諺語 · a single proverb
啞巴吃黃連——有苦說不出
Simplified: 哑巴吃黄连——有苦说不出
What does 啞巴吃黃連——有苦說不出 (yǎ ba chī huáng lián——yǒu kǔ shuō bù chū) mean?
啞巴吃黃連——有苦說不出 (yǎ ba chī huáng lián——yǒu kǔ shuō bù chū) is a two-part riddle-saying (xiēhòuyǔ 歇後語). Word for word it reads "A mute person eating coptis root-suffering they cannot express." In use it means: Describes someone who endures bitterness or injustice but has no way to voice their grievance. The pun is on 苦 meaning both bitter taste and suffering. You reach for it when you want that idea in one breath, and the Fire note it carries is why we hand it to those born in the Year of the Ox.
Literally: "A mute person eating coptis root-suffering they cannot express.."
The reading
There are pains that lodge below language, too tangled to name aloud. Silence does not mean acceptance; sometimes it is the heaviest form of bearing. The people around us may carry griefs we never hear. Learning to read unspoken sorrow is a deeper literacy than words. Compassion begins where assumption ends.
What kind of proverb it is
Source Traditional Chinese folk saying, found in Qing dynasty collections
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 Adversity & Resilience, or follow the years these lines belong to: Year of the Ox, Year of the Rat, and Year of the Tiger.
Questions
Is 啞巴吃黃連——有苦說不出 a real Chinese proverb?
Yes. 啞巴吃黃連——有苦說不出 (yǎ ba chī huáng lián——yǒu kǔ shuō bù chū) is a two-part riddle-saying (xiēhòuyǔ 歇後語), and it comes from Traditional Chinese folk saying, found in Qing dynasty collections. It is living Chinese heritage, given here with per-character pinyin and its source so you can trust the line, not a phrase invented in English.
How do you pronounce 啞巴吃黃連——有苦說不出?
In Mandarin it is yǎ ba chī huáng lián——yǒu kǔ shuō bù chū. Read the pinyin above each character to follow the tones, or press the speaker beside the calligraphy to hear your browser read 啞巴吃黃連——有苦說不出 aloud in Mandarin.