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1. Advance Bravely / Indomitable Spirit
2. Indomitable Spirit / Indomitable Attitude
3. Indomitable / Persistence / Fortitude
6. Iron Heart
7. Iron Palm
8. Iron Fist
9. Iron Man
10. Perseverance / Indomitable / Invincible Fortitude
11. Even an iron bar can be ground to a needle
12. Iron Man
15. Iron Dragon
This proverb creates an image of a warrior bravely advancing against an enemy regardless of the odds.
This proverb can also be translated as “indomitable spirit” or “march fearlessly onward.”
See Also: Indomitable | Fortitude
Fukutsu no Seishin
不屈 is the short form of a longer Chinese word and also a word used in Korean and Japanese to express the idea of being indomitable. It literally means “will not bend,” “will not crouch,” “will not yield,” “will not flinch,” or “will not submit.”
Note: Some will translate this as “indomitable spirit”; however, technically, there is no character to suggest the idea of “spirit” in this word.
不屈不撓 means “Indomitable” or “Unyielding.”
不屈不撓 is a long word by Chinese standards. At least, it is often translated as a single word into English. It's actually a proverb in Chinese.
If you want to break it down, you can see that the first and third characters are the same. Both mean “not” (they work as a suffix to make a negative or opposite meaning to whatever character follows).
The second character means “bendable.”
The last means “scratched” or “bothered.”
So this really means “Won't be bent, can't be bothered.” I have also seen it written as “Will not crouch, will not submit.” This comes from the fact that the second character can mean “to crouch” and the last can mean “to submit” (as in “to give in” such as “submitting to the rule of someone else”). This may explain better why these four characters mean “indomitable.”
Notes:
Some will translate this as “indomitable spirit”; however, technically, there is no character to suggest the idea of “spirit” in this word.
Other translations include indefatigability, indomitableness, or unremitting tenacity.
The first two characters can be stand-alone words in Chinese.
In Japanese, this is considered two words (with very similar meanings). It's more common to see the word order flipped to 不撓不屈 in Japanese.
The same characters are used in old Korean Hanja. Just like in Japanese, the words are swapped to 不撓不屈 creating a word pronounced “불요불굴” in Korean.
See 不撓不屈
Korean Only
百折不屈 is a Korean proverb that means “indomitable spirit,” at least, that is the way it is commonly translated in martial arts circles (Taekwondo, Hapkido, etc.).
The literal translation is “[one] hundred [times] broken [still] don't succumb.”
Or more naturally translated, “Even if attacked/beaten one hundred times, still be undaunted/indomitable.”
Notes:
Some will say this is one long word rather than a proverb.
This is also a proverb/word in Chinese though rarely used in modern times.
鐵心 can be translated as “iron heart,” “steel core,” or “iron mind” in Chinese and Japanese Kanji.
This is not a common term, but I added it here since so many were looking for “iron heart.” This is almost like saying you are without emotions or feelings - a very stoic person. This is not a Buddhist trait.
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.
Tie Quan / Tieh Chuan
鐵拳 is a common theme used by various schools of martial arts.
鐵 means “iron” but, in some cases, can mean “indisputable.”
拳 means fist.
Some schools use the older/Taiwanese way to Romanize the iron fist, so you may have seen it spelled “Tieh Chuan” instead of “Tie Quan.” Neither way is technically incorrect.
Note that in Mandarin, the first part of the first character sounds like the English word “tea,” blending into a soft “-eh” sound. The second character sounds a lot like “chew on” but as if it is one syllable.
After WWII in Japan, the Kanji for iron was simplified. This new Kanji form is shown to the right. If you want this modern Japanese version, please click on the Kanji to the right, instead of the button above. The characters shown to the left would still be considered the old or ancient Japanese version of this title.
堅忍不抜 means determined, steadfast, unswerving, or unshakable in Japanese.
This is the Japanese version of an old Chinese 4-character perseverance proverb.
This would be understood in Chinese, but it's not commonly written this way in Chinese.
