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Hundred in Chinese / Japanese...

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


  1. Hearing a Hundred Times is Not as Good as Seeing Once

  2. Undaunted After Repeated Setbacks

  3. Seeing is Believing

  4. Know Your Enemy, Know Yourself, and Win 100 Battles

  5. Indomitable Spirit

  6. Inspire with redoubled courage

  7. Even The 100-Foot Bamboo Can Grow One More Foot

  8. Life is Short

  9. One Justice Can Overpower 100 Evils

10. You May Learn from Victory, You Will Learn from Failure

11. Seeing is Believing

12. Legendary Turtle

13. Know Your Enemy, Know Yourself, and You Cannot Lose

14. Archer

15. Diligence

16. Japanese Snapping Turtle / Chinese Soft Shell Turtle

17. Body and Earth in Unity

18. The one who retreats 50 paces mocks the one to retreats 100


Hearing a Hundred Times is Not as Good as Seeing Once

 bǎi wén bù rú yī jiàn
Hearing a Hundred Times is Not as Good as Seeing Once Scroll

百聞不如一見 is a Chinese proverb that means “Seeing once is better than hearing one hundred times” which is similar to the idea of “Seeing is believing.”

You can also get the idea, “Seeing for oneself is better than hearing from many others.”

If you break it down directly, you get “100 hears/listens (is) not as-good (as) one sight.”

Undaunted After Repeated Setbacks

Persistence to overcome all challenges

 bǎi zhé bù náo
 hyaku setsu su tou
Undaunted After Repeated Setbacks Scroll

百折不撓 is a Chinese proverb that means “Be undaunted in the face of repeated setbacks.”

More directly translated, it reads, “[Overcome] a hundred setbacks, without flinching.” 百折不撓 is of Chinese origin but is commonly used in Japanese and somewhat in Korean (same characters, different pronunciation).

This proverb comes from a long, and occasionally tragic story of a man that lived sometime around 25-220 AD. His name was Qiao Xuan, and he never stooped to flattery but remained an upright person at all times. He fought to expose the corruption of higher-level government officials at great risk to himself.

Then when he was at a higher level in the Imperial Court, bandits were regularly capturing hostages and demanding ransoms. But when his own son was captured, he was so focused on his duty to the Emperor and the common good that he sent a platoon of soldiers to raid the bandits' hideout, and stop them once and for all even at the risk of his own son's life. While all of the bandits were arrested in the raid, they killed Qiao Xuan's son at first sight of the raiding soldiers.

Near the end of his career, a new Emperor came to power, and Qiao Xuan reported to him that one of his ministers was bullying the people and extorting money from them. The new Emperor refused to listen to Qiao Xuan and even promoted the corrupt Minister. Qiao Xuan was so disgusted that in protest, he resigned from his post as minister (something almost never done) and left for his home village.

His tombstone reads “Bai Zhe Bu Nao” which is now a proverb used in Chinese culture to describe a person of strong will who puts up stubborn resistance against great odds.

My Chinese-English dictionary defines these 4 characters as “keep on fighting despite all setbacks,” “be undaunted by repeated setbacks,” and “be indomitable.”

Our translator says it can mean “never give up” in modern Chinese.

Although the first two characters are translated correctly as “repeated setbacks,” the literal meaning is “100 setbacks” or “a rope that breaks 100 times.” The last two characters can mean “do not yield” or “do not give up.”
Most Chinese, Japanese, and Korean people will not take this absolutely literal meaning but will instead understand it as the title suggests above. If you want a single big word definition, it would be indefatigability, indomitableness, persistence, or unyielding.


See Also:  Tenacity | Fortitude | Strength | Perseverance | Persistence

Seeing is Believing

 hyakubun wa ikken ni shikazu
Seeing is Believing Scroll

百聞は一見に如かず is the Japanese version of an ancient Chinese proverb that means “Seeing once is better than hearing one hundred times.”

It is the rough equivalent of “seeing is believing,” “one eye-witness is better than many hearsays,” or “a picture is worth a thousand words.”

