On September 14, Maria Zakharova, a representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, announced that the expression “it is better to see once than to hear a hundred times” has Chinese origins.
In an interview with TASS, she explained: “The phrase ‘it’s better to see once than to hear a hundred times’ belongs to a Chinese military commander.”
Zakharova admitted she had recently learned of the phrase’s Chinese origin. According to her, the expression dates back hundreds of years and has been part of Russian discourse since the 1950s. She linked the phrase to the historical development of Russia-China relations, emphasizing that direct observation and personal assessment are vital for understanding bilateral ties.
