| Sumario: | Northeastern China is home to the Manchurian people, who primarily practice shamanism. Wild animals play a crucial role in the lives, literature, and folklore of the Manchurian people. With the widespread use of mobile networks, young individuals in the region have access to a wide range of information sources that transcend geographical and social boundaries, and numerous folk customs and proverbs related to animals can now be researched using online platforms. This study investigated whether a substantial difference existed in the understanding of proverbs related to animals between the younger and older generations in northeastern China and examined the cultural codes that could be derived from folk sayings. The study administered a questionnaire and used a confusion matrix to determine young individuals' ability to interpret proverbs. Barthes' semiotics and two orders of signification model were applied to analyze and decode the symbolic meanings in folkloric proverbs related to animals, deriving the cultural codes contained in them. This study contributes to maintaining northeastern Chinese traditional culture, promotes the development of intangible cultural assets, and cultivates local cultural creativity, to enhance northeastern Chinese individuals' sense of identity and belonging.
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