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1. Honorable Death - No Surrender
2. Faithful / Honorable / Trustworthy / Fidelity / Loyalty
3. Fidelity / Personal Integrity / Honor
4. Honor
5. Work Unselfishly for the Common Good
6. Courage to do what is right
13. Pride
14. Martial Morality / Martial Arts Ethics / Virtue
15. Dignity / Honor / Sanctity / Integrity
16. Tibet
This ancient Japanese proverb can be translated as “The principle of honorable death and no surrender,” or simply “No surrender.”
If you directly translate this, you get something that means “Doctrine of suicide,” or “Ideology of honorable death.”
玉砕主義 is a specifically-Japanese proverb that embraces the long history of honorable suicide or self-sacrifice for honor in Japanese culture.
信義 is a word often used to describe a person with an honest and loyal reputation.
Simply put, this applies to somebody you can trust (with your life).
In Chinese, this is often defined as good faith, honor, trust, and justice.
In Korean, this word means fidelity, truthfulness, or faithfulness.
In Japanese: faith, fidelity, and loyalty. It's also a Japanese male given name when pronounced “Nobuyoshi.”
操守 is the Chinese and Japanese Kanji for personal integrity, constancy, fidelity, and honor/honour.
The original meaning of the first character is chastity, fidelity, honor, and/or faith.
The second character means to defend, guard, keep watch, and be observant.
So, this is about being observant of and guarding your integrity and honor.
(Modern Japanese version)
名譽 is a version of honor that is about having or earning the respect of others and about your reputation.
It is the status of being worthy of honor (not to be confused with doing honorable things or specific actions - see our other “honor” listing for that).
Both modern Japanese and modern mainland Chinese use the same simplified version of the second character of honor. You can make a special request for the traditional second character as shown to the right (just click on that character to the right of you want to order that version). Before WWII, both Japan and China used the traditional form but modern Japanese and Chinese use this simplified form. Koreans still use the traditional form when they are not writing in their modern Hangul glyphs.
This is also a virtue of the Samurai Warrior
See our page with just Code of the Samurai / Bushido here
克己奉公 is a Chinese proverb that is often used to express how one should act as a government official. Most of us wish our public officials would hold themselves to higher standards. I wish I could send this scroll, along with the meaning to every member of Congress, and the President (or if I was from the UK, all the members of Parliament, and the PM)
This can also mean: “Place Strict Standards on Oneself in Public Service.”
The story behind this ancient Chinese idiom:
Cai Zun was born in China a little over 2000 years ago. In 24 AD, he joined an uprising led by Liu Xiu, who later became the emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty.
Later, the new emperor put Cai Zun in charge of the military court. Cai Zun exercised his power in strict accordance with military law, regardless of the offender's rank or background. He even ordered the execution of one of the emperor's close servants after the servant committed a serious crime.
Cai Zun led a simple life but put great demands on himself to do all things honorably. The emperor rewarded him for his honest character and honorable nature by promoting him to the rank of General and granting him the title of Marquis.
Whenever Cai Zun would receive an award, he would give credit to his men and share the reward with them.
Cai Zun was always praised by historians who found many examples of his selfless acts that served the public interest.
Sometime long ago in history, people began to refer to Cai Zun as “ke ji feng gong.”
See Also: Unselfish | Selflessness | Altruism
見義勇為 means the courage to do what is right in Chinese.
This could also be translated as “Never hesitate to do what is right.”
This comes from Confucian thought:
Your courage should head in an honorable direction. For example, you should take action when the goal is to attain a just result as, without honorable intent, a person’s gutsy fervor can easily lead them astray.
One who flaunts courage but disregards justice is bound to do wrong; someone who possesses courage and morality is destined to become a hero.
Some text above paraphrased from The World of Chinese - The Character of 勇
See Also: Work Unselfishly for the Common Good | Justice | Bravery
尊敬心 means respectful heart in Japanese, Chinese and Korean.
The root is 尊敬 which means respect, honor, reverence, esteem, and/or nobility. Therefore, you can also define this as an honorable heart, reverent heart, noble heart, etc.
