Overcoming Hardships in Chinese / Japanese...

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.

刻苦耐勞 is a Chinese proverb that suggests that you should always bear hardships and work hard.

Some will translate it as a suggestion to be assiduous and long-suffering.

My favorite is to use this to remind myself to be hard-working and capable of overcoming adversity.

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.

降魔 means to overcome the Devil, Satan, Demons, or Evil.

There are many ways to translate this, including conquering the devil, evil spirits, evil influences, or someone who habitually performs negative/evil acts.

In the Buddhist context, it means to overcome demons, e.g., as the Buddha did at his enlightenment.

In Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja, 超越 means to overcome, surpass, transcendence, excel, exceed, go beyond, rise above, or transcend.

前赴後繼 is a Chinese proverb that figuratively means “to advance dauntlessly in wave upon wave.”

It suggests that you should or can carry on and have the strength to keep going.

While this proverb is a little bit militaristic, it suggests that despite a fallen comrade (or perhaps a loved one), you should keep going and work towards the goal they intended.

百戦錬磨 is a Japanese proverb or title that means veteran, or rather, someone schooled by adversity in many battles or someone rich in life experience.

If you are who you are because of the adversity you experienced in life, this could be your title.

風雨無阻 is a proverb that is often translated as “Go ahead as planned regardless of the weather” or, “[Overcome] despite the rain and wind.”

This is a Chinese proverb that suggests that you are willing (or should be willing) to overcome any adversity, and accomplish your task at hand.

There is a second/optional part to this phrase that suggests that you should do this together with someone (see our other 8-character version if you want the full phrase).

百折不撓 is a Chinese proverb that means “Be undaunted in the face of repeated setbacks.”

More directly translated, it reads, “[Overcome] a hundred setbacks, without flinching.” 百折不撓 is of Chinese origin but is commonly used in Japanese and somewhat in Korean (same characters, different pronunciation).

This proverb comes from a long, and occasionally tragic story of a man that lived sometime around 25-220 AD. His name was Qiao Xuan, and he never stooped to flattery but remained an upright person at all times. He fought to expose the corruption of higher-level government officials at great risk to himself.

Then when he was at a higher level in the Imperial Court, bandits were regularly capturing hostages and demanding ransoms. But when his own son was captured, he was so focused on his duty to the Emperor and the common good that he sent a platoon of soldiers to raid the bandits' hideout, and stop them once and for all even at the risk of his own son's life. While all of the bandits were arrested in the raid, they killed Qiao Xuan's son at first sight of the raiding soldiers.

Near the end of his career, a new Emperor came to power, and Qiao Xuan reported to him that one of his ministers was bullying the people and extorting money from them. The new Emperor refused to listen to Qiao Xuan and even promoted the corrupt Minister. Qiao Xuan was so disgusted that in protest, he resigned from his post as minister (something almost never done) and left for his home village.

His tombstone reads “Bai Zhe Bu Nao” which is now a proverb used in Chinese culture to describe a person of strong will who puts up stubborn resistance against great odds.

My Chinese-English dictionary defines these 4 characters as “keep on fighting despite all setbacks,” “be undaunted by repeated setbacks,” and “be indomitable.”

Our translator says it can mean “never give up” in modern Chinese.

Although the first two characters are translated correctly as “repeated setbacks,” the literal meaning is “100 setbacks” or “a rope that breaks 100 times.” The last two characters can mean “do not yield” or “do not give up.”
Most Chinese, Japanese, and Korean people will not take this absolutely literal meaning but will instead understand it as the title suggests above. If you want a single big word definition, it would be indefatigability, indomitableness, persistence, or unyielding.

See Also:  Tenacity | Fortitude | Strength | Perseverance | Persistence

不當和尚不知頭冷 is a Chinese proverb that literally translates as: [One who has] not been a monk [does] not know [the feeling of a] cold head.
I need to explain that a Chinese Buddhist monk always has a shaved head, and thus a cold head in winter.

Figuratively, this means: One cannot know the true meaning of hardship until one has experienced it oneself.

This is an idiom in Chinese, so the figurative meaning is what people perceive when they hear or read this phrase. Just as in English, when someone says, "The grass is always greener," one will think about the idea of jealousy, rather than the quality of one’s lawn.

This literally translates as: Troops/soldiers/warriors have no fixed [battlefield] strategy [just as] water has no constant shape [but adapts itself to whatever container it is in].

Figuratively, this means: One should seek to find whatever strategy or method is best suited to resolving each individual problem.

This proverb is about as close as you can get to the military idea of “adapt improvise overcome.” 兵無常勢水無常形 is the best way to express that idea in both an ancient way, and a very natural way in Chinese.

The first four characters are often translated as “Go ahead as planned regardless of the weather” or, “[Overcome] despite the rain and wind.” The last four characters can mean “Stick together” but literally means “Take the same boat [together].”

風雨無阻同舟共濟 is a Chinese proverb that suggests that you are willing (or should be willing) to overcome any adversity, and accomplish your task at hand. The second part (last four characters) is sometimes left off but this second part strongly suggests that you should overcome that adversity together.

挨一拳得一招挨十拳變諸葛 is a Chinese proverb that literally translates as: Receive one blow, [and one] learns a lesson; Receive ten blows, [and one] becomes a great Zhuge [Liang].

You must first understand that a man named Zhuge Liang was one of the great strategists and philosophers in Chinese history. He's known as a man of great wisdom.

Figuratively, this phrase means:
One can learn much from failure or “hard knocks.”

即興發揮即刻適應即時克服 is the coolest way to put together this famous word list, “Improvise Adapt Overcome.”

There are shorter ways to write “adapt,” and “overcome,” but “improvise” needs a four-character word to be expressed accurately in Chinese. To match them up, the other two are using four-character words as well. This makes it sound more natural in Chinese (though word lists are not a natural construct in Chinese grammar).

The words break down like this: 即興發揮, 即刻適應, 即時克服. I suggest the 3-column option when you customize your wall scroll. That way, the words will occupy one column each.

A great gift for a U.S. Marine, or anyone who follows this mantra.