‘十嘴九尻仓’

‘十嘴九尻仓’is a popular saying in Teochew. It is intended to criticize people for having different opinions on something and not agreeing on one thing.

The literal meaning is: ten birds have ten mouths but only nine butts.’十’means ten.’嘴’means mouth.’九’means nine.’尻仓’means ‘butt’ in Teochew.Practice ‘十嘴九尻仓’ follow the audio below:

This proverb originated from the story of Gao Zhenzhi, a painter in the late Qing Dynasty, painting quails for others.

A painter good at painting animals

Gao Zhenzhi was not only good at painting quails, but also other flowers, birds, insects and fish.

Once, he was hired by Longxi Town, Haiyang County (now Anbu Town, Chao’an County) to paint the screen wall for a newly built building of a wealthy family.

The four characters ‘紫气东来’(Purple Air Comes from the East,means A metaphor for auspicious signs in old China.

Legend has it that when Laozi was about to leave Hangu Pass, the commander of the pass saw a purple auspicious aura floating from the east, indicating that a saint would pass through. Later, Laozi really came from the east riding a green ox and passed through Hangu Pass.)

were inlaid in the middle of the upper part of the screen wall, and the rest was the “ground”, and he was asked to paint flowers and birds on it.

What should I paint?

There were nine men and women of all ages present at the host’s house. Some advocated painting ‘三鸟'(‘three birds’, refer to Pigeons, geese, and black chickens), some advocated painting magpies, and some advocated painting swallows or sparrows, cuckoos, orioles…

Gao Zhenzhi waited for a long time but nothing came of it. He just kept drinking tea.

Why ten mouths but only nine butts?

After waiting until the youngest of the family came home from school at noon, the family said that the child could decide what to paint. The child said, “I like quails the most, so please paint ten quails!” Gao Zhenzhi started to paint.

By 掌灯时分(the time of the lights, means evening), the ten quails and their background (a corner of the garden) were painted. The quails were vivid and lifelike, and the owners were very satisfied.

The child counted them one by one, and there were exactly ten. But he found something and shouted in surprise: “How can there be ten mouths but only nine buttocks?” It turned out that the back half of one of the quails was blocked by the rockery. The child continued,真是’十嘴九尻仓’! (“It’s true that there are ten mouths and nine buttocks!”)

From then on, ‘十嘴九尻仓’became a common saying.