Work in Chinese / Japanese...

刻苦 is “hard work” in Chinese characters, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja.

If working hard is important to you, maybe this word will state your belief on your wall (this is not a common title to see on a wall scroll in Asia).

齊心協力 is a Chinese proverb that means “to work with a common purpose,” “to make concerted efforts,” “to pull together,” or “to work as one (or as if with one heart).”

皇天不负苦心人 is an inspirational Chinese proverb that can be translated in a few ways:

Heaven will not disappoint the person who tries.

If you try hard, you're bound to succeed eventually.

Heaven rewards diligent work.

Sincere/heartful effort reaps the grace of Heaven.

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.

一味同心 is a Japanese phrase that refers to people working together with one mind.

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 | Selflessness | Altruism

同心協力 is a Chinese proverb that means “to work with a common purpose,” “to make concerted efforts,” “to pull together,” or “to work as one.”

愛崗敬業 is used to refer to someone who puts forth maximum effort and achieves much.

We might call this kind of person a “go-getter” in English.

See Also:  Dedication | Tenacious | Devotion

不遺餘力 is a Chinese proverb that can be translated in many ways. Here are some of them: go to any lengths; with all one's might; spare no pain; do one's utmost.

If you feel hard work and holding nothing back is your philosophy, this is the phrase for you.

承諾 embodies the idea of commitment but also means to make a big effort or to undertake a great task.

Commitment is caring deeply about something or someone. It is deciding carefully what you want to do and then giving it 100%, holding nothing back. You give your all to a friendship, a task, or something you believe in. You finish what you start. You keep your promises.

In Chinese, this word directly means to undertake something or to make a promise to do something.

Outside of the commitment idea, this particular word can also mean approval, acceptance, consent, assent, acquiescence, or agreement, depending on context (especially in Japanese and Korean). Therefore, this word is probably best if your audience is Chinese.

See Also:  Partnership | Dedication

勤勉 can be translated as diligence, industrious, assiduity, assiduous, diligent, or sedulity.

Diligence is working hard and doing your absolute best. You take special care by doing things step by step. Diligence helps you to get things done with excellence and enthusiasm. Diligence leads to success.

See Also:  Tenacity | Commitment | Passion for a Cause

見義勇為 means the courage to do what is right in Chinese.

This could also be translated as “Never hesitate to do what is right.”

This comes from Confucian thought:
Your courage should head in an honorable direction. For example, you should take action when the goal is to attain a just result as, without honorable intent, a person’s gutsy fervor can easily lead them astray.

One who flaunts courage but disregards justice is bound to do wrong; someone who possesses courage and morality is destined to become a hero.

Some text above paraphrased from The World of Chinese - The Character of 勇

See Also:  Justice | Bravery

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:  Selflessness | Altruism

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 | Selflessness

傑作 is a word that means “masterpiece” or “best work.”

It suggests accomplishing excellence or producing outstanding work.

勤儉起家 is a Chinese proverb that suggests you begin to rise up by thrift and hard work.

Diligent work and spending money wisely will almost always pay off.

失败是成功之母 is a Chinese and Korean proverb that means “Every failure that you experience is a chance to learn from it and find success.”

Knowing what does not work is just as important as finding out what does work.

See Also:  Experience is the Mother of Wisdom

事始め is a Japanese word that means taking up a new line of work or the beginning of new things.

In another context, it can refer to starting the preparations for New Year's festivities or resuming work after the New Year's vacation.

失敗は成功の母 is a Japanese proverb that means exactly what you think.

Every failure that you experience is a chance to learn from it and find success.

Knowing what does not work is just as important as finding out what does work.

Note: This is the Japanese version of an ancient Chinese proverb.

Note: Because this selection contains some special Japanese Hiragana characters, it should be written by a Japanese calligrapher.

See Also:  Experience is the Mother of Wisdom

天道酬勤 can be interpreted in a few different ways:
God blesses those who work hard.
It is the way of Heaven to smile on the diligent.
God will reward those that are worthy.
Heaven blesses those who are diligent.

Whichever translation you like, a scroll like this on your wall may serve as a reminder to work hard because your diligence will pay off both in this life and the next.


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

牛 is the character for bull, cow, ox, or bovine creature in Chinese, old Korean, and Japanese.

If you were born in the year of the ox/bull/cow, you . . .

Are dedicated to your work.
Are discrete, careful and conscientious.
Value work and family.

