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1. Ambition
3. Heroic Spirit / Great Ambition
4. Great Aspirations / Ambition
5. Fear not long roads; Fear only short ambition
6. Realize Your Ambitions / Embrace Your Ambition
7. Do not fear poverty; Fear low ambitions
8. Realize Your Ambitions / Ride on the Crest of Success
9. Without a big net, how can you catch fish?
鴻鵠之誌 is a Chinese proverb that implies that having grand ambitions also means that others will not understand your great expectations and ideas.
Though the actual words come from a longer saying of Confucius, which goes, “The little swallows living under the eaves wouldn't understand the lofty ambitions of a swan (who flies far and wide).”
This Confucius quote has led to this idiomatic expression in China that means “think big.” What you'd be saying is “The lofty ambitions of a swan.”
Note that Chinese people sometimes refer to the little swallow as one who does not “think big” but is, instead, stuck in a rut or just leading a mundane life. Therefore, it's a compliment to be called a swan but not a good thing to be called a swallow.
不怕路遠隻怕志短 is a Chinese proverb that literally translates as “Fear not long roads; fear only short ambition,” or “Don't fear that the road is long, only fear that your will/ambition/aspiration is short.”
Figuratively, this means: However difficult the goal is, one can achieve it as long as one is determined to do so.
Others may translate the meaning as “Don't let a lack of willpower stop you from pressing onward in your journey.”
大志を抱く is a Japanese proverb that suggests you should embrace, pursue, and realize your ambitions.
The first part means ambitions or aspirations.
The last part means to embrace or to hold in your arms.
Here's the character breakdown:
大志 (taishi) ambition; aspiration.
を (o) particle
抱く (idaku) to embrace; to hold in the arms (e.g. a baby); to hug; to harbor/harbour; to bear (e.g., a grudge); to entertain (e.g., suspicion); to sleep with; to sit on eggs.
Note: Because this selection contains some special Japanese Hiragana characters, it should be written by a Japanese calligrapher.
大展宏圖 is a four-character proverb used in Chinese to mean “realize your ambitions” or “exhibit your ambition and success.”
It's used to talk about someone with great career ambitions. Almost literally, it expresses the idea of someone unfolding a great career like a map or a set of blueprint plans.
Very literally translated, these four characters mean “Great unfolding of a huge map” or “Great exhibition of a colossal plan.”
不撒大網不得大魚 is a Chinese proverb that literally translates as: [if one does] not cast a big net, [one can] not get big fish.
Figuratively, this means: One cannot make great accomplishments without making great efforts or taking great pains.
This is sort of the fishing version of, “No pain, no gain.”
大望 is one of a few ways to write “dream big” in Japanese.
This is a good title if you want that to inspire ambition or high aspirations. 大望 is also a way to say “great expectations.”
望 holds the ideas of ambition, hope, desire, aspiring to, expectations, looking towards, to gaze (into the distance), and in some contexts, full moon rising.
望 is one of those single characters that is vague but in that vagueness, it also means many things.
望 is a whole word in Chinese and old Korean but is seldom seen alone in Japanese. Still, it holds the meanings noted above in all three languages.
This is referred to as passage or chapter 33 of the Dao De Jing (often Romanized as “Tao Te Ching”).
These are the words of the philosopher Laozi (Lao Tzu).
Notes:
During our research, the Chinese characters shown here are probably the most accurate to the original text of Laozi. These were taken for the most part from the Mawangdui 1973 and Guodan 1993 manuscripts which pre-date other Daodejing texts by about 1000 years.
Grammar was a little different in Laozi’s time. So you should consider this to be the ancient Chinese version. Some have modernized this passage by adding, removing, or swapping articles and changing the grammar (we felt the oldest and most original version would be more desirable). You may find other versions printed in books or online - sometimes these modern texts are simply used to explain to Chinese people what the original text really means.
This language issue can be compared in English by thinking how the King James (known as the Authorized version in Great Britain) Bible from 1611 was written, and comparing it to modern English. Now imagine that the Daodejing was probably written around 403 BCE (2000 years before the King James Version of the Bible). To a Chinese person, the original Daodejing reads like text that is 3 times more detached compared to Shakespeare’s English is to our modern-day speech.
Extended notes:
While on this Biblical text comparison, it should be noted, that just like the Bible, all the original texts of the Daodejing were lost or destroyed long ago. Just as with the scripture used to create the Bible, various manuscripts exist, many with variations or copyist errors. Just as the earliest New Testament scripture (incomplete) is from 170 years after Christ, the earliest Daodejing manuscript (incomplete) is from 100-200 years after the death of Laozi.
The reason that the originals were lost probably has a lot to do with the first Qin Emperor. Upon taking power and unifying China, he ordered the burning and destruction of all books (scrolls/rolls) except those pertaining to Chinese medicine and a few other subjects. The surviving Daodejing manuscripts were either hidden on purpose or simply forgotten about. Some were not unearthed until as late as 1993.
We compared a lot of research by various archeologists and historians before deciding on this as the most accurate and correct version. But one must allow that it may not be perfect, or the actual and original as from the hand of Laozi himself.