Sometimes it's simply more prudent to verify with your own eyes.


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

Know Your Enemy, Know Yourself, and Win 100 Battles

 teki o shi ri o no o shi re ba hya ku sen aya u ka ra zu
Know Your Enemy, Know Yourself, and Win 100 Battles Scroll

敵を知り己を知れば百戦危うからず is the longer/full Japanese version of this proverb. This means “Know your enemy, know yourself, and you will not fear a hundred battles.”

Others will translate this as “Know thy enemy, know thyself, yields victory in one hundred battles.”


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

Indomitable Spirit

Korean Only

 bǎi shé bù qū
Indomitable Spirit Scroll

百折不屈 is a Korean proverb that means “indomitable spirit,” at least, that is the way it is commonly translated in martial arts circles (Taekwondo, Hapkido, etc.).

The literal translation is “[one] hundred [times] broken [still] don't succumb.”
Or more naturally translated, “Even if attacked/beaten one hundred times, still be undaunted/indomitable.”

Notes:
Some will say this is one long word rather than a proverb.
This is also a proverb/word in Chinese though rarely used in modern times.

Inspire with redoubled courage

 yuuki hyaku bai
Inspire with redoubled courage Scroll

勇気百倍 means to inspire someone with fresh courage or redoubled courage in Japanese.

The Kanji breakdown:
勇気 (yuuki) courage; bravery; valour; valor; nerve; boldness.
百 (hyaku) 100; hundred.
倍 (bai) twice; double; 2-times; 2-fold.

Even The 100-Foot Bamboo Can Grow One More Foot

 bǎi chǐ gān tóu gèng jìng yī bù
Even The 100-Foot Bamboo Can Grow One More Foot Scroll

百尺竿头更进一步 is a proverb that literally translates as: [Even a] one-hundred foot [tall] bamboo [can] progress even one [more] step.

Figuratively, this means: After having achieved a fair degree of success, one should try to do still better.

Life is Short

A 100-year-old is but a traveler passing through this life

 bǎi suì guāng yīn rú guò kè
Life is Short Scroll

百歲光陰如過客 directly translates as: [Even a] hundred-year-old [person] is [just a] traveler passing by.

The simple message is, “Human life is short.” Of course, there is an unspoken suggestion that you should make the best of your time here on earth.

One Justice Can Overpower 100 Evils

 yī zhèng yā bǎi xié
One Justice Can Overpower 100 Evils Scroll

一正压百邪 is an ancient Chinese proverb and idiom that means “One Justice Can Overpower a Hundred Evils.”

While this proverb is famous in China, it has been around so long that its origins have been forgotten.

It could be something that Confucius or one of his disciples said, but no one can say for sure.

You May Learn from Victory, You Will Learn from Failure

 bǎi shèng nán lǜ dí sān zhé nǎi liáng yī
You May Learn from Victory, You Will Learn from Failure Scroll

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.


See Also:  Failure - Mother of Success | Experience - Mother of Success | Fall Down 7 Times Get Up 8 | Hard Knocks

Seeing is Believing

 bǎi wén bù rú yí jiàn
Seeing is Believing Scroll

百聞不如一見 is a proverb that means “Better to see something once rather than hear about it one hundred times” or “Telling me about something 100 times is not as good as seeing it once.”

In English, we have the similar proverb of “Seeing is believing” but this has a bit of the “A picture paints a thousand words” meaning too.

Sometimes it's simply more prudent to verify with your own eyes.

Legendary Turtle

 áo
 
Legendary Turtle Scroll

鼇 means “legendary turtle” in Chinese. 鼇 is a great mythological turtle that travels the seas. The creature is comparable to the dragon of China, however, it so happens that dragons became a bit more famous as history progressed. In modern Chinese, this character can just refer to a large sea turtle.

Note: 鼇 can be pronounced in Korean but this is a very rare Korean Hanja form - it hasn't been used in Korea for at least a few hundred years (even before they switched to Hangul characters).

