Strong in Chinese / Japanese...

金剛不壞 is originally a Buddhist term for “The diamond indestructible.”

Sometimes, it's written 金剛不壞身, The diamond-indestructible body.

Outside that context, it still means firm and solid, sturdy and indestructible, unshakable, or adamantine (a mythological indestructible material).

Note: If you order this from the Japanese master calligrapher, the last Kanji will look like the one shown to the right.

女傑 can mean brave woman, heroine, lady of character, distinguished woman, outstanding woman, and sometimes prominent woman.

Some people might use this to give a title to women like Amelia Earhart, Rosa Parks, Queen Elizabeth the First, Joan of Arc, Mulan Fa, Yevdokiya Nikolayevna Zavaliy, Harriet Tubman, Anne Frank, Clara Barton, and Jane Eyre.

I use it for a woman like Araceli Segarra (the first woman from Spain to climb Mt. Everest) and gave one of my daughters the middle name of Araceli.

堅信 means to believe firmly, with firm faith, or without any doubt.

Japanese Christians sometimes use this term to mean the rite of confirmation.

This can also be the Japanese given name Kenshin.

強大 can mean mighty, powerful, large, formidable, or strong.

This term is often used to describe soldiers/troops/warriors and whole armies.

強固 means firmness, stability, security, and strength in Japanese.

It's not used commonly in China, but it means “powerful,” “firm,” “solid,” “strong,” or “better than others” in Chinese. There is a slight variation in the top of the first character between Chinese and Japanese. Because this is more of a Japanese word, we are showing the Japanese form here.

強固 is also a Korean word, but Korean Hanja uses the Chinese form of the first character (one tiny stroke is a little different), so just let me know if your audience is Korean when you place your order, and we'll have it written in the Chinese/Korean version.

強壯 is an adjective that means powerful or strong.

It can also be translated as able-bodied, robust, or sturdy.
This version of strength also suggests muscularity.

Note that the second character was simplified in Japan after WWII (also simplified in mainland China but not for calligraphy). If you want the modern Japanese/simplified version, please click on the Kanji shown to the right.

See Also:  Strength | Vitality | Health

強 is a character that means strong, strength, force, powerful, better, stubborn, and stiff (yes, all of this in one character).

This “strong” has less to do with physical strength and more to do with having a winning attitude, or just having the ability to win at something.

Note that most of the time, this character is pronounced “qiang” but when used with the meaning of stubborn, unyielding, or stiff, it is pronounced “jiang” in Chinese.

Also, sometimes “qiang” is used in modern Chinese to describe people that do crazy things (For example: Bicycling from Beijing to Tibet alone). I sometimes can be found outside my Beijing apartment wearing nothing but shorts and a tee-shirt while eating ice cream during a snow storm, just to hear my neighbors call me “qiang.” Maybe they mean “strong” but perhaps they are using the new meaning of “crazy strong.”

強 can also be a Chinese surname that romanizes as Jiang in the mainland or Chiang if from Taiwan.

強 is a valid Korean Hanja character with the same meaning but is mostly used in compound Korean words.

強 is used in Japanese (though normally in compound words). In Japanese, it has the same meaning but in some contexts can mean “a little more than...” or “a little over [some amount].” Most Japanese would read this as tough, strength, stiff, hard, inflexible, obstinate, or stubborn.

The variant 彊 is sometimes seen in older literature.

This “strong” character means “to strengthen” or robust. This brings images of a muscle-bound hulk of a weight lifter or bodybuilder to an Asian person who sees this character.

Note that in Korean and Japanese, this character is normally part of compound words, and is not seen alone too often.

Note that the this character was simplified in Japan after WWII (also simplified in mainland China but not for calligraphy). If you want the modern Japanese/simplified version, please click on the Kanji shown to the right.

This “strong” character is the more “healthy” version of strong. 健 is the “strong” that is appropriate for an athlete.

Beyond “healthy,” it can also mean strength, persistence, vigorous, or invigorated/invigoration.

We don't really have a word like 健美 in English, but these two characters create a word that means “strong and beautiful.” It could also be translated as “healthy and beautiful.”

Note: 健美 is a word in Chinese and Korean, but it's also the family name Takemi in Japanese. The characters hold the same meaning in Japanese; however, it's like having the English name Stillwell when few people would perceive the meanings of still and well.

不磕不碰骨頭不硬 is a Chinese proverb that literally translates as: Without being knocked around a bit, [one's] bones won't become hard.

Figuratively, this means: One can't become strong without first being tempered by “hard knocks.”

