Personalize a "Strength" Chinese / Japanese Calligraphy Wall Scroll

力 is the simplest form of "power" or "strength".

In Japanese it is pronounced "chikara" when used alone, and "ryoku" when used in a sentence (there are also a few other possible pronunciations of this Kanji in Japanese).

In some context, this can mean ability, force, physical strength, capability, and influence.

See Also:  Vitality | Health

內健 is an old Chinese word meaning inner strength, or inner health.

It's the idea of health and well-being starting or residing from inside yourself. Also defined as fortitude within the context of good health.

表壯不如里壯 literally translates as: [Better to be] strong inside than [to be] strong outside.

The ancient original meaning was:
[An] able [husband] outside [working to support a family is] not as good as [an] able [wife] inside [working and saving to take care of the family].

The current meaning is:
Inner strength is more important than outward appearance.

This Japanese proverb 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.

內在力量 is the slightly-verbose way to say inner-strength.

The first two characters mean "intrinsic" or "inner". The second two characters mean "power", "force" or "strength" (especially physical strength). 內在力量 is more a short phrase rather than just a word in Chinese and Korean. This can sort of be understood in Japanese but it's not normal/proper Japanese.

內力 is the shorter version of inner-strength (can also be translated as "internal force"). The first character holds the meaning of "inner" or "internal". The second character means "power", "force" or "strength".

內力 is kind of a Kung Fu way of talking about an inner power or strength from within. 內力 is sort of a way to express "inner-chi". 內力 is clearly something that you might hear in a real Chinese Kung Fu movie.

While understood in both Chinese and Japanese, this can have a secondary meaning of "inner stress" in Japanese.

自強 is the kind of inner-strength that applies to a person who has will-power and can inspire themselves to do great things.

自強 can also be the creed of a person that always pursues self-improvement.

Other translations: self-strengthening, striving for improvement, self-improvement, strive to become stronger, and self-renewal.

This proverb or idiom suggests that the pursuit self-improvement is eternal. It can also be a suggestion to strive unremittingly in life.

The first two characters mean inner-strength with the idea of self-improvement. The last two characters mean "never rest" or "striving without giving up".

Some will translate these four characters as, "Exert and strive hard without any let up".

體力 means "physical strength", "physical power", or "physical stamina" in Chinese, ancient Japanese, and old Korean Hanja.

See Also:  Fortitude | Health

体力 means "physical strength" or "physical power".

The first character was first simplified in Japan. Later, that simplified version became the standard in mainland China. Just in case you want this version, it is offered here. I suggest it if you audience is Japanese. Most Chinese know the older traditional version which looks like 體力.

体力 can also be defined: stamina; endurance; physical strength; resilience; resistance to disease; clout; stability.

勇力 is a very short way to say "courage and strength" in Chinese and Japanese.

In Japanese, it's read more like "strong courage" or "powerful courage". This can also be the personal name Yuri or Yuuri in Japanese.

This Japanese and Chinese word means, "resolute and firm", "fortitude", "firmness of character", "hardihood", "manliness" or "macho".

See Also:  Perseverance | Tenacity

This proverb literally means:
"Strength [and] Love [are] Not Two [separate ideas/concepts/things]".

You'll find this proverb translated from Japanese to English as:
Love and strength are not separate.
Power and love are indivisible.
Strength and love in harmony.
Strength and love stand together.

Old Japanese grammar is quite different than English, and so this proverb says a lot within the brevity of just 4 characters. If you just read these characters directly as, "Strength Love Not Two", you'd probably miss the real meaning.

According to the Swedish Shorinji Kempo Federation, this is the second characteristic of Shorinji Kempo.

This post really explains the concept best in my opinion: Bushido by MS: Riki Ai Fu Ni, which states: "Riki Ai Funi" is the philosophy that power (Riki) and love (Ai) are indivisible. More concretely, a person, who is powerful but does not have love, cannot control and misuse his/her power; on the other hand, a person, who has loved ones but is not powerful enough, cannot protect himself/herself nor loved ones.

This title speaks of one's soul or spirit, and the capacity or strength that soul possesses.

The first two characters mean mind, heart, spirit, and/or soul.

The last two characters mean strength, capacity, or ability.

Note: Separately, these are two words in Japanese, and can be pronounced but this does not make a natural title in Japanese (best if your audience is Chinese).

力量 is a general strength term.

It can refer to mental or physical strength (depending on context). 力量 can also be used to describe strength in terms of capability, capacity, ability and even tact. Some may translate this as power or force.

While not a common title for a wall scroll in China, this means, "strength and love" or "power and love" in Chinese characters.

While not a typical Chinese phrase, this is how to write "strength and courage".

If this is an important idea for you, we can make a great custom Chinese "strength and courage" wall scroll for you.

