疾风知劲草，烈火见真金 in English ji2 feng1 zhi1 jin4 cao3 , lie4 huo3 jian4 zhen1 jin1 Meaning

Meanings

  • literally (word for word) sturdy grass withstands high winds and true gold stands the test of fire (idiomatic expression)
  • metaphorically strength of character is revealed in a crisis

Simplified Characters

疾 风 知 劲 草 ， 烈 火 见 真 金

Traditional Characters

疾 風 知 勁 草 ， 烈 火 見 真 金

Pinyin

ji2 feng1 zhi1 jin4 cao3 , lie4 huo3 jian4 zhen1 jin1

Literal

Literal explanation, with pronunciation and meaning of each character.

疾ji2sickness 风feng1wind 知zhi1to know 劲jin4strength 草cao3variant of 草[cao3] ， 烈lie4ardent 火huo3surname Huo 见jian4to see 真zhen1really 金jin1surname Jin