Custom Humility Chinese & Japanese Calligraphy Wall Scroll

yī yuē cí èr yuē jiǎn sān yuē bù gǎn wéi tiān xià xiān

This is an except from the 67th Chapter of Lao Tzu's (Lao Zi's) Te-Tao Ching (Dao De Jing). This is the part where the three treasures are discussed. In English, we'd say these three treasures are compassion, frugality, and humility. Some may translate these as love, moderation, and lack of arrogance. I have also seen them translated as benevolence, modesty, and "Not presuming to be at the forefront in the world." You can mix them up the way you want, as translation is not really a science but rather an art.

I should also explain that the first two treasures are single-character ideas, yet the third treasure was written out in six characters (there are also some auxiliary characters to number the treasures).

If Lao Tzu's words are important to you, then a wall scroll with this passage might make a great addition to your home.

qiān xū

ken kyo

겸허

In Chinese and Korean, the first character means "modest." The second means "empty." Together these characters reinforce the ideas of modesty and being empty of ego.

This can also be translated as humbleness or humility.

In Japan, they tend to use a slightly-simplified version of the second Kanji for this word. It also happens to be an alternate/simplified version used in China too. If you want to order the modern Japanese/simplified version, just click in the Kanji image shown to the right, instead of the button above.

See Also:  Moderation

qiān xū

ken kyo

겸허

In Japanese, first Kanji means "self-effacing," "humble oneself," "condescend," "be modest." The second means "void" or "emptiness."

謙虚 is the most common way to say humble or modest in Japanese without a derogatory meaning (some other words suggest weakness but this version holds a better humble meaning).

See Also:  Moderation

qiān xùn

ken son

겸손

謙遜 can also be translated as being modest, humble, or unpretentious.

Being humble is considering others to be as important as yourself. You are thoughtful of their needs and willing to be of service. You don't expect others or yourself to be perfect. You learn from your mistakes. When you do great things, humility reminds you to be thankful instead of boastful.

This Humility title is also used as one of the 8 key concepts of Tang Soo Do. Often romanized as "Kyum Son."

Also sometimes used in Japanese to express humility with an essence of modesty.

See Also:  Modesty

qiān xùn zhèng zhí wēn róu rěn nài kè jǐ bù qū

겸손정직온유인내극기불굴

These are the virtues used by Choi Kwang Do Martial Arts.

The characters shown here are the ancient Korean Hanja form of writing. If you wish for a Korean Hangul form of these tenets, we can arrange that with our Master Calligrapher Xing An-Ping (click on the Hangul next to the South Korean flag above to order this in Hangul).

jié zhì

sessei

절제

Moderation is creating a healthy balance in your life between work and play, rest and exercise. You don't overdo or get swept away by the things you like. You use your self-discipline to take charge of your life and your time.

節制 can also be translated as sobriety, self-restraint, or temperance.

節制 is often used as part of the Seven Heavenly Virtues to represent sobriety and/or temperance.

See Also:  Prudence | Ethics | Humble

qiān xùn

kenson

겸손

Depending on context, this can be translated as modesty, humbleness or humility.

The first character means "modesty" while the second means "yielding." Together it could be stated as "yielding modesty."

See Also:  Chastity | Prudence | Moderation

렴치정진인내준수극기겸손백절불굴

These are the tenets of Tang Soo Do...

After some research, it appears this list was compiled in English based on Taekwondo tenets. We filled in a few of the words that did not have a corresponding Hanja or Hangul. If someone else has a better list with characters included, please contact me.