Know Your Enemy, Know Yourself, and You Cannot Lose

 zhí bǐ zhí jī bǎi zhàn bú dài
Know Your Enemy, Know Yourself, and You Cannot Lose Scroll

知彼知己百戰不殆 is from Sun Tzu's (Sunzi's) Art of War. It means that if you know and understand the enemy, you also know yourself, and thus with this complete understanding, you cannot lose.

This proverb is often somewhat directly translated as “Know the enemy and know yourself, and you can fight a hundred battles without defeat.”

It can also be translated as “If you know both yourself and your enemy, you can come out of hundreds of battles without danger,” or “Know your enemy, know yourself, and your victory will not be threatened.”

 shè shǒu
 i te / sha shu
Archer Scroll

射手 means archer, shooter, or marksman in Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja.

Depending on the context, it can also mean “goal-getter” in Chinese. This would also be the word for a bowman.

射手 is modern in Asia, meaning that it's only been in use for a few hundred years. However, the more ancient version of the archer is often not even recognized by the current generation of Chinese and Japanese people.

The first character means “shoot” or “fire” (in the context of a gun or bow). It's also a suffix for radioactive things (in the context of chemistry) - radioactive things “fire off” electrons. In Japanese, the first Kanji is a short name and suffix for archery.

The second character means “hand,” but the hand can also mean a person, in the same way, that a “farmhand” is a person in English.

 qín
 kin
 
Diligence Scroll

勤 is a single character that means diligence or “sense of duty” in Chinese and Korean (also understood in Japanese but not commonly seen as a stand-alone Kanji).

As a single character on a wall scroll, this will only be seen with this meaning. However, it can also mean industrious, hardworking, frequent, regular, constant, energy, zeal, fortitude, or virility.

In Buddhism, this can represent vīrya (viriya), the idea of energy, diligence, enthusiasm, or effort. It can be defined as an attitude of gladly engaging in wholesome activities, and it functions to cause one to accomplish wholesome or virtuous actions. Some Buddhists may even define this as “manliness” (a definition from a hundred years ago, before equality).

If you or someone you know is a hard worker (or needs a reminder to be diligent), then this is the wall scroll to have in your/their office.


See Also:  Tenacity | Undaunted

Japanese Snapping Turtle / Chinese Soft Shell Turtle

 biē
 suppon
 
Japanese Snapping Turtle / Chinese Soft Shell Turtle Scroll

鼈 refers to a species of turtle.

Sinensis Turtle

鼈 is Trionyx Sinensis.

鼈 refers to different turtles in different languages. See individual language notes below:

Japanese: 鼈 means “snapping turtle” or “mud turtle.” But rarely used as a single Kanji like this in Japanese.

Chinese: 鼈 means soft-shelled turtle. A specific species, Trionyx Sinensis is native to Asia.
In China, this species is related to the “wang ba,” a soft-shelled turtle sometimes known in English as a banjo turtle (due to its long neck, and general shape). Unfortunately, there is a word, “wang ba dan” which means the egg of this species of turtle. That term has come to mean “bastard” in Chinese (a turtle hatches from an abandoned egg, and does not know who his mother or father is). 鼈 is not a good selection for a wall scroll if your audience is Chinese.

In Korean, this character can be pronounced (though most Koreans would have to look it up in a dictionary). It has not been in common use in Korea for at least a few hundred years.

General notes: You may notice that the bottom half of this character is the same as some other turtle-related titles. That bottom half is actually an ancient character that means “toad.” 黽 Though not seen in this way today, most turtle-related characters hold the meaning of “a toad with a shell” in their ancient origin. That toad character is rarely used alone anymore but you can see what it looks like in the image to the right.

Body and Earth in Unity

 shindofuni / shindofuji
Body and Earth in Unity Scroll

身土不二 (Shindofuni) is originally a Buddhist concept or proverb referring to the inseparability of body-mind and geographical circumstances.

This reads, “Body [and] earth [are] not two.”

Other translations or matching ideas include:
Body and land are one.
Body and earth can not be separated.
Body earth sensory curation.
You are what you eat.
Indivisibility of the body and the land (because the body is made from food and food is made from the land).

