Mandarin Chinese Sayings Trivia Quiz

Answer: they are loyal and devoted to you

"Zhong Xin Geng Geng" is directly translated as "faithful heart dedicated". Thus, this saying describes a person that has a loyal and devoted heart towards another.

Answer: use of thought to fulfill a desire

According to legend, a long time ago, there was a poor man who was starving, but he unfortunately did not own anything edible. Therefore, in order to relieve his hunger, he decided to draw a cake and stared at it for a period of time. Gradually, his hunger inside felt a lot better after looking at the cake. Thus, the saying "Hua Bing Chong Ji" or "feed on illusions" is born.

Answer: there are people everywhere

In a country as populous as China, this is not unusual. To encourage people to back and forth, there are three week-long holidays given out by the government such as Chinese New Years, national holidays, and country anniversaries.

Answer: there is heavy traffic

The impatient cars during traffic constantly switching from lane to lane symbolizes a dragon's swirly movement.

Answer: taking advantage of your connection with someone

The Chinese phrase is translated as "bully people by flaunting one's powerful connections". In the story, Fox attempts to trick the King of the Forest, Tiger, into believing he is the true ruler of all animals instead. Tiger does not believe in Fox, but Fox tells Tiger he can prove the truth to Tiger. Fox leads Tiger around the forest.

The fox walks in front leading the tiger who is walking behind him. The animals saw the tiger and all ran away from them, but they were actually scared of the tiger. Thus, Fox tricked the tiger into thinking that the animals are all afraid of him and Fox is the king of the forest.

Answer: someone who is talented and skilled at a subject

The meaning of "Yi Shi Er Niao" is translated as "One pebble is used to hit both two birds". Thus, the saying describes how skilled a person is in a particular activity.

Answer: Describes how hard someone is working

"Xuan Liang Ci Gu" was derived from a story about a young scholar whose grades are not advanced at school because of his laziness. Every time he started to study, he would always want to snooze. He was determine to raise his grades so every night, he tied his small braid to a rope and tied the rope to a bar on the ceiling of his roof. Every time he leaned his head forward to snooze again, the rope tied to his braid would jerk him awake again. Thus, this saying describes how determined and hard a person is working.

Answer: describes the strong determination of someone

"Hua Bing Qiou Li Yu" also describes how determined someone is to get to their goal. As the story goes, in ancient China, there is a very dutiful son named Wang Qiang who lives with his step mother. On a freezing winter day, his stepmother suddenly is overcome by a severe cold. Wang Qiang remembers his stepmother loves to eat the Li Fish.

He decides to go fetch some fresh Li Fish by the river side to make his step mother happy, but on a freezing winter day like this, the lively river is covered by a layer of thick ice. Wang Qiang cuddles on the ground, hoping that he can use his own body's warmth to melt the ice and receive the Li Fish. According to the tale, Wang Qiang's action and determination touched the God of Heavens. Suddenly, a hole cracks in the layer of ice besides him and two Li Fish popped out of the water below.

Answer: to keep one's mouth shut

Shou: meaning to guard
Kou: one's mouth
Ru: as if
Ping: a bottle

This quote "Shou Kou Ru Ping" is translated as "To keep one's mouth guarded as if a bottle.". "A bottle" is referring to a closed bottle. This saying means to keep a secret as if their a closed bottle where everything is kept inside itself and not to be let out.

Answer: to spoil things by excessive enthusiasm

This Chinese saying is derived from a story about an impatient farmer who believes his wheat is growing too slow. Therefore, the farmer pulled a big portion of each wheat out of its soil. The next day, the wheat he pulled out all died due to the lacks of nutrients. Thus, this saying means to spoil things by excessive enthusiasm.