This is a Chinese, Japanese and Korean term that applies to the sacred fire of the ancient Greek Olympic torch or games.

This could also apply to other sacred or holy fires, as it can be a somewhat generic term.

This means sacrifice in Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja.

There is a suggestion in this word that this regards sacrificing your life.

Note: Depending on context, this can also mean victim or scapegoat in Japanese.

In original and ancient Chinese, this word referred to sacrificial animals. It can still have this meaning in Buddhist context.

The version of the first character used in modern Japan looks like the image to the right. If you order this from the Japanese master calligrapher, it will be written in this Japanese version.

This is how to write "kill" or "massacre".

This is an absolutely shocking word to have on a wall scroll. It will bewilder, scare, and perhaps offend any Chinese, Korean or Japanese person who sees it. I do not in any way recommend this for a piece of calligraphy artwork. This entry is only here because our calligraphy search engine received so many requests for "kill" and "massacre".

You are all a bunch of sick puppies!

This means sacrifice in Chinese. This kind of means that you are so devoted to something that you will make sacrifices for that goal/thing/person. Some will also translate this word as, "commit ones energy to", "devote to", or even, "giving your whole body to".

This is the simple, single-character religious form of "saint" in Chinese (also holds same meaning in Japanese and Korean, though rarely used alone like this).

This can also mean: holy, sage, master, or priest.
Note: This character is often used in compound words (words of more than one character) to create further meanings. In compounds, it can mean holy, sacred or divine.

This character is also used as the first word for Spanish and English place names such as "San Diego" and "St. Louis" in Chinese (not Japanese).

This can be titled or translated a lot of different ways: sacred ground, the Holy Land, Holy city, sacred place, Holy ground, or shrine. I have actually seen all of these English translations used when coming from Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.

This is how to write Bible in Chinese.

The first character means Holy, sacred, saint, or sage.
The second character means sacred book or scripture.

Each Sunday morning, if you are near a Catholic or Protestant Church, you will see plenty of Chinese people carrying their Bibles. Virtually every large or medium city in China has at least one Christian church. Beijing has about 14 Christian churches of Catholic and various Protestant denominations. That number more than doubles if you count all the church services that are for foreigners only, and doubles again if you count all of the underground Christian Churches. Many Embassies (Canadian, Italian, French, etc.) offer Protestant and Catholic services, however, the U.S. Embassy is the most unfriendly Embassy in all of China, and offers no such religious services and regularly denies entry and kicks out Americans and others, whether or not they have official business.

See Also...  Christian | Disciple

These two characters can be translated as ministry, priesthood, holy orders, or sacred profession in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.

This is how to write Bible in Japanese.

The first character means Holy, sacred, saint, or sage.
The second character means book (can also mean scroll or letter).

See Also...  Christian | Disciple

This is the title for the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost as used by Jewish, Catholic and Protestant (and other Christian) Chinese people. And yes, Chinese Jews do exist, but there are not many of them.

The first character means Holy, Sacred, Saint or Sage. The second means ghost, spirit, efficacious or intelligence.

This suggests "Legendary Phoenix rises from the ashes". Literally, it means, "Legendary Phoenix [reaches] Nirvana".

There is a legend in China of a great bird which is reborn once every 500 years. This bird gathers all the ill-will, suffering, desire, and other negative things of the whole world. The bird then plunges into the fire to burn away all negative things, sacrificing itself in the process (achieving Nirvana, or perhaps allowing others the opportunity to reach Nirvana).

500 years later, the phoenix is reborn from the ashes again, and the cycle repeats.

This is the full title of the "Flying Tigers Group". These were the American pilots that volunteered to go to China and fight the Japanese prior to the entry of the USA into World War Two. These fighter pilots were so esteemed in China, that fallen American pilots could always find refuge in villages, and safe passage and escape to areas of China that were not occupied by Japan at that time. Chinese villagers helped such fallen pilots with full knowledge that when the Japanese occupation forces found out, all the men, women, and children in the village would be massacred by Japanese troops (there are more than a few known cases of such massacres).

The Flying Tigers successfully kept supply lines to the Chinese resistance open, and divided Japanese forces at a crucial time while America prepared to officially join WWII.

A wall scroll like this honors the men who risked or gave their lives as noble volunteers, and is a reminder of the best moment in history of Sino-American relations.