This may not be the most common Japanese phrase but this is how to write "strength and courage" or "power and bravery" in Japanese.

強力 means herculean strength, powerful, or strong.

I've even heard this described as, "strength to carry a mountain".

Note: This can also be the Japanese surname Gouriki (like Mr. Strong).

氣力 can mean any of the words in the title above, and in some context, can also mean, effort, will-power, or talent.

氣力 refers mostly to physical strength (as opposed to mental or spiritual).

In modern Japan, they use a simplified first character for this word. If you want to order this title with that special Japanese version, click on the character to the right instead of the button above.

強固 means firmness, stability, security, and strength in Japanese.

It's not used commonly in China but it means "powerful", "firm", "solid", "strong" or "better than others" in Chinese. There is a slight variation in the top of the first character between Chinese and Japanese. Because this is more a Japanese word, we are showing the Japanese form here.

強固 is also a Korean word but Korean Hanja uses the Chinese form of the first character (one tiny stroke is a little different), so just let me now if your audience is Korean when you place your order, and we'll have it written in the Chinese/Korean version.

This can be translated as, "with all one's strength", "with all one's heart", "to the limits of your heart", or "to the end of your heart/emotions".

The character breakdown:
思い (omoi) thought; mind; heart; feelings; emotion; sentiment; love; affection; desire; wish; hope; expectation; imagination; experience
切り (kiri) bounds; limits.

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

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

強大 can mean mighty, powerful, large, formidable, or strong.

This term is often used to describe soldiers/troops/warriors, and whole armies.

強壯 is an adjective that means powerful or strong.

It can also be translated as able-bodied, robust, or sturdy.
This version of strength also suggests muscularity.

Note that the second character was simplified in Japan after WWII (also simplified in mainland China but not for calligraphy). If you want the modern Japanese/simplified version, please click on the Kanji shown to the right.

See Also:  Vitality | Health

This "strong" character means strength, force, powerful, better, stubborn, and stiff (yes, all of this in one character). This "strong" has less to do with physical strength and more to do with having a winning attitude, or just having the ability to win at something.

Note that most of the time, this character is pronounced "qiang" but when used with the meaning of stubborn, unyielding, or stiff, it is pronounced "jiang" in Chinese.

Also, sometimes "qiang" is used in modern Chinese to describe people that do crazy things (Example: Bicycling from Beijing to Tibet alone). I sometimes can be found outside my Beijing apartment wearing nothing but shorts and a tee-shirt while eating an ice cream during a snow storm, just to hear my neighbors call me "qiang". Maybe they mean "strong" but perhaps they are using the new meaning of "crazy strong".

Also a Korean Hanja with same meaning but mostly used in compound words.

強 is used in Japanese (though normally in compound words). In Japanese, it has the same meaning but in some context can mean "a little more than..". or "a little over [some amount]". Most Japanese would read this as tough, strength, stiff, hard, inflexible, obstinate, or stubborn.

This "strong" character means "to strengthen" or robust. This brings images of a muscle-bound hulk of a weight lifter or body builder to an Asian person who sees this character.

Note that in Korean and Japanese, this character is normally part of compound words, and is not seen alone too often.

Note that the this character was simplified in Japan after WWII (also simplified in mainland China but not for calligraphy). If you want the modern Japanese/simplified version, please click on the Kanji shown to the right.

This "strong" character is the more "healthy" version of strong. 健 is the "strong" that is appropriate for an athlete.

Beyond "healthy", it can also mean strength, persistence, vigorous or invigorated.

We don't really have a word like this in English but these two characters create a word that means "strong and beautiful". It could also be translated as "healthy and beautiful".

Note: 健美 is a word in Chinese and Korean but it's also the family name Takemi in Japanese. The characters hold the same meaning in Japanese but It's kind of like having the English name Stillwell, when few people would perceive the meanings of still and well.

健やか is a verbose way to say strong and healthy in Japanese. 健やか is the "strong" that is appropriate for an athlete.

Beyond "healthy", it can also mean strength, persistence, vigorous or invigorated.

Japanese also use the first Kanji to mean the same thing. This version just adds two hiragana which serve to emphasize or amplify the word and clarify the meaning.

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

This phrase can mean either "strong hearted", "strong willed" or "determination".

The first two characters can be translated as "will", "willpower", "determination", "volition", "intention", or "intent". But, it should be noted that this first part possess the element of "heart" in the lower portion of both characters (they also partially carry the meaning "with whole heart").

The last two characters mean "strong" or "staunch".

Chinese word order and grammar is a bit different than English, so in this case, they are in reverse order of English but have the correct meaning in a natural form.

See Also:  Strong Willed | Discipline | Will-Power

女強人 is the best way to say "strong woman" or "strong and independent woman" in Chinese.