Note that in this Chinese character, there is no distinction between bull and cow. All bovine creatures fit into the definition of this character. To distinguish between male and female, another sex-designating character is added in front of this character. Therefore, in China, the energy drink “Red Bull” (Hong Niu) is often translated in the minds of Chinese people as “Red Cow” or even “Red Ox.”

See also our Chinese Zodiac page.

先輩 is a Chinese, Japanese, and old Korean word or title that means elders, senior (at work or school), superior, older graduate, progenitor, or old-timer.

In American dojos, this is sometimes romanized as Sempai.

摯友 is one way to say best friend in Chinese.

The first character can mean “honest” or “most sincere.” The second character means “friend” or “friends” (plural forms work differently in Chinese).

See Also:  Friendship | Soulmates

These are the five principles of Reiki.

They translate into English as...

At least for today:
Do not be angry,
Do not worry,
Be grateful,
Work with diligence,
Be kind to people.

Note: Because this selection contains some special Japanese Hiragana characters, it should be written by a Japanese calligrapher.

Beyond elegant and exquisite elegance, 美妙 is also the word used to say “beautiful” or “marvelous” when referring to a work of art.

Can also be translated as exquisiteness, gracefulness.

Note: Not a commonly used word in Japanese.

工兵 means the “engineering corps” of the army or other branches of the military.

The first character alone means work, worker, skill, profession, trade, craft, construction, or labor. The second character means army, force, or military.

See Also:  Military

至友 is one way to say best friend in Chinese.

The first character can mean “most,” “extreme,” or “best.”
The second character means “friend” or “friends” (plural forms work differently in China).

Can also be translated as “close friend” or “most intimate friend.”

See Also:  Friendship | Soulmates

上進 is a Chinese and Japanese Kanji word that means to advance, to make progress, to do better, to be ambitious, to improve oneself, or to move forward.

This can refer to a single person, general things (such as a work project), or a whole country.

In Japanese, this is sometimes used as the given name Joushin.

軍事情報 is the full way to say “Military Intelligence.”

The first two characters mean “military affairs.”

The second two characters mean “intelligence” or “information-gathering.”

If you work in the G2 section of your military unit, this is the wall scroll for you.

See Also:  Military

守護者 is a Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja title for a protector, watcher, or keeper.

The character breakdown:
守護 = to guard; to protect; protection; safeguard.
者 = person; someone of that nature; someone doing that work, the one [who, which].

From this breakdown, you can translate this as “The one who protects,” “Someone who safeguards,” or “guardian.”

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.

なんくるないさ or Nankurunaisa means “Everything will be all right” and/or “It will all work out one way or another.”

なんくるないさ is an Okinawan (琉球 / Ryūkyū Islands) word written in Japanese.

You might see this romanized with breaks like nankurunai-sa or nankuru-nai-sa. It's the same word either way. However, there is a separate word, なんくるない, in there which is nankurunai, translated as “Don't worry, be happy.” The “sa” or さ part indicates an assertion or interjection.

Note: Because this title is entirely Japanese Hiragana, it should be written by a Japanese calligrapher.

快 is the single character for “fast” in Chinese.

This applies to race cars, airplanes, rockets, etc.

This can also mean rapid, quick, speed, rate, soon, to make haste, clever, or sharp (of knives or wits). In some context it can mean cheerful or happy.

This is not a common choice for a wall scroll but if you're a speed freak, this may work for you.

Note: In Japanese, this usually has a meaning of pleasure, cheerful, delight, enjoyment, or the female given name Yoshi.

大胆不敵 is a Japanese word that can mean a few things depending on how you read it.

Popular translations include fearless, audacity (the attitude of a) daredevil, or daring.

The first two Kanji create a word that means: bold, fearless, or daring; audacious.

The last two Kanji create a word meaning: no match for, cannot beat, daring, fearless, intrepid, bold, or tough.

As with many Japanese words, the two similar-meaning words work together to multiply the meaning and intensity of the whole 4-Kanji word.

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.

See Also:  Prudence | Ethics | Humble | Humility

Usually, when people are looking for 道元 or “Dogen,” they are referring to the Japanese Zen monk by this name.

He lived from 1200-1253. This Dogen name or title literally means “The Way Origin” or “Beginning of the Path.” It is understood to mean “beginning of right doctrine or faith” in the context of his name and work to establish the Sōtō school of Zen in Japan.

To accomplish that task, this humble monk traveled from Japan and across China to find the more original or pure forms of Buddhism.

At its essence, 理 means science.