Note that when writing this as Kanji, Japanese calligraphers sometimes write the second Kanji in the form shown to the right. Yes,
it’s
just one stroke that is slightly different in location, crossing another stroke in this alternate Japanese Kanji form. If you have a preference, let us know when you order.
Due to some odd computer coding conventions, these two character forms were combined/merged into the same code point - thus, you will not see Kanji images of more Japanese form as you select options for your scroll.
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.”
This in-stock artwork might be what you are looking for, and ships right away...
The following table may be helpful for those studying Chinese or Japanese...
Title | Characters | Romaji (Romanized Japanese) | Various forms of Romanized Chinese | |
Advance Bravely Indomitable Spirit | 勇往直前 | yǒng wǎng zhí qián yong3 wang3 zhi2 qian2 yong wang zhi qian yongwangzhiqian | yung wang chih ch`ien yungwangchihchien yung wang chih chien |
|
Indomitable Spirit Indomitable Attitude | 不屈の精神 | fu kutsu no sei shin fukutsunoseishin | ||
Indomitable Persistence Fortitude | 不屈 | fukutsu | bù qū / bu4 qu1 / bu qu / buqu | pu ch`ü / puchü / pu chü |
Indomitable Unyielding | 不屈不撓 不屈不挠 | fu kutsu fu tou fukutsufutou fu kutsu fu to | bù qū bù náo bu4 qu1 bu4 nao2 bu qu bu nao buqubunao | pu ch`ü pu nao puchüpunao pu chü pu nao |
Indomitable Spirit | 負けじ魂 | ma ke ji damashii makejidamashii ma ke ji damashi | ||
Indomitable Spirit | 百折不屈 | bǎi shé bù qū bai3 she2 bu4 qu1 bai she bu qu baishebuqu | pai she pu ch`ü paishepuchü pai she pu chü |
|
Iron Heart | 鐵心 铁心 | tetsu kokoro / tesshin tetsukokoro / tesshin tetsu kokoro / teshin | tiě xīn / tie3 xin1 / tie xin / tiexin | t`ieh hsin / tiehhsin / tieh hsin |
Iron Palm | 鐵掌 铁掌 | tetsu-tenohira | tiě zhǎng tie3 zhang3 tie zhang tiezhang | t`ieh chang tiehchang tieh chang |
Iron Fist | 鐵拳 铁拳 / 鉄拳 | tekken / teken | tiě quán / tie3 quan2 / tie quan / tiequan | t`ieh ch`üan / tiehchüan / tieh chüan |
Iron Man | 鋼鐵俠 | gāng tiě xiá gang1 tie3 xia2 gang tie xia gangtiexia | kang t`ieh hsia kangtiehhsia kang tieh hsia |
|
Perseverance Indomitable Invincible Fortitude | 堅忍不抜 / 堅忍不拔 坚忍不拔 | kenninfubatsu | jiān rěn bù bá jian1 ren3 bu4 ba2 jian ren bu ba jianrenbuba | chien jen pu pa chienjenpupa |
Even an iron bar can be ground to a needle | 磨杵成針 磨杵成针 | mó chǔ chéng zhēn mo2 chu3 cheng2 zhen1 mo chu cheng zhen mochuchengzhen | mo ch`u ch`eng chen mochuchengchen mo chu cheng chen |
|
Iron Man | 鉄人 | tetsujin | ||
Unshakable Determined | 鐵了心 铁了心 | tiě le xīn tie3 le5 xin1 tie le xin tielexin | t`ieh le hsin tiehlehsin tieh le hsin |
|
Stay Strong Iron Will | 鉄心石腸 | tesshin sekichou tesshinsekichou teshin sekicho | ||
Iron Dragon | 鐵龍 铁龙 | tiě lóng / tie3 long2 / tie long / tielong | t`ieh lung / tiehlung / tieh lung | |
Strike While the Iron is Hot | 乘勢 乘势 | chéng shì cheng2 shi4 cheng shi chengshi | ch`eng shih chengshih cheng shih |
|
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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