Grammar in China is a bit different, so these three characters literally read as "female strength person" or "woman strong person". This might sound funny in English but this is a natural-sounding title in Chinese.

This literally translates as: Only after much tempering is steel produced.

Figuratively, this means: True character must be tested in hardship.

百煉才成鋼 / 百煉纔成鋼 is a mild form of saying, "Whatever doesn't kill me, makes me stronger".

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

身土不二 literally 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 used often 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 rather a concept including both body and mind.
土 (do) refers to soil, earth, clay, land, or in some cases, locality. It's not the proper name of Earth, the planet. However, in 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 for Japanese Kanji) as their only written standard form of the language until about a hundred years ago. Therefore, many Koreans will recognize 身土不二 as a native phrase and concept.

See Also:  Strength and Love in Unity

堅忍 means persistent, steadfast, fortitude, and/or perseverance.

The first character means "strong", "solid", "firm", "unyielding" or "resolute".
The second character means "to beat", "to endure", or "to tolerate".
Together they speak of the strength from within yourself. Some may also translate this as "long-suffering" in a more Biblical sense.

堅忍 is a common term in Chinese and Korean Hanja but a little less commonly used in modern Japanese Kanji. For that reason, this selection is best if your audience is Chinese or Korean.

Note that when writing this as Kanji, Japanese will tend to write the second Kanji a little differently. If you select our Japanese master calligrapher, please expect the form where the little horizontal stroke crosses the vertical stroke. See differences in the images to the right. Technically, they are both the same character, and will be read the same in either language.

If you are into healthy living, this might be an excellent selection for a wall scroll to hang in your home.

The first two characters speak of health, vitality, vigor, and being of sound body. The second two characters mean living or life (daily existence).

See Also:  Vitality | Health

不屈 is the short form of a longer Chinese word, and also a word used in Korean and Japanese to express the idea of being indomitable. It literally means, "will not bend", "will not crouch", "will not yield", "will not flinch", or "will not submit".

Note: Some will translate this as "indomitable spirit"; however, technically, there is no character to suggest the idea of "spirit" in this word.

See Also:  Tenacity | Fortitude | Undaunted

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 meaning "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.
The first two characters can be a stand-alone word in Chinese.
In Japanese, this is considered to be two words (with very similar meanings).
The same characters are used in Korean, but the 2nd and 4th characters are swapped to create a word pronounced "불요불굴" in Korean.
Just let me know if you want the Korean version, which will also make sense in Japanese, and though not as natural, will also make sense in Chinese as well.

See Also:  Tenacity | Fortitude | Undaunted

毅 is the simplest way to express perseverance in Chinese and Korean Hanja.
This single-character version leaves a bit of mystery about what kind of perseverance you might want to convey.

In Korean, this is usually associated with "strength of character".

In Japanese, this character can be pronounced about a dozen different ways (so we have left out the Japanese pronunciation guide that normally appears above). In Japanese this Kanji would usually be translated "strong" (perhaps strong-willed).

See Also:  Tenacity | Fortitude | Undaunted

These two characters are a way to express "perseverance" with the idea of "willpower" in Chinese and old Korean Hanja. It can also mean "strong willed".

The first character means "strong" and "persistent", while the second means "strength" and "power".

堅忍不抜 / 堅忍不拔 means determined, steadfast, unswerving, or unshakable in Japanese.

堅忍不抜 / 堅忍不拔 is the Japanese version of an old Chinese 4-character perseverance proverb.
This would be understood in Chinese but it's not commonly written this way in Chinese.

Note that when writing this as Kanji, Japanese calligraphers sometimes write the second Kanji in the form shown to the right. Yes, it’s just one stroke that is slightly different in location, crossing another stroke in this alternate Japanese Kanji form. If you have a preference, let us know when you order.

Due to some odd computer coding conventions, these two character forms were combined/merged into the same code point - thus, you will not see Kanji images of more Japanese form as you select options for your scroll.

This Chinese proverb 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 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 strength will who puts up stubborn resistance against great odds.

My Chinese-English dictionary defines these 4 characters as, "keep on fighting in spite of 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 | Perseverance | Persistence

生命力 can mean "vitality" or "libido".

The first two characters mean "life" or "life force". The last character is a common word that means "strength". So together you get the meaning "life strength" which is the essence of vitality.

Some will also translate this word as "good health".

See Also:  Life Force | Health

This Chinese, Korean, and Japanese word means, "determination to achieve". It can also be translated as: will; willpower; determination; volition; intention; intent.

In Japanese, this can also be the given name Ishi.

意志力 is the form of will power or self-control is about having the determination or tenacity to keep going.

In Japanese, this is the power of will, strength of will, volition, intention, intent, or determination.