理 is a very ambiguous and open term; it speaks to the reason that all things exist, and how things work from the microscopic to the cosmic level.

There are many translations for this word, including inner essence; intrinsic order; reason; logic; truth; science; natural science (esp. physics); principle; the underlying principles of the cosmos; the way of things; ruling principle; fundamental law; intrinsicality; universal basis; or essential element(s).

If you are a scientist, or just searching for “the answer to life, the universe, and everything,” this could be the character for you.

正命 (right living) is one of the Noble Eightfold Paths of Buddhism.

Right Living, along with Right Speech and Right Action, constitute the path to Virtue.

Right Living means that a Buddhist should only take a job or pursue a career in a field that does no harm. Buddhists should not work in the arms trade, as pimps or in the field of prostitution, as a butcher or in a shop that kills or sells meat, in a laboratory that does animal research, or in any other business that involves scheming or unethical behavior.

Another definition: Avoidance of professions that are harmful to sentient beings, such as slaughterer, hunter, dealer in weaponry or narcotics, etc.

This term is exclusively used by devout Buddhists. It is not a common term, and is remains an unknown concept to most Japanese and Chinese people.

See Also:  Buddhism | Enlightenment | Noble Eightfold Path

大道無門 is a Buddhist proverb that means “The Great Way has no entrance,” “The Great Way is gateless,” or “The Great Path lacks a gate.”

This can be translated in many other ways.

This concept was authored within a long sacred text by 無門慧開 (known as Wúmén Huìkāi in Chinese or Mumon Ekai in Japanese). He was a Chinese Chan Master (in Japanese, a Zen Master) who lived between 1183 and 1260 AD. His most famous work was a 48-koan collection titled “The Gateless Barrier” or “The Gateless Gate” (無門關 Wú Mén Guān in Chinese, or 無門関 Mu Mon Kan in Japanese). This calligraphy title is a notable line from this collection.

I like this reference to the source of this proverb: The Gateless Gate 無門關

物事は全て理由があって起きる means everything happens for a reason.

However, this is a work in progress. We're still trying to decide the best way to express this in Japanese. If you order this, we might have a discussion about the best version that fits you. Here's how the characters break down by meaning (keep in mind, Japanese grammar and sentence construction is very different from English, so it doesn't make complete sense in English)...

物事 = things, everything
は particle
全て all, the whole, entirely
理由 reason
が particle
あっ be, exist, have, take place, happens
て particle
起きる to occur, to happen; to take place (usually unfavorable incidents)

Note: Because this selection contains some special Japanese Hiragana characters, it should be written by a Japanese calligrapher.

靈氣療法肇祖臼井甕男先生遺訓招福の秘法萬病の霊薬今日丈けは心配すな感謝して業を励げめ人に親切に is an alternate version of the precepts or tenets of Reiki by Usui Mikao.

It is impossible to be sure which version or versions were actually written by Usui Mikao. This is the less common of the three versions that you might see in the wild.

Here is a breakdown of the characters and a rough translation:
靈氣 療法 肇祖 臼井甕男。
Reiki therapy founder Mikao Usui
先生 遺訓。
Teacher's testament 招福の秘法,　萬病の霊薬。
Invite blessings of [the] secret method, 10,000 illnesses of spiritual medicine.
今日丈けは: 怒るな, 心配すな,　感謝して,　業をはげめ,　人に親切に。
At least for today: Do not be angry, do not worry, be grateful, work with diligence, [and] be kind to people.

Note: Because this selection contains some special Japanese Hiragana characters, it should be written by a Japanese calligrapher.

影武者 is the title for Shadow Warrior in Chinese and Japanese.

This may refer to a few video games that share this English title, or a Japanese movie called Kagemusha.

If you are looking for the Japanese TV show, that was originally 影の軍団 (Kage no Gundan), which more literally means “Army of Shadows,” but was re-titled Shadow Warrior when released outside Japan in English.

In Japan, this title can also refer to a body double or decoy of an army general or leader used to avoid assassination. It can also be somebody who does all the work (or fighting) behind the scenes (not getting much, if any, credit).

Seems a lot of you want to know how to write “shit” in Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja. Well, here it is.

Do not, under any circumstances, try to order this selection for a wall scroll. None of the calligraphers that I work with would dare to lower themselves to such a level and actually write “shit” for you. 大便 is only here for reference. 大便 is not appropriate for custom calligraphy!

大便 is thousands of years old and was absorbed into both Japanese and Korean (if you note, the pronunciation is very similar in all three languages).

