Pig

Source Traditional Chinese folk proverb (yanyu)

Sits beside

Keep reading

Return to the Proverb Pond to draw another of the eighty-seven, or hear one read aloud. Read the rest of its chapter in Home, Family & Roots, or follow the years these lines belong to: Year of the Pig, Year of the Rat, and Year of the Ox.