Flexibility in Chinese / Japanese...

líng huó xìng

령활성 or 영활성

Flexibility is being open to change. You consider others' ideas and feelings and don't insist on your own way. Flexibility gives you creative new ways to get things done. Flexibility helps you to keep changing for the better. This Chinese word could also be defined as "flexible nature."

See Also:  Cooperation

róu ruǎn xìng

junansei

유연성

柔軟性 is the Chinese, Japanese Kanji and Korean Hanja word that means "flexibility." It can also mean "compatibility," "pliability," "softness" and "elasticity."

See Also:  Cooperation

yǐ róu kè gāng

This can be translated as "Softness Overcomes Hardness," "Flexibility Overcomes Power," "Flexibility Overcomes Strength," "Overcoming Powerful Strength with Flexibility," or "Use Softness to Conquer Strength."

dan ryoku sei

弾力性 means elasticity, flexibility, adaptability, or resilience in Japanese Kanji.

tán xìng

탄성

彈性 means resilience, flexibility, or elasticity in Chinese characters and old Korean Hanja.

shēn suō

shin shuku

신축

伸縮 can mean, to lengthen and shorten; flexible; adjustable; retractable; extensible; expansion and contraction; elasticity; flexibility; elastic; stretchy.

伸縮 is often romanized from Korean as "Shin Chook," where it's a term associated as one of the 8 key concepts of Tang Soo Do.

kuān róng

kanyou

관용

Being tolerant is accepting differences. You don't expect others to think, look, speak or act just like you. You are free of prejudice, knowing that all people have feelings, needs, hopes and dreams. Tolerance is also accepting things you wish were different with patience and flexibility.

寬容 can also be translated as magnanimity, generosity, or leniency.

Note: There is a tiny deviation in the first character when written in Japanese. If you choose our Japanese master calligrapher, the little dot on the lower right of the first character will be omitted. With or without the dot, this can be read in Chinese, Japanese, and old Korean.

See Also:  Patience

rěn

nin

인

忍 contains the ideas of patience, equanimity, perseverance, forbearance, and endurance. Alone, this single character can be a bit ambiguous or flexible. It can also mean to endure, to bear, to put up with or to conceal. If you want to simply decide what this character means to you within the general meaning but keep it a mystery to others, this is a good choice.

If you want to be more direct, you may want to choose one of our other selections that mean perseverance or patience (you will see this character within those larger words/phrases).

There is a secondary meaning in Japanese, since this is the first character of the word ninja.

Note that when writing this as Kanji, Japanese will tend to write it 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).

See Also:  Perseverance | Patience | Tenacious

róu

yawara

유

This Kanji literally means flexible, pliable, gentle, or yielding. 柔 is also the first Kanji of the Japanese martial arts titles of Judo and Jujutsu (Jujitsu). In those cases, it's pronounced "ju" in Japanese. However, alone, the classic pronunciation is "yawara." Some translate this Kanji (in the context of martial arts) as "The Heart of Judo."

Please note that this just means pliable, gentle, and yielding in Chinese and old Korean Hanja. They do know what Judo and Jujitsu are but if this character is seen alone in China or Korea, people generally will not think of the martial arts context.

dòng tài

dou tai

동태

動態 is the Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja for a word that means "dynamic state."

動態 can also mean:
movement; motion; development; trend; dynamic (science); the state of being dynamic.

動態 can be used to describe someone or an organization that keeps up with cutting-edge trends. Always flexible, always changing, always moving.

jī dū

kirisuto

기독

This how to write "Christ" in Chinese characters, Korean Hanja, and Japanese Kanji. 基督 is the word used in the Chinese Union Bible (the only readily-available translation of the Bible into Chinese that I know of - published about 100 years ago). For Chinese Christians, this is the most common way to refer to Jesus Christ.

基督 is also the way that "Christ" is written in Japanese. But since the Japanese language is very flexible about the sounds that can be assigned to various Kanji, these characters have been assigned a pronunciation that sounds a lot like "Christ" or actually closer to the original "Christos." In Japanese (if you don't know how the Romaji shown above in the gray box works) it sounds like "key ree sue toe" using English words/sounds. Say those four words really fast and you'll get it.
It should be noted that only Japanese Christians will be familiar with this word.

基督 is best defined, read and understood with the characters together but if you take this word for Christ apart, the first character means "fundamentals" or "foundation." The second character can mean "leader" or "boss."

róu dào

judo

유도

柔道 is the martial art invented in Japan and known as "Judo" around the world.

Translated directly, it means "Gentle Way" or "Flexible Way"

More about Judo

róu shù

juu jutsu

유술

柔術 has been somewhat incorrectly spelled and pronounced "Jujitsu" for some time in the English-speaking world. The correct Japanese Romaji is Jujutsu or Juujutsu.

A little background on the word: By combining the Kanji pronounced "Ju" (which means flexible, pliable, gentle, yielding) with the Kanji pronounced "Jutsu" (which means art, or technique), we get a meaning that can be translated as "flexible technique," "gentle art" or "yielding technique."
柔術 does make sense in Chinese as well, although pronounced, "rou shu" in China.

The Jujutsu system has a history in Japan that started well-before the 1600's. Some see this style as a variation of the "Empty Hand Method" (Karate-do). Even the samurai of old used some Jujutsu methods in defending themselves with their unarmed hands against weapons that could pierce their heavy armor.

There are convoluted relationships between various schools and systems of martial arts but it's generally accepted that Jujutsu led to the development of Judo and a few other variations.

xiàng shuǐ yí yàng

象水一樣 is a short quote from a much longer statement by Bruce Lee.

He was summarizing how people should be flexible to all circumstances, attacks, or situations. At the end, he exclaims, "Be like water my friend." 象水一樣 is the, "Be like water" part alone, since that seems to be what most people want.