Zhìzhě wéi wáng

China
Name	智者为王 Zhìzhě wéi wáng
Host	Chen Luyu (Series 1) Shen Bing (Series 2) Xia Qing (Series 3)
TV station	Nanjing TV
Top prize	¥200,000
First air date	February 2002
Final air date	c. 2004
No. of series	3
No. of episodes	Unknown
Episode duration	approx. 45 minutes
Broadcast format	4:3 SDTV
Catchphrase	你被淘汰啦，再见! (You are eliminated. Bye!)
Language	Chinese

Zhìzhě wéi wáng (Chinese: 智者为王, The wise is king) (Formerly: Tài ruò liú qiáng·zhìzhě wéi wáng) (Chinese: 汰弱留强·智者为王, Eliminate the weak and keep the strong—the wise is king) was the Chinese version of The Weakest Link based on the original British format. It was presented by Chen Luyu for one series on syndication, then Shen Bing (series 2), and Xia Qing (series 2—3) for two series on Nanjing TV from 2002 until c. 2004. The top prize was 200,000 Chinese yuan.

Money chain

Question	Price (CNY)
	Series 1—3
8	25 000
7	20 000
6	15 000
5	10 000
4	5 000
3	2 000
2	1 000
1	500

Rules of the format

The rules did not differ from the original British format.

Each game begins with eight players who just met; they must answer enough questions correctly to reach each round's target of 25,000 Chinese yuan within the time limit.

The fastest method was to create a chain of eight correct answers. If a player fails to answer a question by giving a wrong answer, passing, etc., the chain will start over. If a player says "存钱" (save money) before their question is asked, the prize money, which increases with each correct answer, is added to the round's bank, and the chain begins again. The final round's prize will be equal to the total amount of money banked in each round.

The first round lasted for 2 and a half minutes; the following rounds were shortened by ten seconds until two players remained. The penultimate round before the final gave the two players one minute and thirty seconds for double the stakes of 50,000 Chinese yuan.

The first question is directed to the player whose surname appears first in stroke order. In the following rounds, the first question is directed to the player who statistically performed the best in the previous round.

At the end of each round, the team votes to determine who to remove as "the worst player," which is then revealed by pressing their buttons in the following order. The player who holds the majority of votes will be subsequently voted off; if there is a tie, the player who was statistically performed the best that round will cast the final vote in the tiebreaker.

In the final round, the strongest link from the previous round will determine the direction of the first question, and each player will be asked five questions until a winner is determined. If there is a tie, the game moves to a sudden death round, in which contestants are given questions in pairs, and the first to correctly answer a question over their opponent's incorrect answer wins.

On-screen graphics

• The production company for the Chinese version used the on-screen graphics provided by JUMP in partnership with BBC Studios Entertainment Productions and from scratch.

• Advertisements for the contestant hotline appeared in later episodes during the introduction, voting rounds, walk of shame, and closing credits.

Opening titles (series 2—3)

Money chain (series 1—2)

Money chain (series 3)

Onscreen question and answer

Total prize

Final round

Onscreen question and answer (series 3)

Closing credits

Closing titles

Contestant hotline (introduction, series 3)

Contestant hotline (voting, series 3 (1))

Contestant hotline (voting, series 3 (2))

Contestant hotline (walk of shame, series 3 (1))

Contestant hotline (walk of shame, series 3 (2))

Contestant hotline (Closing credits, series 3)

Contestant hotline (Closing credits, series 3)

Soundtrack

The soundtrack did not differ much from the original British format.

• It is unclear whether the Chinese version used the entire soundtrack from the beginning of the series, as many of the tracks were replaced by the general bed track by the second season.

Catchphrases

• 欢迎收看 智者为王! (Welcome to the show. The Wise is King!)
• 马上 开始 智者为王! (Let's start now. The wise is king!)
• 整理下我们的队伍请投票。 (Please vote to organize our team.)
• 你被淘汰啦，再见! (You are eliminated. Bye!)
• 下次别忘了收看 智者为王，再见! (Don’t forget to watch The Wise Man is King next time. See you!)

Trivia

• In April 2002, the show had already undergone significant changes. Chen Lu Yu, the original host, resigned to work on other television projects and was replaced by the second host, Shen Bing. The name was also shortened to remove the phrase "Eliminate the Weak and Stay Strong." Series 2 debuted shortly after.

• In late November 2002, second presenter Shen Bing was swiftly replaced by the next presenter, Xia Qing, during its second series, as Bing opted to pursue other projects to stay away from the production.