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The name Cause Effect in Chinese / Japanese...

Buy a Cause Effect calligraphy wall scroll here!

Personalize your custom “Cause Effect” project by clicking the button next to your favorite “Cause Effect” title below...


  1. Death Before Dishonor

  2. Everything Happens for a Reason

  3. Evil Cause, Evil Result

  4. Fate / Opportunity / Chance

  5. Relationship

  6. Iron Palm

  7. Karma - Cause and Effect

  8. Duty to Defend and Protect Country

  9. Tathagata


Death Before Dishonor

Better to be broken jade than unbroken pottery

 níng wéi yù suì
Death Before Dishonor Scroll

寧為玉碎 is the short version of a longer Chinese proverb which means “rather be shattered piece of jade than an unbroken piece of pottery.”

寧為玉碎 says the “rather be a broken piece of jade” part (the second half is implied - everyone in China knows this idiom).

A little more explanation:
Death is implied with the “broken” meaning. Jade is one of the most precious materials in Chinese history, and in this case, is compared with one's honor and self-worth. Pottery is just something you eat off of; it has no deep value, just as a person who has lost their honor or had none to begin with.
Thus, this means “better to die with honor than to live in shame” or words to that effect.

This is often translated in English as “Death Before Dishonor,” the famous military slogan.

I would also compare this to the English proverb, “Better to die on your feet than to live on your knees.”

Death Before Dishonor

Better to be broken jade than unbroken pottery

 níng wéi yù suì bù wéi wǎ quán
Death Before Dishonor Scroll

寧為玉碎不為瓦全 is the long version of a Chinese proverb that means “rather be shattered piece of jade than an unbroken piece of pottery.”

A little more explanation:
Death is implied with the “broken” meaning. Jade is one of the most precious materials in Chinese history, and in this case, is compared with one's honor and self-worth. Pottery is just something you eat off of, it has no deep value, just as a person who has lost their honor, or had none to begin with.
Thus, this means “better to die with honor than to live in shame” or words to that effect.

寧為玉碎不為瓦全 is often translated in English as “Death Before Dishonor,” the famous military slogan.

I would also compare this to the English proverb, “Better to die on your feet than to live on your knees.”


This is an idiom. It therefore doesn’t directly say exactly what it means. If you think about the English idiom, "The grass is always greener," it does not directly say "jealousy" or "envy" but everyone knows that it is implied.

Everything Happens for a Reason

 wàn shì jiē yīn guǒ
Everything Happens for a Reason Scroll

萬事皆因果 means “Everything happens for a reason” in Chinese.

The first two characters mean “all things” or “everything.”

The middle character kind of means “in all cases.”

The last two characters create a complex word that can be defined in many ways, such as “karma,” “cause and effect,” “fate,” and “every cause has its effect, as every effect arises from a cause.”

Keep in mind that Chinese grammar is a bit different than English, so trust me that this makes a natural-sounding proverb in Chinese.

Evil Cause, Evil Result

Meaning: You reap what you sow

 akuin akka
Evil Cause, Evil Result Scroll

悪因悪果 is a Japanese proverb that means “Evil cause, evil effect” or “Bad causes bring bad results.”

The English equivalent is probably, “Sow evil and reap evil” or more commonly, “You reap what you sow.”

Note: 悪因悪果 is also considered to be a Buddhist phrase encompassing the idea of karmic retribution.

Fate / Opportunity / Chance

The Buddhist idea of Fate

 yīn yuán
 in nen
Fate / Opportunity / Chance Scroll

因緣 is the Buddhist concept of a chance meeting or an opportunity that presents itself by fate.

Sometimes this is used to describe a cosmic chain of events or cause and effect.

It also is used to describe predestined relationships between people - and sometimes married couples (although if you want one about marriage, try this: Fate / Destiny of Lovers.

因緣 can also be translated as origin, karma, destiny, affinity, connection, and relation. This all depends on context - seen alone on a wall scroll, this will be read with a “fate/chance” meaning by a Chinese person or a Korean person who can read Hanja.

The more complex definition of this word would be, “Direct causes and indirect conditions, which underlie the actions of all things.”

This concept is known as nidana in the original Sanskrit. Also sometimes presented as hetupratyaya (or “hetu and prataya”), which I believe is Pali.


Note: Japanese will tend to use this version of the second Kanji: 縁
If you order this from the Japanese master calligrapher, expect that you’ll get this version. However, this word often carries a negative connotation in Japanese (bad things happen), as it is used that way in a certain Japanese idiom. Therefore, this may not be the best choice if Japanese is your target language.


See Also:  Buddhism | Opportunity

Relationship

Most common Japanese version

 guān xì
 kan kei
Relationship Scroll

The dictionary definition is:
relation, relationship, connection, participation, involvement, concern, influence, effect, related to, connected to, or as a suffix to sexual it can mean sexual relations or relationship.

But there's more to it...

In Japan, the relationship that you have with certain people can open doors for you. Having this relationship with someone also means they would never rip you off but instead are honor-bound to treat you fairly.


See our Chinese Guanxi entry for more information. This term is used in very similar ways in China, Japan, and Korea.


See Also:  Guanxi

 tiě zhǎng
 tetsu-tenohira
Iron Palm Scroll

鐵掌 means “iron palm,” the martial arts technique taught by Brian Gray and others.

