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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
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).
In Japanese, the first Kanji means self-effacing, humble oneself, and modesty. The second means void or emptiness.
See Also: Moderation
節制 means moderation or temperance in Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja.
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 or self-restraint.
This is often used as part of the Seven Heavenly Virtues to represent sobriety and/or temperance.
謙虛 can also be translated as humbleness or humility.
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.
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
Depending on the context, 謙遜 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
廉耻精進忍耐遵守克己謙遜百折不屈 are the tenets of Tang Soo Do.
English | Old Hanja | Modern Hangul | Pronunciation |
1. Integrity | 廉耻 | 렴치 or 염치 | yeom ci |
2. Concentration | 精進 | 정진 | jeong jin |
3. Perseverance | 忍耐 | 인내 | in nae |
4. Respect & Obedience | 遵守 | 준수 | jun su |
5. Self-Control | 克己 | 극기 | geug gi |
6. Humility | 謙遜 | 겸손 | gyeom son |
7. Indomitable Spirit | 百折不屈 | 백절불굴 | baeg jeor bur gur |
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.
谦逊正直温柔忍耐克己不屈 are the virtues used by Choi Kwang Do Martial Arts.
English | Hanja | Hangul | Pronunciation |
1. Humility (Humble / Modesty) | 謙遜 | 겸손 | gyeom son |
2. Honesty (Integrity) | 正直 | 정직 | jeong jig |
3. Gentleness | 溫柔 | 온유 | on yu |
4. Perseverance (To Endure) | 忍耐 | 인내 | in nae |
5. Self-Control (Self-Restraint) | 克己 | 극기 | geug gi |
6. Unbreakable Spirit (Unyielding / Unbending) | 不屈 | 불굴 | bur gur |
The characters shown here are in 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).
Excerpt from Chapter 67
一曰慈二曰儉三曰不敢為天下先 is an excerpt 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.
吾道一以貫之 is a phrase from the Analects of Confucius that translates as “My Way has one thread that runs through it.”
Other translations include:
My Way is penetrated by a single thread.
There is one single thread binding my Way together.
My Way is run through with a unifying thread.
My Way is Consistent.
And sometimes poetic license is taken, and it is translated as:
My Way is the only one; I'll treasure it and stick to it with humility until the end.
After this was said, some 2500+ years ago, another disciple of Confucius clarified the meaning by stating, “Our master's Way is to be loyal and have a sense of reciprocity.”
In Japanese, this is purported to be romanized as “Waga michi ichi wo motte kore wo tsuranuku,” though some will argue the true pronunciation.
Note: Sometimes written 吾道以一貫之 instead of 吾道一以貫之 with no difference in meaning.
These search terms might be related to Humility:
Humble / Modesty / Humility
Modesty
Sense of Shame / Sense of Honor / Integrity / Modesty (Korean)
Simplicity / Modesty
The following table may be helpful for those studying Chinese or Japanese...
Title | Characters | Romaji (Romanized Japanese) | Various forms of Romanized Chinese | |
Humility Being Humble | 謙遜 谦逊 | ken son / kenson | qiān xùn / qian1 xun4 / qian xun / qianxun | ch`ien hsün / chienhsün / chien hsün |
Humble Modesty Humility | 謙虚 | ken kyo / kenkyo | qiān xū / qian1 xu1 / qian xu / qianxu | ch`ien hsü / chienhsü / chien hsü |
Moderation Temperance | 節制 节制 | sessei / sesei | jié zhì / jie2 zhi4 / jie zhi / jiezhi | chieh chih / chiehchih |
Humble Modest | 謙虛 谦虚 | ken kyo / kenkyo | qiān xū / qian1 xu1 / qian xu / qianxu | ch`ien hsü / chienhsü / chien hsü |
Modesty | 謙遜 谦逊 | kenson | qiān xùn / qian1 xun4 / qian xun / qianxun | ch`ien hsün / chienhsün / chien hsün |
Tang Soo Do Tenets | 廉耻精進忍耐遵守克己謙遜百折不屈 / 廉恥精進忍耐遵守克己謙遜百折不屈 廉耻精进忍耐遵守克己谦逊百折不屈 | lián chǐ jīng jìn rěn nài zūn shǒu kè jǐ qiān xùn bǎi zhé bù qū lian2 chi3 jing1 jin4 ren3 nai4 zun1 shou3 ke4 ji3 qian1 xun4 bai3 zhe2 bu4 qu1 lian chi jing jin ren nai zun shou ke ji qian xun bai zhe bu qu | lien ch`ih ching chin jen nai tsun shou k`o chi ch`ien hsün pai che pu ch`ü lien chih ching chin jen nai tsun shou ko chi chien hsün pai che pu chü |
|
Korean CKD Virtues | 謙遜正直溫柔忍耐克己不屈 谦逊正直温柔忍耐克己不屈 | qiān xùn zhèng zhí wēn róu rěn nài kè jǐ bù qū qian1 xun4 zheng4 zhi2 wen1 rou2 ren3 nai4 ke4 ji3 bu4 qu1 qian xun zheng zhi wen rou ren nai ke ji bu qu | ch`ien hsün cheng chih wen jou jen nai k`o chi pu ch`ü chien hsün cheng chih wen jou jen nai ko chi pu chü |
|
Daodejing Tao Te Ching - Excerpt | 一曰慈二曰儉三曰不敢為天下先 一曰慈二曰俭三曰不敢为天下先 | yī yuē cí èr yuē jiǎn sān yuē bù gǎn wéi tiān xià xiān yi1 yue1 ci2 er4 yue1 jian3 san1 yue1 bu4 gan3 wei2 tian1 xia4 xian1 yi yue ci er yue jian san yue bu gan wei tian xia xian | i yüeh tz`u erh yüeh chien san yüeh pu kan wei t`ien hsia hsien i yüeh tzu erh yüeh chien san yüeh pu kan wei tien hsia hsien |
|
There is one single thread binding my Way together | 吾道一以貫之 吾道一以贯之 | ware dou tsurayuki waredoutsurayuki ware do tsurayuki | wú dào yī yǐ guàn zhī wu2 dao4 yi1 yi3 guan4 zhi1 wu dao yi yi guan zhi wudaoyiyiguanzhi | wu tao i i kuan chih wutaoiikuanchih |
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.
Some people may refer to this entry as Humility Kanji, Humility Characters, Humility in Mandarin Chinese, Humility Characters, Humility in Chinese Writing, Humility in Japanese Writing, Humility in Asian Writing, Humility Ideograms, Chinese Humility symbols, Humility Hieroglyphics, Humility Glyphs, Humility in Chinese Letters, Humility Hanzi, Humility in Japanese Kanji, Humility Pictograms, Humility in the Chinese Written-Language, or Humility in the Japanese Written-Language.
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