Representation of the concept of "grief" in Russian proverbs from the perspective of Chinese linguistic culture

The article examines the linguocultural concept of "grief" as represented in Russian paremias, employing the Chinese linguocultural background as an interpretive lens. The object of the study is Russian paremias in which "grief" and related terms for misfortune are actualized; the subject is the linguistic and cultural modes of representing this concept, its figurative models, causal explanations, and value emphases. The intercultural reference is used not for a full parallel comparison of Russian and Chinese paremiology but to clarify the boundaries of what is nationally specific in the Russian material and to achieve a more precise interpretation of paremiological meanings. The aim of the work is to systematically describe typical models of representing "grief" in Russian paremiology and to demonstrate the cultural attitudes and norms of emotional behavior they encode. The methodological foundation is conceptual analysis, within which the material is structured along three interrelated levels: (1) figurative models, (2) interpretation of genesis, and (3) coping strategies. The scientific novelty of the study lies in analyzing the concept of "grief" in Russian paremias with reliance on intercultural reference to Chinese linguoculture, which allows for a more precise delineation of the boundaries between universal and nationally specific elements in the paremiological understanding of suffering. The results show that in Russian paremias, the externalization of "grief" is realized primarily through three figurative models—a natural force, physical pressure, and a personified adversary; in explaining its genesis, three causal trajectories are identified—divine predetermination, social injustice, and life trials; at the level of coping strategies, a cultural mechanism based on the triad of "patience—collective sharing—humorous irony" is formed. The presented observations can be used in further research on linguoculture, intercultural communication, and the translatological description of paremiological units in Russian and Chinese.