寧nìng可kě三sān日rì無wú糧liáng,，不bù可kě一yī日rì無wú茶chá

What does 寧可三日無糧，不可一日無茶 (nìng kě sān rì wú liáng, bù kě yī rì wú chá) mean?

寧可三日無糧，不可一日無茶 (nìng kě sān rì wú liáng, bù kě yī rì wú chá) is a folk proverb (yànyǔ 諺語). Word for word it reads "Better three days without grain than one day without tea." In use it means: Among Tibetan, Mongolian, and northwestern Chinese communities, tea is so essential to daily sustenance and digestion that going without it is considered worse than going without food. You reach for it when you want that idea in one breath, and the Water note it carries is why we hand it to those born in the Year of the Tiger.

Literally: "Better three days without grain than one day without tea.."

The reading

Some things we depend on run deeper than hunger. Tea in these high-altitude lands is not a luxury but a lifeline, cutting through the fat of yak butter and the thin cold air. What looks like preference from the outside is survival from within. The body knows its own necessities before the mind gives them names. Culture is often just the shape a people give to what keeps them alive.

What kind of proverb it is

• Typeyànyǔ 諺語
• FocusPresent-minded
• Element水 Water
• Zodiac tie虎 Year of the Tiger

Source Northwestern Chinese and Tibetan folk proverb, widely cited in tea culture literature

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 Nature, Seasons & Health, or follow the years these lines belong to: Year of the Tiger, Year of the Rat, and Year of the Ox.