This term can mean different things to different people. The consensus is that rather than a type or style of martial arts, this is a technique for refining hand position and strengthening hands to strike blows with maximum force and effect.

The regime may include herbal treatments and special exercises to fortify the hands.

In more extreme versions, the carpals and metacarpal bones in the hand are systematically broken so that when they heal, they will become stronger.

Japanese note: This does make sense in Japanese (though the version shown above is the ancient form of the first Kanji), this is far from a commonly-known term.

Karma - Cause and Effect

 yīn guǒ
 inga
Karma - Cause and Effect Scroll

因果 is a label that is used inside and outside of the Buddhist faith to speak of Karma.

Along with the meaning of Karma, this word can be translated as “retribution” or “chain of cause and effect.”


See Also:  Buddhism

Duty to Defend and Protect Country

 shǒu tǔ yǒu zé
Duty to Defend and Protect Country Scroll

守土有責 is a Chinese proverb that expresses one's duty to defend the country.

守 means to guard, defend, keep watch, abide by the law, and/or observe (rules or ritual).
土 means land, earth, or soil.
有 is a possessive modifier in effect meaning “is a.”
責 means duty or responsibility.

So you get a literal translation of “Protecting [the] land is [a] duty/responsibility.”

 rú lái
 nyorai
Tathagata Scroll

如來 is the name Tathāgata (Buddha's name for himself) in Chinese and Japanese.

This has many layers of meaning: Gone to the absolute, perfected one, he who comes as do all other Buddhas, he who took the absolute way of cause and effect, etc.


The following table may be helpful for those studying Chinese or Japanese...

Title CharactersRomaji (Romanized Japanese)Various forms of Romanized Chinese
Death Before Dishonor寧為玉碎
宁为玉碎
níng wéi yù suì
ning2 wei2 yu4 sui4
ning wei yu sui
ningweiyusui
ning wei yü sui
ningweiyüsui
Death Before Dishonor寧為玉碎不為瓦全
宁为玉碎不为瓦全
níng wéi yù suì bù wéi wǎ quán
ning2 wei2 yu4 sui4 bu4 wei2 wa3 quan2
ning wei yu sui bu wei wa quan
ningweiyusuibuweiwaquan
ning wei yü sui pu wei wa ch`üan
ning wei yü sui pu wei wa chüan
Everything Happens for a Reason萬事皆因果
万事皆因果
wàn shì jiē yīn guǒ
wan4 shi4 jie1 yin1 guo3
wan shi jie yin guo
wanshijieyinguo
wan shih chieh yin kuo
wanshihchiehyinkuo
Evil Cause, Evil Result悪因悪果akuin akka / akuinakka / akuin aka
Fate
Opportunity
Chance
因緣
因缘 / 因縁
in nen / innenyīn yuán / yin1 yuan2 / yin yuan / yinyuanyin yüan / yinyüan
Relationship關繫 / 関繫 / 關係
関係
kan kei / kankeiguān xì / guan1 xi4 / guan xi / guanxikuan hsi / kuanhsi
Iron Palm鐵掌
铁掌
tetsu-tenohiratiě zhǎng
tie3 zhang3
tie zhang
tiezhang
t`ieh chang
tiehchang
tieh chang
Karma - Cause and Effect因果ingayīn guǒ / yin1 guo3 / yin guo / yinguoyin kuo / yinkuo
Duty to Defend and Protect Country守土有責
守土有责
shǒu tǔ yǒu zé
shou3 tu3 you3 ze2
shou tu you ze
shoutuyouze
shou t`u yu tse
shoutuyutse
shou tu yu tse
Tathagata如來
如来
nyorairú lái / ru2 lai2 / ru lai / rulaiju lai / julai
In some entries above you will see that characters have different versions above and below a line.
In these cases, the characters above the line are Traditional Chinese, while the ones below are Simplified Chinese.


Dictionary

Lookup Cause Effect in my Japanese & Chinese Dictionary


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When the calligrapher finishes creating your artwork, it is taken to my art mounting workshop in Beijing where a wall scroll is made by hand from a combination of silk, rice paper, and wood.
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Allow a few weeks for delivery. Rush service speeds it up by a week or two for $10!

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A nice Chinese calligraphy wall scroll

The wall scroll that Sandy is holding in this picture is a "large size"
single-character wall scroll.
We also offer custom wall scrolls in small, medium, and an even-larger jumbo size.

A professional Chinese Calligrapher

Professional calligraphers are getting to be hard to find these days.
Instead of drawing characters by hand, the new generation in China merely type roman letters into their computer keyboards and pick the character that they want from a list that pops up.

There is some fear that true Chinese calligraphy may become a lost art in the coming years. Many art institutes in China are now promoting calligraphy programs in hopes of keeping this unique form of art alive.

Trying to learn Chinese calligrapher - a futile effort

Even with the teachings of a top-ranked calligrapher in China, my calligraphy will never be good enough to sell. I will leave that to the experts.

A high-ranked Chinese master calligrapher that I met in Zhongwei

The same calligrapher who gave me those lessons also attracted a crowd of thousands and a TV crew as he created characters over 6-feet high. He happens to be ranked as one of the top 100 calligraphers in all of China. He is also one of very few that would actually attempt such a feat.


Check out my lists of Japanese Kanji Calligraphy Wall Scrolls and Old Korean Hanja Calligraphy Wall Scrolls.

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