勝 in Chinese / Japanese...

勝 is a single character that means to win or be victorious.

This can also be translated: To overcome; success; to beat; to defeat; to surpass; superior to; to get the better of; better than; surpassing; superb.

In another context, this can mean beautiful (scenery); scenic spot; or scenic beauty.

In Taiwanese Mandarin, this can be pronounced with the first tone (sheng1) and mean: Able to bear; equal to (a task).

In Japan, this can also be the name Masaru.

In Korea, this has the same meaning but can also be the surname Sŭng.

勝義 is a Buddhist term that can mean ultimate truth, beyond description, that which surpasses mere earthly ideas, superlative, or inscrutable.

In Japan, this can also be a given name romanized as Yoshitomo.

勝利者 is the Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja for victor, winner, or conqueror.

While there are other ways to write conqueror, this is probably the most common and poetic. However, this is a little strange for calligraphy artwork.

This Buddhist term means the superior truth or enlightened truth.

勝義諦 is a realm of understanding that is far beyond worldly truth.

Some will also define this as the ultimate truth.

Katsu Hayabi or 勝速日 means victory at the speed of light.

勝速日 is a highly developed state in which an Aikido practitioner has reached spiritual and moral perfection.

勝負師 means gambler or risk taker in Japanese.

This is the Chinese title for the Call Of Duty video game.

心勝於物 is how to write, “mind over matter” in Chinese.

In modern Japanese, 真剣勝負 means to take something very seriously.

The literal and historical meaning is “real sword battle.” In old times, a Samurai apprentice would practice with a wooden practice sword. Once trained and qualified, they would wield a real steel sword made for battle and killing. They were ready for a “death match” or Shinken Shobu.

真剣 is an adjective that has come to mean serious/earnest. The literal translation is “real sword.”

勝負 in the simplest terms, means match, contest, game, or bout. Depending on the context, it could also mean victory or defeat, winning and losing, or the outcome of a battle.

There is a suggestion in Shinken Shobu that you train with serious and real intent, as we should train with the same fervor and dedication as if the battle was real. “Train as we fight.”

正勝吾勝 is a proverb that is often translated as “True victory is victory over oneself.”

However, literally, Kanji by Kanji, means “True victory [is] my/self victory.”

My Japanese friends rate this very highly for a wall scroll.

自勝者強也 means “One who conquers oneself is strong” in Chinese.

自勝 = Self-overcoming or self-conquering
者 = is
強 = Strength
也 = Also

Tell somebody how to do something and they might get it.
Show them how to do it, and they will master it in no time.

身教勝於言教 can also be translated as “Behavior teaches more than words.”

勝不驕敗不餒 is a Chinese proverb suggesting you should have no arrogance when you experience a victory and not despair in failure or defeat.

行万里路胜读万卷书 translates a few ways:
To travel ten thousand miles beats reading ten-thousand books.
Better to travel ten thousand li than to read ten thousand books. (a “li” is an ancient Chinese mile)
Traveling thousands of miles is better than reading thousands of books.

No matter how you slice it, this Chinese proverb is claiming that experience is more profound and meaningful than what you can get from a book. Go do it! Don't just read about it.

百胜难虑敌三折乃良医 is a Chinese proverb that literally translates as: [Even a general who has won a] hundred victories [may be] hard put to see through the enemy's [strategy], [but one who has] broken [his] arm three [times] [will] be a good doctor.

Figuratively, this means: One cannot always depend on past successes to guarantee future success but one can always learn from lessons drawn from failure.

内面の強さは外見の良さに勝る is a Japanese proverb that literally translates as “inner/internal strength/power [versus] outward-appearance [the] merit/virtue/good quality [does] excel/surpass/exceed/outweigh.”

More naturally in English, this would be “Inner Strength Outweighs Outward Appearance.”

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

You may learn when everything goes right but the lessons learned when everything goes wrong are more vivid and lead to long-lasting wisdom.

Another way to look at this: One cannot always depend on past successes to guarantee future success but one can always learn from lessons drawn from failure.

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

This is referred to as passage or chapter 33 of the Dao De Jing (often Romanized as “Tao Te Ching”).

These are the words of the philosopher Laozi (Lao Tzu).

Notes:

During our research, the Chinese characters shown here are probably the most accurate to the original text of Laozi. These were taken for the most part from the Mawangdui 1973 and Guodan 1993 manuscripts which pre-date other Daodejing texts by about 1000 years.

Grammar was a little different in Laozi’s time. So you should consider this to be the ancient Chinese version. Some have modernized this passage by adding, removing, or swapping articles and changing the grammar (we felt the oldest and most original version would be more desirable). You may find other versions printed in books or online - sometimes these modern texts are simply used to explain to Chinese people what the original text really means.

This language issue can be compared in English by thinking how the King James (known as the Authorized version in Great Britain) Bible from 1611 was written, and comparing it to modern English. Now imagine that the Daodejing was probably written around 403 BCE (2000 years before the King James Version of the Bible). To a Chinese person, the original Daodejing reads like text that is 3 times more detached compared to Shakespeare’s English is to our modern-day speech.

Extended notes:

While on this Biblical text comparison, it should be noted, that just like the Bible, all the original texts of the Daodejing were lost or destroyed long ago. Just as with the scripture used to create the Bible, various manuscripts exist, many with variations or copyist errors. Just as the earliest New Testament scripture (incomplete) is from 170 years after Christ, the earliest Daodejing manuscript (incomplete) is from 100-200 years after the death of Laozi.

The reason that the originals were lost probably has a lot to do with the first Qin Emperor. Upon taking power and unifying China, he ordered the burning and destruction of all books (scrolls/rolls) except those pertaining to Chinese medicine and a few other subjects. The surviving Daodejing manuscripts were either hidden on purpose or simply forgotten about. Some were not unearthed until as late as 1993.

We compared a lot of research by various archeologists and historians before deciding on this as the most accurate and correct version. But one must allow that it may not be perfect, or the actual and original as from the hand of Laozi himself.