諺語 · a single proverb
真金不怕火煉
Simplified: 真金不怕火炼
What does 真金不怕火煉 (zhēn jīn bù pà huǒ liàn) mean?
真金不怕火煉 (zhēn jīn bù pà huǒ liàn) is a folk proverb (yànyǔ 諺語). Word for word it reads "true gold does not fear fire smelting." In use it means: What is genuine has nothing to fear from testing; true quality survives any challenge. You reach for it when you want that idea in one breath, and the Fire note it carries is why we hand it to those born in the Year of the Tiger.
Literally: "true gold does not fear fire smelting."
The reading
The gold enters the furnace and the fire does its work and when the gold exits it is more purely itself than before. What is real welcomes the test because the test confirms what was already true. Fear of scrutiny is the first signal that something in the claim might not hold under heat.
What kind of proverb it is
Source Traditional Chinese folk proverb (yanyu)
Sits beside
Keep reading
Return to the Proverb Pond to draw another of the eighty-seven, or hear one read aloud. Read the rest of its chapter in Adversity & Resilience, or follow the years these lines belong to: Year of the Tiger, Year of the Rat, and Year of the Ox.
Questions
Is 真金不怕火煉 a real Chinese proverb?
Yes. 真金不怕火煉 (zhēn jīn bù pà huǒ liàn) is a folk proverb (yànyǔ 諺語), and it comes from Traditional Chinese folk proverb (yanyu). It is living Chinese heritage, given here with per-character pinyin and its source so you can trust the line, not a phrase invented in English.
How do you pronounce 真金不怕火煉?
In Mandarin it is zhēn jīn bù pà huǒ liàn. Read the pinyin above each character to follow the tones, or press the speaker beside the calligraphy to hear your browser read 真金不怕火煉 aloud in Mandarin.