These three characters literally mean "flying tiger(s) group/team/squad".

Note: Hanging these characters on your wall will not make you any friends with Japanese people who are aware or this history (most Japanese have no idea, as Japan's involvement in WWII has all but been erased from school textbooks in Japan).

The first Kanji alone means before, ahead, previous, future, precedence.

The second Kanji means heart, mind, soul, or essence.

Together, these two Kanji create a word that is defined as "purified spirit" or "enlightened attitude" within the context of Japanese martial arts.

This is one of the five spirits of the warrior (budo), and is often used as a Japanese martial arts tenet. Under that context, places such as the Budo Dojo define it this way: Senshin is a spirit that protects and harmonizes the universe. Senshin is a spirit of compassion that embraces and serves all humanity and whose function is to reconcile discord in the world. It holds all life to be sacred. It is the Buddha mind.

In 632 BC, Duke Wen of the Kingdom of Jin was about to lead an army against the forces of the Kingdom of Chu.
The Duke asked one of his advisers, Jiu Fan, how they could possibly win the impending battle, as they were drastically outnumbered.
Jiu Fan said, "All is fair in war", and went on to suggest a plan of dishonorable tactics (cheating).
The Duke was not sure of this advice, so he asked another adviser, Yong Ji, who replied, "If you catch fish by draining the pond, you can certainly get all the fish. But there will be no fish the following year. You can cheat this one time in battle, but such tactics can only be used once, as the enemy will be wise in future encounters".

The Duke heard the words of his wiser adviser, but cheated to gain victory in the battle. However, he rewarded Yong Ji more than Jiu Fan at the victory celebration, stating that while Jiu Fan's advice gained one victory, the wise words of Yong Ji would last forever.

This Chinese idiom/proverb is still used, over 2600 years later to remind people not to burn bridges, cheat, or dishonor oneself in exchange for a short term gain, while sacrificing the future.

This is very similar to the meaning of the English phrase, "Kill the goose that lays the golden eggs".

This can be translated as "to dedicate oneself to...", "self-devotion" or "dedication". Some would also translate this as "commit ones energy to", "devote to", or "self-sacrifice" (especially in Korean).

While the form shown to the left is considered an ancient Japanese version, in modern Japan, they use the simplified version of the first Kanji (shown to the right).
Click on this Kanji instead of the button above if you want this modern Japanese version.

If you are looking for a more religious meaning, see faith.

See Also...  Confidence | Dedication

Some may think of this as a "Christian trait" but actually it transcends many religions.

This Chinese teaching dates back to about 2,500 years ago in China. Confucius had always taught the belief in being benevolent (ren) but this idea was hard to grasp for some of his students, as benevolence could be kind-heartedness, or an essence of humanity itself.

When answering Zhong Gong's question as to what "ren" actually meant, Confucius said:

"When you go out, you should behave as if you were in the presence of a distinguished guest, when people do favors for you, act as if a great sacrifice was made for you. Whatever you wouldn't like done to you, do not do that thing to others. Don't complain at work or at home."

Hearing this, Zhong Gong said humbly, "Although I am not clever, I will do what you say."

From this encounter, the Chinese version of the Golden Rule came to be.
The characters you see above express, "Do not do to others whatever you do not want done to yourself."

See Also...  Confucius Teachings | Benevolence

This ancient Japanese idiom 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".

This is a specifically-Japanese phrase that embraces the long history of honorable suicide or self-sacrifice for honor in Japanese culture.

Discipline: There are a few different ways to define this word in English. This Asian word conveys the idea of extreme self-control and perhaps self-sacrifice, and obedience. This matches what I was taught as the meaning of "discipline" when I was in the Marine Corps. There is also an additional idea of maintaining order or being orderly in your tasks.

This idea would also fit an athlete training for the Olympics who gives up many pleasures to stay focused on their training.

See Also...  Self-Control | Will-Power

Characters shown
above are read
vertically, starting
from the right

This proverb suggests that one should always be grateful to those who helped you succeed.

And remember your ancestors and those that came before you whose sacrifices made your present life better.

Some Chinese will separate the intended meaning from the idiom and translate this as "Don't forget the people who once helped you". In Modern China, this idiom is virtually never used to refer to an actual well.

Note: This can be pronounced in Korean, but it's not a commonly-used phrase.