True about the modern cultural references, but those are more ephemeral than the Chinese sayings and not as universal as Shakespeare and the Bible used to be in the English-speaking world. I wonder if Millennials do talk about prodigal sons anymore? Judging by the twenty-somes I deal with at work, four hundred years of literary allusion has gone out the window, to be replaced by TV shows. And even those... 'Beam me up, Scotty' is still around because of the franchise, but how many people know 'Heeere's Johnny!'

The same generation gap seems not to exist with the chinese sayings, just because they've passed into standard vernacular, whereas ours seem more age-specific and hence short-lived.