In ancient times, it was thought your brain was the heart in your chest. Therefore, 心 or heart can also mean “mind.” Hence, 尊敬心 can also be translated as respectful mind, honorable mind, etc.
You'll see 尊敬心 romanized as Sonkeishin or Sonkeshin from Japanese.
榮 relates to giving someone a tribute or praise.
It's a little odd as a gift, so this may not be the best selection for a wall scroll.
I've made this entry because this character is often misused as “honorable” or “keeping your honor.” It's not quite the same meaning, as this usually refers to a tribute or giving an honor to someone.
榮 is often found in tattoo books incorrectly listed as the western idea of personal honor or being honorable. Check with us before you get a tattoo that does not match the meaning you are really looking for. As a tattoo, this suggests that you either have a lot of pride in yourself or that you have a wish for prosperity for yourself and/or your family.
In modern Japanese Kanji, glory and honor look like the image to the right.
There is a lot of confusion about this character, so here are some alternate translations for this character: prosperous, flourishing, blooming (like a flower), glorious beauty, proud, praise, rich, or it can be the family name “Rong.” The context in which the character is used can change the meaning between these various ideas.
In the old days, this could be an honor paid to someone by the Emperor (basically a designation by the Emperor that a person has high standing).
To sum it up: 榮 has a positive meaning; however, it's a different flavor than the idea of being honorable and having integrity.
Surname
This is the surname “Chong” or “Zhong” in Mandarin Chinese, “Sung” in Cantonese and Korean, and Su in Japanese.
崇 is used in other Chinese words and other Asian languages with the following meanings:
high; sublime; lofty; to esteem; to worship; eminent; honorable; honourable; reverence; adore/adoration.
節操 means honorable, integrity of principle, constancy, honor, and in a certain context, chastity.
Please note that there are a few ways to relay the idea of integrity in Asian languages and more than one way to define honor in English. 節操 is far from the only way to express “honor and integrity.”
力量與榮譽 is “strength and honor” in Chinese.
The first two characters are usually understood as (physical) strength but can also mean power or force.
The middle character is a connecting particle similar to “and.”
The last two characters are a way to say honor but can also be understood as honorable reputation, honorary, or glory.
自尊 can mean “pride,” “self-respect,” or “self-esteem.” The first character means “oneself,” and the second can mean revered, valuable, precious, noble, exalted, honorable, or simply “pride.”
I have also seen this two-character word translated as “amour propre,” self-regard, and self-pride.
自尊 is universal between Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and Korean Hanja written languages. It may also be understood in old Vietnamese (they once used Chinese characters as well).
This refers to the virtue, morality, and ethics that any practitioner of martial arts should possess.
This can be used in both Chinese and Japanese in place of English terms such as “soldierly virtue,” “good conduct” (military), “warrior ethics,” and being honorable regarding any fight or competition.
In Japanese, there is a slight variation in the last character, making it 武徳 instead of 武德 in Japan. And yes, just one little horizontal stroke is omitted. If you need the Japanese version, please choose a Japanese calligrapher, or drop me a note so that I make sure you get the characters you intend.
See Also: Morality of Mind | Morality of Deed
尊嚴 is a form of honor that means showing great respect for yourself, other people, and the rules you live by.
When you are honorable, you keep your word. You do the right thing regardless of what others are doing.
尊嚴 is the kind of personal honor or dignity that is of great value. If you lose this, you have lost yourself and perhaps the reputation of your family as well.
While this is not directly the same thing as “face” or “saving face” in Asian culture, it is associated with the same concept in China.
In Japan, they currently use a more simplified second character for this word. The ancient Japanese form is the same as China but after WWII some Kanji were changed. If you want the modern Japanese version, just click on the Kanji image shown to the right, instead of the button above.
西藏 is the Chinese and Japanese name for Tibet.
