Buy an 危機 calligraphy wall scroll here!
危機 means crisis in Chinese and Japanese.
Separately, the first character here does mean “danger” or “to endanger,” and the second character can mean “opportunity.”
However, I want to debunk a myth that was propagated by some westerners who did not have a clear understanding of Asian languages...
While often, Chinese/Japanese/Korean compound words (words of two or more characters) are the sum of their parts, this is not always the case. The compound is often understood with a completely different meaning than the two characters individually.
Many have said that the Chinese/Japanese/Korean word for Crisis is made up of the characters for “danger” and “opportunity.” 危機 is true when phrased this way.
However, it's not absolutely correct to say that “danger + opportunity = crisis” in Asian cultures.
English example:
If I tell you that...
Bovine creature + Guy behind the plate in baseball = Locomotive train protection
...you would think I was mad. But consider that “cow + catcher = cowcatcher,” which is the device that used to be found on steam engines to protect them if they hit an animal on the tracks. When we hear the word “cowcatcher,” we don't separate the words into their individual meanings (necessarily).
The same is true with the word for crisis in Chinese/Japanese/Korean. While you can separate the characters, few Asian people would automatically do so in their minds.
The final answer:
It is a half-truth to say, “danger plus opportunity equals crisis” in Chinese/Japanese/Korean. Use this statement and concept with caution.
Also, the second character can mean “secret” or “machine,” depending on context so I guess you have to say “a dangerous machine = crisis” or “danger + a secret = crisis.” Both of these are only slightly more ridiculous than the first premise.
PS: 危機 is probably not a great word for a scroll unless you have a special use for it.
Below are some entries from our dictionary that may match your 危機 search...
Characters If shown, 2nd row is Simp. Chinese |
Pronunciation Romanization |
Simple Dictionary Definition |
危機 危机 see styles |
wēi jī wei1 ji1 wei chi kiki きき |
More info & calligraphy: Crisis equals Danger plus Opportunity?crisis; critical situation; emergency; pinch; (female given name) Kiki |
危機感 see styles |
kikikan ききかん |
sense of impending crisis; sense of danger |
危機的 see styles |
kikiteki ききてき |
(adjectival noun) critical |
水危機 see styles |
mizukiki みずきき |
water crisis; water scarcity |
信用危機 信用危机 see styles |
xìn yòng wēi jī xin4 yong4 wei1 ji1 hsin yung wei chi shinyoukiki / shinyokiki しんようきき |
credit crisis credit crunch |
信貸危機 信贷危机 see styles |
xìn dài wēi jī xin4 dai4 wei1 ji1 hsin tai wei chi |
credit crisis |
危機一発 see styles |
kikiippatsu / kikippatsu ききいっぱつ |
(irregular kanji usage) (exp,n) (yoji) by a hair's breadth; in the nick of time; touch and go; close call; critical moment |
危機一髪 see styles |
kikiippatsu / kikippatsu ききいっぱつ |
(exp,n) (yoji) by a hair's breadth; in the nick of time; touch and go; close call; critical moment |
危機四伏 危机四伏 see styles |
wēi jī sì fú wei1 ji1 si4 fu2 wei chi ssu fu |
danger lurks on every side (idiom) |
危機回避 see styles |
kikikaihi ききかいひ |
crisis prevention; crisis avoidance |
危機対応 see styles |
kikitaiou / kikitaio ききたいおう |
crisis response; emergency response |
危機意識 see styles |
kikiishiki / kikishiki ききいしき |
crisis awareness; sense of impending crisis |
危機打者 see styles |
kikidasha ききだしゃ |
pinch hitter |
危機神学 see styles |
kikishingaku ききしんがく |
(See 弁証法神学) crisis theology |
危機突破 see styles |
kikitoppa ききとっぱ |
crisis relief |
危機管理 see styles |
kikikanri ききかんり |
(noun - becomes adjective with の) crisis management |
危機言語 see styles |
kikigengo ききげんご |
endangered language |
危機遺産 see styles |
kikiisan / kikisan ききいさん |
endangered world heritage site |
原発危機 see styles |
genpatsukiki げんぱつきき |
nuclear crisis; nuclear power-plant crisis |
擺脫危機 摆脱危机 see styles |
bǎi tuō wēi jī bai3 tuo1 wei1 ji1 pai t`o wei chi pai to wei chi |
to break out of a crisis |
政治危機 see styles |
seijikiki / sejikiki せいじきき |
political crisis |
次貸危機 次贷危机 see styles |
cì dài wēi jī ci4 dai4 wei1 ji1 tz`u tai wei chi tzu tai wei chi |
subprime mortgage crisis; abbr. for 次級房屋信貸危機|次级房屋信贷危机[ci4 ji2 fang2 wu1 xin4 dai4 wei1 ji1] |
気候危機 see styles |
kikoukiki / kikokiki きこうきき |
climate crisis |
気象危機 see styles |
kishoukiki / kishokiki きしょうきき |
climate crisis |
湾岸危機 see styles |
wangankiki わんがんきき |
(hist) Gulf War (1990); Persian Gulf crisis |
石油危機 see styles |
sekiyukiki せきゆきき |
oil crisis |
経営危機 see styles |
keieikiki / keekiki けいえいきき |
management crisis (of a business); financial difficulty |
経済危機 see styles |
keizaikiki / kezaikiki けいざいきき |
economic crisis |
絶滅危機 see styles |
zetsumetsukiki ぜつめつきき |
endangerment (of a species) |
經濟危機 经济危机 see styles |
jīng jì wēi jī jing1 ji4 wei1 ji1 ching chi wei chi |
economic crisis |
The following table may be helpful for those studying Chinese or Japanese...
Title | Characters | Romaji (Romanized Japanese) | Various forms of Romanized Chinese | |
Crisis equals Danger plus Opportunity? | 危機 危机 | kiki | wēi jī / wei1 ji1 / wei ji / weiji | wei chi / weichi |
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. |
Successful Chinese Character and Japanese Kanji calligraphy searches within the last few hours...
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.