Courage Chinese / Japanese Calligraphy Wall Scrolls

This word is about courage is bravery in the face of fear. You do the right thing even when it is hard or scary. When you are courageous, you don't give up. You try new things. You admit mistakes. This kind of courage is the willingness to take action in the face of danger and peril.

These characters can also be translated as: braveness, valor, heroic, fearless, boldness, prowess, gallantry, audacity, daring, dauntless and/or courage in Japanese, Chinese, and Korean. This version of bravery/courage can be an adjective or a noun. The first character means bravery and courage by itself. The second character means "daring" by itself. The second character just emphasizes the meaning of the first, but adds an idea that you are not afraid of taking a dare, and you are not afraid of danger.

This is about brave behavior versus the mental state of being brave. You'd more likely use this to say, "He fought courageously in the battle", rather than "He is very courageous".

See Also...  Warrior

This character can be translated as bravery, courage, or fearless in Chinese, Japanese and Korean. This is the simplest form to express courage or bravery, as there is also a two character form which starts with this same character.

This character can also be translated as brave, daring, fearless, plucky or heroic.

This is also a virtue of the Samurai Warrior
See our page with just Code of the Samurai / Bushido here

See Also...  Bravery

The title says it all.

This could also be translated as:
"Never hesitate to do what is right".

See Also...  Work Unselfishly For The Common Good | Justice | Bravery

There are several ways to express bravery and courage in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. This version is the most spiritual. This is the essence of bravery from deep within your being. This is the mental state of being brave versus actual brave behavior. You'd more likely use this to say, "He is very courageous", rather than "He fought courageously in the battle".

The first character also means bravery or courage when it's seen alone. With the second character added, an element of energy or spirit is added. The second character is the same "chi" or "qi" energy that Kung Fu masters focus when they strike. For this reason, you could say this means "spirit of courage" or "brave spirit".

This is certainly a stronger word than just the first character alone.

Beyond bravery or courage, dictionaries also translate this word as valour, valor, nerve, audacity, daring, pluck, plucky, gallantry, guts, gutsy and boldness.

While the version shown to the left is commonly used in Chinese and Korean Hanja (and ancient Japanese Kanji), please note that the second character is written with slightly fewer strokes in modern Japanese. If you want the modern Japanese version, please click on the character to the right. Both styles would be understood by native Chinese, Japanese, and many (but not all) Korean people. You should choose character based on the intended audience for your calligraphy artwork. Or pick the single-character form of bravery/courage which is universal.

See Also...  Warrior

This is a word list that was requested by a customer. Word lists are not that common in Chinese, but we've put this one on the best order/context to make it as natural as possible.

We used the "honor" that leans toward the definition of "dignity" since that seemed like the best match for the other two words.

Please note: These are three two-character words. You should choose the single-column format when you get to the options when you order this selection. The two-column option would split one word or it would be arranged with four characters on one side and two on the other.

This literally means "No Fear". But perhaps not the most natural Chinese phrase (see our other "No Fear" phrase for a more complete thought). However, this two-character version of "No Fear" seems to be a very popular way to translate this into Chinese, when we checked Chinese Google.

Note: This also means "No Fear" in Japanese and Korean, but this character pair is not often used in Japan or Korea (used somewhat by Korean Buddhists to mean fearlessness).

In recent years, this term is starting to appear in various Chinese and Japanese dictionaries with definitions like "without fear", intrepidity, fearless, dauntless, and bold.

See Also...  Never Give Up | No Worries | Undaunted | Bravery | Fear No Man

This is a complete sentence that means literally "Brave People Have No Fear" or "A Brave Person Has No Fear" (plural or singular is not implied). We translated "No Fear" into the two variations that you will find on our website. Then we checked Chinese Google and found that others had translated "No Fear" in the exact same ways. Pick the one you like best. A great gift for your fearless friend.

See Also...  Fear No Man

This really means, "When you are well-prepared, you have nothing to fear". Noting that the third character means "no" or "without" and modifies the last... The last character can mean misfortune, troubles, worries, or fears. It could even be stretched to mean sickness. Therefore you can translate this phrase a few ways. I've also seen it translated as "Preparedness forestalls calamities".

This is comparable to the English phrase, "Better safe than sorry", but does not directly/literally mean this.

This phrase creates an image of a warrior bravely advancing against an enemy regardless of the odds.

This phrase can also be translated as "indomitable spirit" or "march fearlessly onward".

See Also...  Indomitable | Fortitude

This can be translated as "braving the waves" or "bravely setting sail". It literally means: "break/cleave/cut [the] waves".

This is a great title to encourage yourself or someone else not to be afraid of problems or troubles.

Because of the context, this is especially good for sailors or yachtsmen and surfers too.

This literally means "fear nothing", but it's the closest thing in Chinese to the phrase "fear no man" which many of you have requested. This would also be the way to say "fear nobody" and can also be translated simply as "undaunted".

This phrase means "Be undaunted in the face of repeated setbacks".

It comes from a long, and occasionally tragic story of a man that lived sometime around 25-220 AD. His name was Qiao Xuan and he never stooped to flattery, but remained an upright person at all times. He fought to expose corruption of higher-level government officials at great risk to himself.

Then when he was at a higher level in the Imperial Court, bandits were regularly capturing hostages and demanding ransoms. But when his own son was captured, he was so focused on his duty to the Emperor and common good that he sent a platoon of soldiers to raid the bandits' hideout, and stop them once and for all even at the risk of his own son's life. While all of the bandits were arrested in the raid, they killed Qiao Xuan's son at first sight of the raiding soldiers.

Near the end of his career a new Emperor came to power, and Qiao Xuan reported to him that one of his ministers was bullying the people and extorting money from them. The new Emperor refused to listen to Qiao Xuan and even promoted the corrupt Minister. Qiao Xuan was so disgusted that in protest he resigned his post as minister (something almost never done) and left for his home village.

His tombstone reads "Bai Zhe Bu Nao" which is now a phrase used in Chinese culture to describe a person of strong will who puts up stubborn resistance against great odds.

My Chinese-English dictionary defines these 4 characters as, "keep on fighting in spite of all setbacks", "be undaunted by repeated setbacks" and "be indomitable".

Our translator says it can mean, "never give up" in modern Chinese.

Although the first two characters are translated correctly as "repeated setbacks", the literal meaning is "100 setbacks" or "a rope that breaks 100 times". The last two characters can mean "do not yield" or "do not give up".
Most Chinese, Japanese, and Korean people will not take this absolutely literal meaning, but will instead understand it as the title suggests above.

See Also...  Tenacity | Fortitude | Strength | Perseverance

Characters shown
above are read
vertically, starting
from the right

This literally translates as:
One who has been drenched by the rain is not afraid of dew drops.

Figuratively, this means:
One who has gone through hardships is not afraid of (minor)setbacks.

Characters shown
above are read
vertically, starting
from the right

This literally means: [Just as] soldiers/warriors [are valued for their] quality and not [just] for quantity, [so] generals [are valued] for their tactics, not [just] for [their] bravery.

This is a phrase that follows one about how it is better to have warriors of quality, rather than just a large quantity of warriors in your army/force.

See Also...  兵在精而不在多

In Chinese, Japanese, and old Korean, this can often be confused or read as a short name for England (this character is the first syllable of the word for England, the English language, British Pound and other titles from the British Isles).

In some context, this can mean "outstanding" or even "flower". But it will most often read as having something to do with the United Kingdom.

This is not the most common way to say courage or bravery, but you may see it used sometimes.

I strongly recommend that you choose another form of courage/bravery.