It is a vast area in southwest China for which the Chinese government has little control (except in the capital of Llasa). During your travels in Tibet (outside of Llasa) you will find it is rough country full of ruthless bandits and honorable and upright Living Buddhas. There are about 2000 Living Buddhas in Tibet, and at least 10 times more bandits ready to ambush you on the road or trail.
On the eastern frontier of Tibet, you will find the place designated to be Shangri-la. It's a friendly village of Tibetans and is the gateway to greater Tibet.
The full official Chinese name is Tibet Autonomous Region or 西藏自治區|西藏自治区. The name here, 西藏 is quite old - from several dynasties ago.
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The following table may be helpful for those studying Chinese or Japanese...
Title | Characters | Romaji (Romanized Japanese) | Various forms of Romanized Chinese | |
Honorable Death - No Surrender | 玉砕主義 | gyokusai shugi gyokusaishugi | ||
Faithful Honorable Trustworthy Fidelity Loyalty | 信義 信义 | shingi | xìn yì / xin4 yi4 / xin yi / xinyi | hsin i / hsini |
Fidelity Personal Integrity Honor | 操守 | soushu / soshu | cāo shǒu / cao1 shou3 / cao shou / caoshou | ts`ao shou / tsaoshou / tsao shou |
Honor | 名譽 名誉 | meiyo | míng yù / ming2 yu4 / ming yu / mingyu | ming yü / mingyü |
Work Unselfishly for the Common Good | 克己奉公 | kè jǐ fèng gōng ke4 ji3 feng4 gong1 ke ji feng gong kejifenggong | k`o chi feng kung kochifengkung ko chi feng kung |
|
Courage to do what is right | 見義勇為 见义勇为 | jiàn yì yǒng wéi jian4 yi4 yong3 wei2 jian yi yong wei jianyiyongwei | chien i yung wei chieniyungwei |
|
Respectful Heart | 尊敬心 | son kei shin sonkeishin | zūn jìng xīn zun1 jing4 xin1 zun jing xin zunjingxin | tsun ching hsin tsunchinghsin |
Glory and Honor | 榮 荣 / 栄 | ei | róng / rong2 / rong | jung |
Clear Blue Sky | 青天 | seiten | qīng tiān qing1 tian1 qing tian qingtian | ch`ing t`ien chingtien ching tien |
Chong Sung Su | 崇 | sū | chóng / chong2 / chong | ch`ung / chung |
Honor and Integrity | 節操 节操 | sessou / seso | jié cāo / jie2 cao1 / jie cao / jiecao | chieh ts`ao / chiehtsao / chieh tsao |
Strength and Honor | 力量與榮譽 力量与荣誉 | lì liàng yǔ róng yù li4 liang4 yu3 rong2 yu4 li liang yu rong yu liliangyurongyu | li liang yü jung yü liliangyüjungyü |
|
Pride | 自尊 | jison | zì zūn / zi4 zun1 / zi zun / zizun | tzu tsun / tzutsun |
Martial Morality Martial Arts Ethics Virtue | 武德 | bu to ku / butoku | wǔ dé / wu3 de2 / wu de / wude | wu te / wute |
Dignity Honor Sanctity Integrity | 尊嚴 尊严 / 尊厳 | son gen / songen | zūn yán / zun1 yan2 / zun yan / zunyan | tsun yen / tsunyen |
Tibet | 西藏 | seizou / chibetto seizo / chibetto | xī zàng / xi1 zang4 / xi zang / xizang | hsi tsang / hsitsang |
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.
Some people may refer to this entry as To Be Honorable Kanji, To Be Honorable Characters, To Be Honorable in Mandarin Chinese, To Be Honorable Characters, To Be Honorable in Chinese Writing, To Be Honorable in Japanese Writing, To Be Honorable in Asian Writing, To Be Honorable Ideograms, Chinese To Be Honorable symbols, To Be Honorable Hieroglyphics, To Be Honorable Glyphs, To Be Honorable in Chinese Letters, To Be Honorable Hanzi, To Be Honorable in Japanese Kanji, To Be Honorable Pictograms, To Be Honorable in the Chinese Written-Language, or To Be Honorable in the Japanese Written-Language.