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This ancient Japanese proverb can be translated as “The principle of honorable death and no surrender,” or simply “No surrender.”
If you directly translate this, you get something that means “Doctrine of suicide,” or “Ideology of honorable death.”
玉砕主義 is a specifically-Japanese proverb that embraces the long history of honorable suicide or self-sacrifice for honor in Japanese culture.
不名誉より死 is the Japanese version of “Death Before Dishonor.”
Japanese grammar is a bit different than English, so this really means something like “Rather die than to be dishonored.” However, “dishonor” is the first three Kanji, and death is the last Kanji. There are two Hiragana (より) which indicate the preference is death when comparing dishonor to death.
Note: Because this selection contains some special Japanese Hiragana characters, it should be written by a Japanese calligrapher.
You can die or kill, but never dishonor or disgrace yourself
可殺不可辱 almost directly matches the idea of “Death Before Dishonor” while also being an ancient Chinese proverb.
The direct meaning is, “[you] can die/kill [but you] cannot [allow] dishonor/disgrace [upon yourself].” Chinese grammar, and especially ancient grammar, is a little different than English. Not nearly as many articles are needed, and a lot is implied.
There are many ways to express ideas similar to “Death Before Dishonor” in Chinese, and I would rate this one in the top two.
A soldier can die or kill, but never dishonor or disgrace himself
士可殺不可辱 almost directly matches the military idea of “Death Before Dishonor,” while also being an ancient Chinese proverb.
The direct meaning is, “[A] soldier/warrior can die/kill [but he/she] cannot [allow] dishonor/disgrace [upon himself/herself].” Chinese grammar, and especially ancient grammar, is a little different than English. Not nearly as many articles are needed, and a lot is implied.
There are a lot of ways to express ideas similar to “Death Before Dishonor” in Chinese, and I would rate this one in the top two.
This is the original form of this proverb with the character for “soldier/warrior” at the beginning. Most of the time, this character is dropped, becoming a five-character proverb (the soldier/warrior part is implied, even without the character being present in the proverb). We also offer a shorter version.
Better to be broken jade than unbroken pottery
寧為玉碎不為瓦全 is the long version of a Chinese proverb that means “rather be shattered piece of jade than an unbroken piece of pottery.”
A little more explanation:
Death is implied with the “broken” meaning. Jade is one of the most precious materials in Chinese history, and in this case, is compared with one's honor and self-worth. Pottery is just something you eat off of, it has no deep value, just as a person who has lost their honor, or had none to begin with.
Thus, this means “better to die with honor than to live in shame” or words to that effect.
寧為玉碎不為瓦全 is often translated in English as “Death Before Dishonor,” the famous military slogan.
I would also compare this to the English proverb, “Better to die on your feet than to live on your knees.”
This is an idiom. It therefore doesn’t directly say exactly what it means. If you think about the English idiom, "The grass is always greener," it does not directly say "jealousy" or "envy" but everyone knows that it is implied.
Rather die than compromise
寧死不屈 is often translated as “Death Before Dishonor.”
The literal translation is more like, “Better die than compromise.” The last two characters mean “not to bend” or “not to bow down.” Some might even say that it means “not to surrender.” Thus, you could say this proverb means “Better to die than live on my knees” or simply “no surrender” (with the real idea being that you would rather die than surrender).
Better to be broken jade than unbroken pottery
寧為玉碎 is the short version of a longer Chinese proverb which means “rather be shattered piece of jade than an unbroken piece of pottery.”
寧為玉碎 says the “rather be a broken piece of jade” part (the second half is implied - everyone in China knows this idiom).
A little more explanation:
Death is implied with the “broken” meaning. Jade is one of the most precious materials in Chinese history, and in this case, is compared with one's honor and self-worth. Pottery is just something you eat off of; it has no deep value, just as a person who has lost their honor or had none to begin with.
Thus, this means “better to die with honor than to live in shame” or words to that effect.
This is often translated in English as “Death Before Dishonor,” the famous military slogan.
I would also compare this to the English proverb, “Better to die on your feet than to live on your knees.”
Give me liberty or give me death
不自由毋寧死 means “Give me liberty or give me death” in Chinese.
This is also the best way to say, “Live free or die.”
The characters break down this way:
不 = Not; none; without.
自由 = Freedom; liberty; freewill; self-determination.
毋寧 = Rather; would rather; rather be.
死 = Dead; death.
This will go nicely next to your “Don't tread on me” flag. This phrase is known well enough in China that it's listed in a few dictionaries. Though I doubt you will find too many Chinese citizens willing to yell this on the steps of the capital in Beijing.
See Also: Death Before Dishonor
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The following table may be helpful for those studying Chinese or Japanese...
Title | Characters | Romaji (Romanized Japanese) | Various forms of Romanized Chinese | |
Honorable Death - No Surrender | 玉砕主義 | gyokusai shugi gyokusaishugi | ||
Death Before Dishonor | 不名譽より死 不名誉より死 | fu mei yo yo ri shi fumeiyoyorishi | ||
Death Before Dishonor | 可殺不可辱 可杀不可辱 | kě shā bù kě rǔ ke3 sha1 bu4 ke3 ru3 ke sha bu ke ru keshabukeru | k`o sha pu k`o ju koshapukoju ko sha pu ko ju |
|
Death Before Dishonor | 士可殺不可辱 士可杀不可辱 | shì kě shā bù kě rǔ shi4 ke3 sha1 bu4 ke3 ru3 shi ke sha bu ke ru shikeshabukeru | shih k`o sha pu k`o ju shihkoshapukoju shih ko sha pu ko ju |
|
Death Before Dishonor | 寧為玉碎不為瓦全 宁为玉碎不为瓦全 | níng wéi yù suì bù wéi wǎ quán ning2 wei2 yu4 sui4 bu4 wei2 wa3 quan2 ning wei yu sui bu wei wa quan ningweiyusuibuweiwaquan | ning wei yü sui pu wei wa ch`üan ning wei yü sui pu wei wa chüan |
|
Death Before Surrender | 寧死不屈 宁死不屈 | níng sǐ bù qū ning2 si3 bu4 qu1 ning si bu qu ningsibuqu | ning ssu pu ch`ü ningssupuchü ning ssu pu chü |
|
Death Before Dishonor | 寧為玉碎 宁为玉碎 | níng wéi yù suì ning2 wei2 yu4 sui4 ning wei yu sui ningweiyusui | ning wei yü sui ningweiyüsui |
|
Live Free or Die | 不自由毋寧死 不自由毋宁死 | bú zì yóu wú nìng sǐ bu2 zi4 you2 wu2 ning4 si3 bu zi you wu ning si buziyouwuningsi | pu tzu yu wu ning ssu putzuyuwuningssu |
|
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. |
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