These search terms might be related to Ambition:
Aspire / Burning Desire
Big Dream
Big Dream / Great Hope
Desire
Desire / Craving
Desire / Longing / Craving
Desire / Wish / Aspiration
Determination
Determination to Achieve
Determination to Achieve / Will-Power
Dream / Dreams
Dream / Vision
Dream Big / Big Dreams
Dream Come True / Enjoy Success
Esprit De Corps / Determination
Faith Hope Love
Fight for a Goal
Four Noble Truths: Desire and Attachment
Four Noble Truths: Elimination of Desire or Attachment
Give Up Desire
Hope
Kama - Desire Wish Longing
Life is but a Dream
Lust / Desire / Passion
Motivation
Omoi / Desire
Purpose / Aim / Goal
Unswerving Determination / Firm and Persistent
Unwavering Determination and Resolve
The following table may be helpful for those studying Chinese or Japanese...
Title | Characters | Romaji (Romanized Japanese) | Various forms of Romanized Chinese | |
Ambition | 野望 | yabou / yabo | yě wàng / / | |
Progress Ambition | 上進 上进 | joushin / joshin | shàng jìn shang4 jin4 shang jin shangjin | shang chin shangchin |
Heroic Spirit Great Ambition | 雄心 | yuushin / yushin | xióng xīn xiong2 xin1 xiong xin xiongxin | hsiung hsin hsiunghsin |
Great Aspirations Ambition | 大志を抱 | tai shi wo idaku taishiwoidaku | ||
Great Aspirations Ambition | 鴻鵠之誌 鸿鹄之志 | hóng hú zhī zhì hong2 hu2 zhi1 zhi4 hong hu zhi zhi honghuzhizhi | hung hu chih chih hunghuchihchih |
|
Fear not long roads; Fear only short ambition | 不怕路遠隻怕志短 不怕路远只怕志短 | bú pà lù yuǎn zhǐ pà zhì duǎn bu2 pa4 lu4 yuan3 zhi3 pa4 zhi4 duan3 bu pa lu yuan zhi pa zhi duan bupaluyuanzhipazhiduan | pu p`a lu yüan chih p`a chih tuan pu pa lu yüan chih pa chih tuan |
|
Realize Your Ambitions Embrace Your Ambition | 大志を抱く | taishi wo Idaku taishiwoIdaku | ||
Do not fear poverty; Fear low ambitions | 不怕人窮隻怕志短 不怕人穷只怕志短 | bú pà rén qióng zhǐ pà zhì duǎn bu2 pa4 ren2 qiong2 zhi3 pa4 zhi4 duan3 bu pa ren qiong zhi pa zhi duan buparenqiongzhipazhiduan | pu p`a jen ch`iung chih p`a chih tuan pu pa jen chiung chih pa chih tuan |
|
Realize Your Ambitions Ride on the Crest of Success | 大展宏圖 大展宏图 | dà jiǎn hóng tú da4 jian3 hong2 tu2 da jian hong tu dajianhongtu | ta chien hung t`u tachienhungtu ta chien hung tu |
|
Without a big net, how can you catch fish? | 不撒大網不得大魚 不撒大网不得大鱼 | bù sā dà wǎng bù dé dà yú bu4 sa1 da4 wang3 bu4 de2 da4 yu2 bu sa da wang bu de da yu busadawangbudedayu | pu sa ta wang pu te ta yü pusatawangputetayü |
|
Dream Come True Enjoy Success | 得誌 得志 | dé zhì / de2 zhi4 / de zhi / dezhi | te chih / techih | |
Big Dream Great Hope | 大望 | tai mou / taimou / tai mo | ||
Great Expectations | 望 | bou / nozomi bo / nozomi | wàng / wang4 / wang | |
Daodejing Tao Te Ching - Chapter 33 | 知人者知也自知者明也勝人者有力也自勝者強也知足者富也強行者有志也不失其所者久也死而不亡者壽也 知人者知也自知者明也胜人者有力也自胜者强也知足者富也强行者有志也不失其所者久也死而不亡者寿也 | zhī rén zhě zhī yě zì zhī zhě míng yě shèng rén zhě yǒu lì yě zì shèng zhě qiáng yě zhī zú zhě fù yě qiáng xíng zhě yǒu zhì yě bù zhī qí suǒ zhě jiǔ yě sǐ ér bù wáng zhě shòu yě zhi1 ren2 zhe3 zhi1 ye3 zi4 zhi1 zhe3 ming2 ye3 sheng4 ren2 zhe3 you3 li4 ye3 zi4 sheng4 zhe3 qiang2 ye3 zhi1 zu2 zhe3 fu4 ye3 qiang2 xing2 zhe3 you3 zhi4 ye3 bu4 zhi1 qi2 suo3 zhe3 jiu3 ye3 si3 er2 bu4 wang2 zhe3 shou4 ye3 zhi ren zhe zhi ye zi zhi zhe ming ye sheng ren zhe you li ye zi sheng zhe qiang ye zhi zu zhe fu ye qiang xing zhe you zhi ye bu zhi qi suo zhe jiu ye si er bu wang zhe shou ye | chih jen che chih yeh tzu chih che ming yeh sheng jen che yu li yeh tzu sheng che ch`iang yeh chih tsu che fu yeh ch`iang hsing che yu chih yeh pu chih ch`i so che chiu yeh ssu erh pu wang che shou yeh chih jen che chih yeh tzu chih che ming yeh sheng jen che yu li yeh tzu sheng che chiang yeh chih tsu che fu yeh chiang hsing che yu chih yeh pu chih chi so che chiu yeh ssu erh pu wang che shou yeh |
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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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