While true for everyone, this sounds like the “Iron Body” form of Kung Fu, where practitioners' bodies are beaten (and often bone fractured) in order to become stronger.
For the rest of us, this is just about how we can be tempered and build character through the hardships in our lives.

This is not a common title for a wall scroll in China.

健やか is a verbose way to say strong and healthy in Japanese. 健やか is the “strong” that is appropriate for an athlete.

Beyond “healthy,” it can also mean strength, persistence, vigorous, or invigoration.

Japanese also use the first Kanji to mean the same thing. This version adds two hiragana which serve to emphasize or amplify the word and clarify the meaning.

Note: Because this selection contains some special Japanese Hiragana characters, it should be written by a Japanese calligrapher.

気の強い means strong-willed or strong of heart in Japanese.

Here's the character breakdown of this Japanese title:
気 (ki) spirit; mind; heart; nature; motivation; intention; feelings; essence.
の (no) possessive particle.
強い (tsuyoi) strong; powerful; mighty; potent; resistant; resilient; durable.

Note: Because this selection contains some special Japanese Hiragana characters, it should be written by a Japanese calligrapher.

意志堅強 can mean either “strong-hearted,” “strong-willed” or “determination.”

The first two characters can be translated as “will,” “willpower,” “determination,” “volition,” “intention,” or “intent.” But, it should be noted that this first part possesses the element of “heart” in the lower portion of both characters (they also partially carry the meaning “with the whole heart”).

The last two characters mean “strong” or “staunch.”

Chinese word order and grammar are a bit different than English, so in this case, they are in reverse order of English but have the correct meaning in a natural form.

See Also:  Discipline | Will-Power

思い切り can be translated as “with all one's strength,” “with all one's heart,” “to the limits of your heart,” or “to the end of your heart/emotions.”

The character breakdown:
思い (omoi) thought; mind; heart; feelings; emotion; sentiment; love; affection; desire; wish; hope; expectation; imagination; experience
切り (kiri) bounds; limits.

Note: Because this selection contains some special Japanese Hiragana characters, it should be written by a Japanese calligrapher.

強壯的身體堅強的心態 is the Chinese phrase for “Strong Mind, Strong Body,” however, the character order is actually “Strong Body, Strong Mind,” as that's the more natural word order in Chinese.

強い体強い心 is a way to write “strong mind, strong body” in Japanese.

Each of the two lines starts with 強い (tsuyoi) which means: strong; powerful; mighty; potent; resistant; resilient; durable; tough; stiff; hard; inflexible.

The body is represented with 体 (the ancient version is 體, romanized as karada), which means: body; build; physique; posture; torso; trunk; health.

Mind is represented with 心 (kokoro), which can mean heart, mind, or soul, depending on context.

強い體強い心 is not a common phrase in Japanese, so it's not the most natural title for calligraphy. In English, you might want to write it, “strong mind, strong body” but, “strong mind, strong body,” is more natural in Japanese.

Note: Because this selection contains some special Japanese Hiragana characters, it should be written by a Japanese calligrapher.

強いもの means “strong one,” in Japanese.

Note: Because this selection contains some special Japanese Hiragana characters, it should be written by a Japanese calligrapher.

女強人 is the best way to say “strong woman” or “strong and independent woman” in Chinese.

Grammar in China is a bit different, so these three characters literally read as “female strength person” or “woman strong person.” This might sound funny in English, but this is a natural-sounding title in Chinese.

烈婦 is a Japanese title for a strong-minded woman, virtuous woman, or heroin.

In some contexts, it can refer to a pure or chaste woman.

硬氣 means firm, unyielding, or strong-willed in Chinese.

If you take pride in being strong-willed or a bit stubborn, this could be for you.

百煉才成鋼 / 百煉纔成鋼 literally translates as: Only after much tempering is steel produced.

Figuratively, this means: True character must be tested in hardship.

This is a mild form of saying, “Whatever doesn't kill me, makes me stronger.”

弱肉強食 is a Japanese and Chinese proverb that literally means “The weak are meat; the strong eat” or “The weak are prey to the strong.”

The closest English version is, “Survival of the fittest.” It also fits with the ideas of, “predatory behavior,” or “The law of the jungle.”

鉄心石腸 is a Japanese proverb that suggests you should have the inner-strength and will as hard and steadfast as iron.

It's the Japanese way of saying, “stay strong.” This is an especially uplifting thing to say to a person in distress or recovering from a disaster. It's kind of the survivor's creed.

If you literally translate this, it means “iron will, stone guts” or “iron heart, rock-hard bowels.”

要強 means “strong-minded” in Chinese.

This refers to someone who is or encourages someone to be eager to excel or eager to get ahead in life.