Whilst reading the blog post above, I came across the expression “你知道你吃几碗干饭么”.

This expression refers to knowing one’s own limitations – to know the reach and limits of one’s abilities. Quite literally it means knowing how many bowls of dry rice one can eat!

Here are some other common Chinese expressions which share a similar meaning:

人贵有自知之明

To know oneself is true progress. Self-knowledge is wisdom.

没有金刚钻，别揽瓷器活儿。

If you don’t have a diamond cutter, don’t become a ceramist.

Basically all these expressions suggest that one must have a clear-headed understanding of oneself – without which it may become easy to take on a haughty air and cause trouble.

Whilst reading the somewhat controversial BBS post quoted above, I came across the expression “肥水不流外人田”

I found a definition of this expression on 百度知道：

原意是自家田里的肥水不要流到别人家的田里，引申为是有利益的东西不分给别人。自己的利益不让给别人

The word 肥水 [féishuǐ] can be translated as

Water with fertilizers; used as a metaphor to refer to interests or benefits.

This expression could be translated in a literal sense as “To be unwilling to allow nutrient rich water in one’s own fields to flow into other people’s fields.” This can be extended to mean keeping all benefits for one’s own people or for oneself.

Possibly the best and most commonly used translation of this expression would be “Charity begins at home”. In case you are not familiar with this english expression, here is a definition:

Something that you say which means you should try to help your family and friends before you help other people

I also came across a few other possible translations of the expression which share a similar meaning but which are used less frequently:

• Rich water should be kept in one’s own fields
• No rich water should be let out of one’s own fields.
• One should always keep all benefits for one’s own people.
• Every miller draws water to his own mill.
• Keep it in the family