Going further, this speaks of our human bodies and the land from which we get our food being closely connected. This phrase is often used when talking about natural and organic vegetables coming directly from the farm to provide the healthiest foods in Japan.

Character notes: 身(shin) in this context does not just mean your physical body but a concept including both body and mind.
土 (do) refers to the soil, earth, clay, land, or in some cases, locality. It's not the proper name of Earth, the planet. However, it can refer to the land or realm we live in.

Japanese note: This has been used in Japan, on and off, since 1907 as a slogan for a governmental healthy eating campaign (usually pronounced as shindofuji instead of the original shindofuni in this context). It may have been hijacked from Buddhism for this propaganda purpose, but at least this is “healthy propaganda.”

Korean note: The phrase 身土不二 was in use by 1610 A.D. in Korea, where it can be found in an early medical journal.
In modern South Korea, it's written in Hangul as 신토불이. Korea used Chinese characters (same source as Japanese Kanji) as their only written standard form of the language until about a hundred years ago. Therefore, many Koreans will recognize this as a native phrase and concept.


See Also:  Strength and Love in Unity

The one who retreats 50 paces mocks the one to retreats 100

The pot calls the kettle black

 wù shí bù xiào bǎi bù
The one who retreats 50 paces mocks the one to retreats 100 Scroll

五十步笑百步 is a Chinese proverb that means the one who retreats 50 paces mocks the one who retreats 100 paces.

During the Warring States Period of what is now China (475 - 221 B.C.), the King of Wei was in love with war. He often fought with other kingdoms just for spite or fun.

One day, the King of Wei asked the philosopher Mencius, “I love my people, and all say I do the best for them. I move the people from famine-stricken areas to places of plenty and transport grains from rich areas to the poor. Nobody goes hungry in my kingdom, and I treat my people far better than other kings. But why does the population of my kingdom not increase, and why does the population of other kingdoms not decrease?”

Mencius answered, “Since you love war, I will make this example: When going to war, and the drums beat to start the attack, some soldiers flee for their lives in fear. Some run 100 paces in retreat, and others run 50 steps. Then the ones who retreated 50 paces laugh and taunt those who retreated 100 paces, calling them cowards mortally afraid of death. Do you think this is reasonable?

The King of Wei answered, “Of course not! Those who run 50 paces are just as timid as those who run 100 paces.”

Mencius then said, “You are a king who treats his subjects better than other kings treat their people, but you are so fond of war that your people suffer from great losses in battle. Therefore, your population does not grow. While other kings allow their people to starve to death, you send your people to die in war. Is there any difference?”

This famous conversation led to the six-character proverb shown here. It serves as a warning to avoid hypocrisy. It goes hand-in-hand with the western phrase, “The pot calls the kettle black,” or the Biblical phrase, “Before trying to remove a splinter from your neighbor's eye, first remove the plank from your own eye.”


