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Selflessness in Chinese / Japanese...

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Personalize your custom “Selflessness” project by clicking the button next to your favorite “Selflessness” title below...


  1. Selflessness

  2. Self-Restraint / Self-Control

  3. Work Unselfishly for the Common Good

  4. Unselfish: Perfectly Impartial

  5. Impartial and Fair to the Brotherhood and Sisterhood of the World

  6. Benevolence

  7. Self Sacrifice


Selflessness

 wú wǒ
 muga
Selflessness Scroll

無我 is a more common way to say selflessness in Japanese. This literally means “no self,” or a better translation might be “not thinking of oneself.” 無我 is also understood in Chinese and Korean. 無我 is a very old word in CJK languages.

無我 is the word a Buddhist would use to express the idea of selflessness or unselfishness. For Korean Buddhists, it can mean self-renunciation.


See Also:  Altruism

Selflessness

 wú sī
 mushi
Selflessness Scroll

無私 would be literally translated as “none self” in Chinese, Korean, and Japanese.

It is used to express “selflessness” or “unselfish.”

無私 is a popular term for the idea of being selfless or unselfish in modern China and Japan.
This term is not as commonly used in Korea but still has good meaning.


See Also:  Unselfish | Altruism

Self-Restraint / Self-Control

 kè jǐ
 kokki
Self-Restraint / Self-Control Scroll

克己 can be translated as “self-denial,” “self-abnegation,” “self-restraint,” “self-discipline,” “self-mastery,” or selflessness.

As a tenet of Korean taekwondo, and other martial arts, this is often used with the title “self-control.”

Work Unselfishly for the Common Good

 kè jǐ fèng gōng
Work Unselfishly for the Common Good Scroll

克己奉公 is a Chinese proverb that is often used to express how one should act as a government official. Most of us wish our public officials would hold themselves to higher standards. I wish I could send this scroll, along with the meaning to every member of Congress, and the President (or if I was from the UK, all the members of Parliament, and the PM)

This can also mean: “Place Strict Standards on Oneself in Public Service.”
The story behind this ancient Chinese idiom:
Cai Zun was born in China a little over 2000 years ago. In 24 AD, he joined an uprising led by Liu Xiu, who later became the emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty.

Later, the new emperor put Cai Zun in charge of the military court. Cai Zun exercised his power in strict accordance with military law, regardless of the offender's rank or background. He even ordered the execution of one of the emperor's close servants after the servant committed a serious crime.

Cai Zun led a simple life but put great demands on himself to do all things honorably. The emperor rewarded him for his honest character and honorable nature by promoting him to the rank of General and granting him the title of Marquis.

Whenever Cai Zun would receive an award, he would give credit to his men and share the reward with them.
Cai Zun was always praised by historians who found many examples of his selfless acts that served the public interest.
Sometime long ago in history, people began to refer to Cai Zun as “ke ji feng gong.”


See Also:  Unselfish | Altruism

Unselfish: Perfectly Impartial

 dà gōng wú sī
Unselfish: Perfectly Impartial Scroll

大公無私 is a Chinese proverb that comes from an old story from some time before 476 BC. About a man named Qi Huangyang, who was commissioned by the king to select the best person for a certain job in the Imperial Court.

Qi Huangyang selected his enemy for the job. The king was very confused by the selection, but Qi Huangyang explained that he was asked to find the best person for the job, not necessarily someone that he liked or had a friendship with.

Later, Confucius commented on how unselfish and impartial Qi Huangyang was by saying, “Da Gong Wu Si” which, if you look it up in a Chinese dictionary, is generally translated as “Unselfish” or “Just and Fair.”

If you translate each character, you'd have something like

“Big/Deep Justice Without Self.”

Direct translations like this leave out a lot of what the Chinese characters really say. Use your imagination, and suddenly you realize that “without self” means “without thinking about yourself in the decision” - together, these two words mean “unselfish.” The first two characters serve to drive the point home that we are talking about a concept that is similar to “blind justice.”

One of my Chinese-English dictionaries translates this simply as “just and fair.” So that is the short and simple version.

Note: This can be pronounced in Korean, but it's not a commonly used term.


