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2. Everything Happens for a Reason
4. Fate / Opportunity / Chance
5. Relationship
6. Iron Palm
8. Duty to Defend and Protect Country
9. Tathagata
Better to be broken jade than unbroken pottery
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.”
Better to be broken jade than unbroken pottery
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.
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.
Meaning: You reap what you sow
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.
The Buddhist idea of Fate
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:
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
Most common Japanese version
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
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.
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.”
The following table may be helpful for those studying Chinese or Japanese...
Title | Characters | Romaji (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 / innen | yīn yuán / yin1 yuan2 / yin yuan / yinyuan | yin yüan / yinyüan |
Relationship | 關繫 / 関繫 / 關係 関係 | kan kei / kankei | guān xì / guan1 xi4 / guan xi / guanxi | kuan hsi / kuanhsi |
Iron Palm | 鐵掌 铁掌 | tetsu-tenohira | tiě zhǎng tie3 zhang3 tie zhang tiezhang | t`ieh chang tiehchang tieh chang |
Karma - Cause and Effect | 因果 | inga | yīn guǒ / yin1 guo3 / yin guo / yinguo | yin 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 | nyorai | rú lái / ru2 lai2 / ru lai / rulai | ju 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. |
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All of our calligraphy wall scrolls are handmade.
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.
After we create your wall scroll, it takes at least two weeks for air mail delivery from Beijing to you.
Allow a few weeks for delivery. Rush service speeds it up by a week or two for $10!
When you select your calligraphy, you'll be taken to another page where you can choose various custom options.
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.
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.
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.
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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