Stories of Chinese word and term (30)

Besides above terms, there are some others that express the idea of low-key and modest. Such as人怕出名猪怕壮. Fame portends trouble for men just as fattening does for pigs.

抢打出头鸟, the standing out bird get shot.

急流勇退，it is a braveness that when a running water forward, you go backward.  Normally, it means resolutely retire at the height of one's official career. The Chinese like use such terms because the political system unlike the electoral one that need self-promotion to get the vote. So I wonder, even if today the Chinese GDP double the size of America, they may still declare that they are a third world country.