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

Title CharactersRomaji (Romanized Japanese)Various forms of Romanized Chinese
Hearing a Hundred Times is Not as Good as Seeing Once百聞不如一見
百闻不如一见
bǎi wén bù rú yī jiàn
bai3 wen2 bu4 ru2 yi1 jian4
bai wen bu ru yi jian
baiwenburuyijian
pai wen pu ju i chien
paiwenpujuichien
Undaunted After Repeated Setbacks百折不撓
百折不挠
hyaku setsu su tou
hyakusetsusutou
hyaku setsu su to
bǎi zhé bù náo
bai3 zhe2 bu4 nao2
bai zhe bu nao
baizhebunao
pai che pu nao
paichepunao
Seeing is Believing百聞は一見に如かずhyakubun wa ikken ni shikazu
hyakubunwaikkennishikazu
hyakubun wa iken ni shikazu
Know Your Enemy, Know Yourself, and Win 100 Battles敵を知り己を知れば百戦危うからずteki o shi ri o no o shi re ba hya ku sen aya u ka ra zu
Indomitable Spirit百折不屈bǎi shé bù qū
bai3 she2 bu4 qu1
bai she bu qu
baishebuqu
pai she pu ch`ü
paishepuchü
pai she pu chü
Inspire with redoubled courage勇気百倍yuuki hyaku bai
yuukihyakubai
yuki hyaku bai
Even The 100-Foot Bamboo Can Grow One More Foot百尺竿頭更進一步
百尺竿头更进一步
bǎi chǐ gān tóu gèng jìng yī bù
bai3 chi3 gan1 tou2 geng4 jing4 yi1 bu4
bai chi gan tou geng jing yi bu
baichigantougengjingyibu
pai ch`ih kan t`ou keng ching i pu
pai chih kan tou keng ching i pu
Life is Short百歲光陰如過客
百岁光阴如过客
bǎi suì guāng yīn rú guò kè
bai3 sui4 guang1 yin1 ru2 guo4 ke4
bai sui guang yin ru guo ke
baisuiguangyinruguoke
pai sui kuang yin ju kuo k`o
paisuikuangyinjukuoko
pai sui kuang yin ju kuo ko
One Justice Can Overpower 100 Evils一正壓百邪
一正压百邪
yī zhèng yā bǎi xié
yi1 zheng4 ya1 bai3 xie2
yi zheng ya bai xie
yizhengyabaixie
i cheng ya pai hsieh
ichengyapaihsieh
You May Learn from Victory, You Will Learn from Failure百勝難慮敵三折乃良醫
百胜难虑敌三折乃良医
bǎi shèng nán lǜ dí sān zhé nǎi liáng yī
bai3 sheng4 nan2 lv4 di2 san1 zhe2 nai3 liang2 yi1
bai sheng nan lv di san zhe nai liang yi
pai sheng nan lü ti san che nai liang i
Seeing is Believing百聞不如一見
百闻不如一见
bǎi wén bù rú yí jiàn
bai3 wen2 bu4 ru2 yi2 jian4
bai wen bu ru yi jian
baiwenburuyijian
pai wen pu ju i chien
paiwenpujuichien
Legendary Turtleáo / ao2 / ao
Know Your Enemy, Know Yourself, and You Cannot Lose知彼知己百戰不殆
知彼知己百战不殆
zhí bǐ zhí jī bǎi zhàn bú dài
zhi2 bi3 zhi2 ji1 bai3 zhan4 bu2 dai4
zhi bi zhi ji bai zhan bu dai
zhibizhijibaizhanbudai
chih pi chih chi pai chan pu tai
Archer射手i te / sha shu
ite / shashu
shè shǒu / she4 shou3 / she shou / sheshou
Diligencekinqín / qin2 / qinch`in / chin
Japanese Snapping Turtle
Chinese Soft Shell Turtle
suppon / suponbiē / bie1 / biepieh
Body and Earth in Unity身土不二shindofuni / shindofuji
The one who retreats 50 paces mocks the one to retreats 100五十步笑百步wù shí bù xiào bǎi bù
wu4 shi2 bu4 xiao4 bai3 bu4
wu shi bu xiao bai bu
wushibuxiaobaibu
wu shih pu hsiao pai pu
wushihpuhsiaopaipu
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 Hundred in my Japanese & Chinese Dictionary


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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.


A nice Chinese calligraphy wall scroll

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.

A professional Chinese Calligrapher

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.

Trying to learn Chinese calligrapher - a futile effort

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.

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.


Check out my lists of Japanese Kanji Calligraphy Wall Scrolls and Old Korean Hanja Calligraphy Wall Scrolls.

Some people may refer to this entry as Hundred Kanji, Hundred Characters, Hundred in Mandarin Chinese, Hundred Characters, Hundred in Chinese Writing, Hundred in Japanese Writing, Hundred in Asian Writing, Hundred Ideograms, Chinese Hundred symbols, Hundred Hieroglyphics, Hundred Glyphs, Hundred in Chinese Letters, Hundred Hanzi, Hundred in Japanese Kanji, Hundred Pictograms, Hundred in the Chinese Written-Language, or Hundred in the Japanese Written-Language.

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