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2. Through the Ups and Downs of Life
4. Use Hard Work to Overcome Adversity
5. One who is drenched in rain does not fear drops of dew
6. Overcome
8. Strong bones come from hard knocks
9. Shit Happens
同甘共苦 is a Chinese proverb that talks of “shared delights and common hardships.”
This can be translated and understood in a few different ways, including...
To share life's joys and sorrows.
For better or for worse.
Through joys and sorrows of life.
Through all life's ups and downs.
To go through thick and thin.
To stick together through thick and thin.
To share the joys and sorrows of life.
To share pleasures and pains.
To partake in each other's joys and sorrows.
To take “for better or for worse.”
風雨 is wind and rain in Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja.
This can also refer to the elements of trials and hardships (in life).
Overcoming Hardships
In Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja, 克服 means “overcome” (as in overcoming hardships, etc.). It can also mean to conquer, to put up with, or to endure.
This can be a conquest over a problem, disease, handicap, poverty, or illness. Other definitions include overcoming, bringing under control, subjugation, or victory over something.
This can be used as an inspirational wall scroll to remind someone to try to overcome difficulties that may arise in life.
欲樂 is the Chinese and Japanese title representing the Buddhist and Jainist joys of the five desires.
Kama comes from the Pali/Sanskrit काम. The meaning is “desire, wish, longing.”
In Jainism, it can include sensual pleasure, sexual desire, and longing.
However, the Buddhist context refers more to any desire, wish, passion, longing, the pleasure of the senses, desire for, longing to and after, the aesthetic enjoyment of life, affection, or love, enjoyment of love is particularly with or without the enjoyment of sexual, sensual and erotic desire, and is often used without sexual connotations.
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.
世事難料 is a polite Chinese version of “shit happens.” This phrase suggests that things happen (for no reason, and for which we have no control).
The first two characters mean the affairs of life, things of the world, worldly affairs, or ways of the world.
The third character means disaster, distress, problem, difficulty, difficult, hardships, troubles, or defect.
The last character in this context means: to expect, to anticipate, or to guess.
If you put this back together, you have something like, “In life, troubles [should be] expected.”
The following table may be helpful for those studying Chinese or Japanese...
| Title | Characters | Romaji (Romanized Japanese) | Various forms of Romanized Chinese | |
| Hardships and Joys | 辛酸甘苦 | shinsankanku | ||
| Through the Ups and Downs of Life | 同甘共苦 | tóng gān gòng kǔ tong2 gan1 gong4 ku3 tong gan gong ku tonggangongku | t`ung kan kung k`u tungkankungku tung kan kung ku |
|
| Wind and Rain | 風雨 风雨 | fuu-u / fu-u | fēng yǔ / feng1 yu3 / feng yu / fengyu | feng yü / fengyü |
| Use Hard Work to Overcome Adversity | 刻苦耐勞 刻苦耐劳 | kè kǔ nài láo ke4 ku3 nai4 lao2 ke ku nai lao kekunailao | k`o k`u nai lao kokunailao ko ku nai lao |
|
| One who is drenched in rain does not fear drops of dew | 被雨淋過的人不怕露水 被雨淋过的人不怕露水 | bèi yǔ lín guò de rén bù pà lù shuǐ bei4 yu3 lin2 guo4 de ren2 bu4 pa4 lu4 shui3 bei yu lin guo de ren bu pa lu shui | pei yü lin kuo te jen pu p`a lu shui pei yü lin kuo te jen pu pa lu shui |
|
| Overcome | 克服 / 剋服 克服 | koku fuku / kokufuku | kè fú / ke4 fu2 / ke fu / kefu | k`o fu / kofu / ko fu |
| Kama - Desire Wish Longing | 欲樂 欲乐 | yokuraku | yù lè / yu4 le4 / yu le / yule | yü le / yüle |
| Strong bones come from hard knocks | 不磕不碰骨頭不硬 不磕不碰骨头不硬 | bù kē bù pèng gǔ tóu bù yìng bu4 ke1 bu4 peng4 gu3 tou2 bu4 ying4 bu ke bu peng gu tou bu ying bukebupenggutoubuying | pu k`o pu p`eng ku t`ou pu ying pukopupengkutoupuying pu ko pu peng ku tou pu ying |
|
| Shit Happens | 世事難料 世事难料 | shì shì nán liào shi4 shi4 nan2 liao4 shi shi nan liao shishinanliao | shih shih nan liao shihshihnanliao |
|
| 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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