Custom Strength Chinese & Japanese Calligraphy Wall Scroll

This is a general strength term. It can refer to mental or physical strength (depending on context). This word can also be used to describe strength in terms of capability, capacity, ability and even tact.

This is the slightly-verbose way to say inner-strength. The first two characters mean "intrinsic" or "inner". The second two characters mean "power", "force" or "strength". This is more a short phrase rather than just a word in Chinese and Korean. This can sort of be understood in Japanese, but it's not normal/proper Japanese.

This is the shorter version of inner-strength. The first character holds the meaning of "inner" or "internal". The second character means "power", "force" or "strength".

While understood in both Chinese and Japanese, this can have a secondary meaning of "inner stress" in Japanese.

This is the kind of inner-strength that applies to a person who has will-power and can inspire themselves to do great things.

This word can also be the creed of a person that always pursues self-improvement

Means "physical strength", "physical power", or "physical stamina".

See Also...  Fortitude

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 a Japanese word, we are showing the Japanese form here.

This 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 now if your audience is Korean when you place your order, and we'll have it written in the Chinese/Korean version.

The simplest form of "power" or "strength". In Japanese it is pronounced "chikara" when used alone, and "ryoku" when used in a sentence.

This title speaks of one's soul or spirit, and the capacity or strength that soul possesses.

The first two characters mean mind, heart, spirit, and/or soul.

The last two characters mean strength, capacity, or ability.

Note: Separately, these are two words in Japanese, and can be pronounced, but this does not make a natural title in Japanese (best if your audience is Chinese).

The first character means "strong", "solid", "firm", "unyielding" or "resolute". The second character means "to beat", "to endure", or "to tolerate". Together they speak of the strength from within yourself.

Note that when writing this as Kanji, Japanese will tend to write the second Kanji in the form shown to the right. If you select our Japanese master calligrapher, please expect this Kanji form (yes, it's just one stroke that is slightly different in location, crossing another stroke in the Japanese Kanji form).

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.

See Also...  Perseverance | Tenacity

This phrase means "Be undaunted in the face of repeated setbacks".

It comes from a long, and occasionally tragic story of a man that lived sometime around 25-220 AD. His name was Qiao Xuan and he never stooped to flattery, but remained an upright person at all times. He fought to expose corruption of higher-level government officials at great risk to himself.

Then when he was at a higher level in the Imperial Court, bandits were regularly capturing hostages and demanding ransoms. But when his own son was captured, he was so focused on his duty to the Emperor and common good that he sent a platoon of soldiers to raid the bandits' hideout, and stop them once and for all even at the risk of his own son's life. While all of the bandits were arrested in the raid, they killed Qiao Xuan's son at first sight of the raiding soldiers.

Near the end of his career a new Emperor came to power, and Qiao Xuan reported to him that one of his ministers was bullying the people and extorting money from them. The new Emperor refused to listen to Qiao Xuan and even promoted the corrupt Minister. Qiao Xuan was so disgusted that in protest he resigned his post as minister (something almost never done) and left for his home village.

His tombstone reads "Bai Zhe Bu Nao" which is now a phrase used in Chinese culture to describe a person of strong will who puts up stubborn resistance against great odds.

My Chinese-English dictionary defines these 4 characters as, "keep on fighting in spite of all setbacks", "be undaunted by repeated setbacks" and "be indomitable".

See Also...  Tenacity | Fortitude | Undaunted

This is the simplest way to express perseverance in Chinese and Korean Hanja.
This single-character version leaves a bit of mystery about what kind of perseverance you might want to convey.

In Korean, this is usually associated with "strength of character".

In Japanese, this character can be pronounced about a dozen different ways (so we have left out the Japanese pronunciation guide that normally appears above). In Japanese this Kanji would usually be translated "strong" (perhaps strong-willed).

See Also...  Tenacity | Fortitude | Undaunted

Means "physical strength" or "physical power".

The first character was first simplified in Japan. Then that simplified version became the standard in mainland China. Just in case you want this version, it is offered here. I suggest it if you audience is Japanese. Most Chinese know the older traditional version.

If you are into healthy living, this might be a great selection for a wall scroll to hang in your home. The first two characters speak of health, vitality, vigor and being of sound body. The second two mean living or life (daily existence).

See Also...  Vitality | Health

While hard to translate directly, this is the best way to write "Live Strong" in Chinese. If you are a cancer survivor, or simply support Lance Armstrong's ideas, this is a nice selection for a wall scroll.

The first two characters mean strong or staunch. The last two mean living or life (daily existence). While the Chinese version is the reverse order of "Live Strong" it is the only way to write it in a natural form that is also grammatically correct.

Note that we are in no way affiliated or connected to Lance, nor his foundation. This translation is offered because of multiple requests from customers whose philosophies or ideas match those of the Live Strong idea.

See Also...  Vitality | Health | Determination | Discipline

This is an adjective that means powerful or strong. It can also be translated as able-bodied, robust, or sturdy.

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...  Vitality | Health

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

Note: This 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, but It's kind of like having the English name Stillwell, when few people would perceive the meanings of still and well.

This phrase can mean either "strong hearted" or "strong willed". The first two characters can be translated simply as "will" but also have the element of "heart" in the lower portion of both characters (they also partially carry this meaning). The last two characters mean "strong" or "staunch".

Chinese word order and grammar is 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...  Strong Willed | Discipline | Will Power

This concept has existed for thousands of years that humans have the ability to understand right and wrong, then make a decision one way or the other (thus affecting their own fate).

Sources such as Confucius, Buddhist scriptures, the Qur'an and the Bible all address this idea.

As for the characters shown here, the first two mean free, freedom, or liberty. The last two simply mean "will".

Please note: I have not completely confirmed that this is a common term in Japanese and Korean, though the pronunciation is correct, and meanings appear to be the same as the Chinese.

See Also...  Freedom | Strong Willed | Fate

This is a long word by Chinese standards. At least it is often translated as a single word into English. This simply means "Indomitable" or "Unyielding".

If you want to break it down, you can see that the first and third characters are the same. Both meaning "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".

Note: The first two characters can be a stand-alone word in Chinese. In Japanese, this is considered to be two words (with very similar meanings). The same characters are used in Korean, but the 2nd and 4th characters are swapped to create a word pronounced "불요불굴" in Korean.
Just let me know if you want the Korean version, which will also make sense in Japanese, and though not as natural, will also make sense in Chinese as well.

See Also...  Tenacity | Fortitude | Undaunted

This is the short form of a longer Chinese word, and also a word used in 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".

See Also...  Tenacity | Fortitude | Undaunted

This "strong" character means 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 or stiff, it is pronounced "jiang" in Chinese.

Also, sometimes "qiang" is used in modern Chinese to describe people that do crazy things (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 an 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".

Also a Korean Hanja with same meaning, but mostly used in compound words.

This "strong" character means "to strengthen" or robust. This brings images of a muscle-bound hulk of a weight lifter or body builder to a Chinese or Korean person when viewing this character.

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

This "strong" character is the more "healthy" version of strong. This is the "strong" that is appropriate for an athlete.

Beyond "healthy", it can also mean strength, persistence, vigorous or invigorated.

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

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

This is a verbose way to say strong and healthy in Japanese. This is the "strong" that is appropriate for an athlete.

Beyond "healthy", it can also mean strength, persistence, vigorous or invigorated.

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

This is a wish or a prayer that you might call out at a desperate time.

Translated by us for a military serviceman in Iraq - obviously he may have a need to use this phrase often, though I am not sure where he's going to find a place to hang a wall scroll.