See Also:  Work Unselfishly for the Common Good | Altruism

Impartial and Fair to the Brotherhood and Sisterhood of the World

 yí shì tóng rén
 isshidoujin
Impartial and Fair to the Brotherhood and Sisterhood of the World Scroll

一視同仁 is how to write “universal benevolence.” This is also how to express the idea that you see all people the same.

If you are kind and charitable to everyone, this is the best way to state that virtue. It is the essence of being impartial to all mankind, regardless of social standing, background, race, sex, etc. You do not judge others, but instead, you see them eye to eye on the same level as you.


See Also:  Benevolence | Compassion | Equality | Justice | Right Decision | Work Unselfishly for the Common

 rén
 jin
 
Benevolence Scroll

Beyond benevolence, 仁 can also be defined as “charity” or “mercy” depending on context.

The deeper meaning suggests that one should pay alms to the poor, care for those in trouble, and take care of his fellow man (or woman).

仁 is one of the five tenets of Confucius. In fact, it is a subject that Confucius spent a great deal of time explaining to his disciples.

I have also seen this benevolent-related word translated as perfect virtue, selflessness, love for humanity, humaneness, goodness, goodwill, or simply “love” in the non-romantic form.


This is also a virtue of the Samurai Warrior
See our page with just Code of the Samurai / Bushido here


See Also:  Altruism | Kindness | Charity | Confucius

Self Sacrifice

 shě jǐ
 sutemi / suteki
Self Sacrifice Scroll

捨己 is a Chinese and Japanese word that means selfless, self-sacrifice (to help others), self-renunciation, or altruism.


These search terms might be related to Selflessness:

...And This Above All to Thine Own Self Be True

Better to Sacrifice Your Life Than Your Principles

Changing Oneself / Self Reformation

Consciousness of Self

Inner Strength / Self-Improvement

Introspection / Self-Awareness

Jiko No Kansei / Self-Completion

Power of Oneself / Self-Sufficient

Prideful Mind / Self-Respecting Heart

Sacrifice

Sacrifice / Devotion / Dedication

Self Actualization

Self Awareness Becomes a Buddha

Self Consciousness

Self Sacrifice

Self-Confidence

Self-Control

Self-Defense

Self-Discipline / Will-Power

Self-Improvement

Self-Love / Love Yourself / Love Oneself

Self-Reliance

Self-Respect / Self-Esteem

Self-Restraint / Self-Control

To Thine Own Self Be True

Will-Power / Self-Control

The following table may be helpful for those studying Chinese or Japanese...

Title CharactersRomaji (Romanized Japanese)Various forms of Romanized Chinese
Selflessness無我
无我
mugawú wǒ / wu2 wo3 / wu wo / wuwo
Selflessness無私
无私
mushiwú sī / wu2 si1 / wu si / wusiwu ssu / wussu
Self-Restraint
Self-Control
克己 / 剋己
克己
kokki / kokikè jǐ / ke4 ji3 / ke ji / kejik`o chi / kochi / ko chi
Work Unselfishly for the Common Good克己奉公kè jǐ fèng gōng
ke4 ji3 feng4 gong1
ke ji feng gong
kejifenggong
k`o chi feng kung
kochifengkung
ko chi feng kung
Unselfish: Perfectly Impartial大公無私
大公无私
dà gōng wú sī
da4 gong1 wu2 si1
da gong wu si
dagongwusi
ta kung wu ssu
takungwussu
Impartial and Fair to the Brotherhood and Sisterhood of the World一視同仁
一视同仁
isshidoujin
ishidojin
yí shì tóng rén
yi2 shi4 tong2 ren2
yi shi tong ren
yishitongren
i shih t`ung jen
ishihtungjen
i shih tung jen
Benevolencejinrén / ren2 / renjen
Self Sacrifice捨己
舍己
sutemi / sutekishě jǐ / she3 ji3 / she ji / shejishe chi / shechi
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.


Dictionary

Lookup Selflessness in my Japanese & Chinese Dictionary


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A nice Chinese calligraphy wall scroll

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A professional Chinese Calligrapher

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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.

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Trying to learn Chinese calligrapher - a futile effort

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A high-ranked Chinese master calligrapher that I met in Zhongwei

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.


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