This version is sometimes used as a verb (when used with some other words).

This text is the ninth chapter of the Daodejing / Tao Te Ching.

The text reads:
持而盈之、不如其已。揣而梲之、不可長保。 金玉滿堂、莫之能守。 富貴而驕、自遺其咎。 功遂身退、天之道。

This classical Chinese passage comes from the Mawangdui (馬王堆帛書) text.

These are the precepts of Reiki that are attributed to Usui Mikao.

Here is a breakdown of the characters and a rough translation:
招福の秘法,　萬病の霊薬。
Invite blessings of [the] secret method, 10,000 illnesses of spiritual medicine.
今日丈けは:　怒るな,　心配すな,　感謝して,　業をはげめ,　人に親切に。
At least for today: Do not be angry, do not worry, be grateful, work with diligence, and be kind to people.
朝夕合掌して,　心に念じ,　口に唱へよ,　心身改善。
Morning [and] evening perform gassho (join hands), [with your] heart/mind in silent prayer, [with your] mouth chant, [thusly] mind [and] body [will] reform/improve.
臼井靈氣療法！　-肇祖,　臼井甕男。
Usui Reiki Ryōhō! -Founder, Usui Mikao.

The middle portion of this is often titled, “The Five Principles of Reiki” and makes a nice calligraphy selection by itself. The Japanese text presented here can be considered the more verbose version.

Note: Because this selection contains some special Japanese Hiragana characters, it should be written by a Japanese calligrapher.

鑿壁偷光 is a Chinese proverb that means “Bore a hole in the wall to make use of the neighbor's light to study.”

This is a nice gift for a very studious person.

Kuang Heng was born during the Western Han period. He has been very fond of reading ever since he was young. However, he could not attend school since his family was poor, and he had to borrow books from people to learn.

To borrow these books, he normally did chores for people who had them. When he became older, he had to work in the field from sunrise to sunset since his family's financial situation did not improve. Thus, he tried to study at night, but he had no lamp.

One day, he noticed the light from the neighbor's house coming through a crack in the wall. This made him very happy, so he dug a larger hole from the crack and read in the light that shone through. This diligent study eventually made him an accomplished person.

Some may think of this as a “Christian trait,” but actually, it transcends many religions.

This Chinese teaching dates back to about 2,500 years ago in China. Confucius had always taught the belief in being benevolent (ren), but this idea was hard to grasp for some of his students, as benevolence could be kind-heartedness or an essence of humanity itself.

When answering Zhong Gong's question as to what "ren" actually meant, Confucius said:

己所不欲勿施于人 or "When you go out, you should behave as if you were in the presence of a distinguished guest; when people do favors for you, act as if a great sacrifice was made for you. Whatever you wouldn't like done to you, do not do that thing to others. Don't complain at work or home.”

Hearing this, Zhong Gong said humbly, “Although I am not clever, I will do what you say.”

From this encounter, the Chinese version of the “Golden Rule” or “Ethic of Reciprocity” came to be.
The characters you see above express, “Do not do to others whatever you do not want to be done to yourself.”

See Also:  Confucius Teachings | Benevolence

不屈不撓 means “Indomitable” or “Unyielding.”

不屈不撓 is a long word by Chinese standards. At least, it is often translated as a single word into English. It's actually a proverb in Chinese.

If you want to break it down, you can see that the first and third characters are the same. Both mean “not” (they work as a suffix to make a negative or opposite meaning to whatever character follows).

The second character means “bendable.”

The last means “scratched” or “bothered.”

So this really means “Won't be bent, can't be bothered.” I have also seen it written as “Will not crouch, will not submit.” This comes from the fact that the second character can mean “to crouch” and the last can mean “to submit” (as in “to give in” such as “submitting to the rule of someone else”). This may explain better why these four characters mean “indomitable.”

Notes:
Some will translate this as “indomitable spirit”; however, technically, there is no character to suggest the idea of “spirit” in this word.
Other translations include indefatigability, indomitableness, or unremitting tenacity.

The first two characters can be stand-alone words in Chinese.
In Japanese, this is considered two words (with very similar meanings). It's more common to see the word order flipped to 不撓不屈 in Japanese.
The same characters are used in old Korean Hanja. Just like in Japanese, the words are swapped to 不撓不屈 creating a word pronounced “불요불굴” in Korean.

See 不撓不屈

See Also:  Tenacity | Fortitude | Strength | Undaunted