Calm Before the Storm in Chinese / Japanese...

补漏趁天晴未渴先掘井 is a Chinese proverb that literally translates as: Mend the roof while the weather is fine, [and when you are] not yet thirsty, dig the well beforehand.

In simple terms, this means: Always being prepared in advance.

See Also:  Have a Walking Stick at the Ready Before You Stumble

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.”

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.

失意泰然 is a very old Japanese proverb that suggests “keeping calm and collected at times of disappointment,” or “maintaining a serene state of mind when faced with adversity.”

It's hard to relate individual character meanings to the overall meaning unless you also understand Japanese grammar. The word order is very different than English. That being said, here's the character meaning breakdown:
失 To miss, lose or fail.
意 Feelings, thoughts, meaning.
泰 Safe, peaceful.
然 Like that, in that way, however, although.

Using these definitions in English, we might say, “Although you may fail or lose, have a feeling of peace and calm.”

These two characters mean calm and collected or simply not nervous.

鎮靜 represents the idea of being calm, cool, or relaxed in Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja.

My Korean dictionary further defines this as quiet, calm, tranquility, and pacification.
From my Japanese dictionary: calm, quiet, tranquility, appeasement, pacification.

Note: This term is also used in Korean Hanja but there is a slight deviation in the way they write the second character in Korean. Still, a Korean person who can read Hanja, will be able to read this word. We can write it in the Korean form if you wish (just let us know when you place your order). In Korean, this is the word you might use to tell someone to "calm down" or "take it easy."

冷靜 means calm and cool-headed in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.

Other translations: calmness, composure, coolness, serenity, tranquility.

冷靜 is a good wall scroll for someone that wants to remind themselves to stay calm and level-headed.

See Also:  Sober Calm

安 is used in a lot of compound words in the CJK world.

Alone, this character has a broad span of possible meanings. These meanings include relaxed, quiet, rested, contented, calm, still, to pacify, peaceful, at peace, soothing, or soothed.

安 and even the pronunciation was borrowed from Chinese and absorbed into both Japanese Kanji and Korean Hanja. In all these languages, this character is pronounced like “an.”

虛心 is a Buddhist term that speaks of being open-minded and/or having a calm and humble mind or heart.

黎明前的黑暗 is the most natural way to write “The night is darkest before the dawn,” in Chinese.

The words break down this way by meaning this way:
1.黎明 dawn or daybreak
2.前 before, in front, ago, former, previous, and/or earlier
3.的 (possessive particle) of
4.黑暗 dark, darkly, or darkness

If you try to understand the Chinese word order and grammar, it's like, “Before dawn is the darkest [time].”

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).

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.

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.

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.

寧死不降 is an ancient Chinese proverb that can be translated as “Rather die than surrender,” “Prefer death over surrender,” “To prefer death to surrender,” or simply “No surrender.”

This is probably the closest proverb to the English proverb “Better to die on your feet than to live on your knees.”

This literally means an arrogant army is bound to lose.

The meaning is similar to “pride goes before a fall.”

Others may translate this as “defeat is inevitable for an overconfident army,” “being arrogant and overconfident inevitably leads to defeat,” or “pride comes before a fall.”

少安毋躁 is a short Chinese phrase that means keep calm, don't get excited, and don't be impatient or hot-tempered.

見色忘義 is a modern Chinese idiom that means to put love before loyalty or to forget loyalty when in love.

This would be roughly equivalent to the English, “Hoes before bros.”

虛心坦懐 is a Japanese proverb that means “with an open and calm mind,” “with no preconceived notions,” or “without reservations.”

In some contexts, it can mean frank or candid.

If you want to remind yourself to approach each situation with no preconceptions, this is a good title for you. This can also refer to the ideas of being candid, frank, and straightforward.

安心 can be defined as relief, peace of mind, feeling at ease, to be relieved, to set one's mind at rest, and easiness.

安心 is a nice word that encompasses great meanings within just two characters. Some of the other meanings include pacifying, settling the mind, and peace of mind. It's also the idea of feeling a sense of security, safety, and confidence in your state of well-being.

This can be used by everyone, but some consider it to be a Buddhist concept (You'll find it in your Zen dictionary).

Note: Can be romanized as Anshin or Anjin in Japanese.

This is a nice word that means peaceful, tranquil, calm, composed, “free from worry,” “public peace,” tranquility, good health, well-being, or welfare in Chinese and Korean.

Note: The definition in Japanese is not so broad but still means peaceful or “public peace.”

安禪 creates a title that means to reach peace and calm through meditation.

安禪 is an excellent wall scroll for your relaxation or meditation room.

This is also a Buddhist-related term that encompasses the idea of entering into dhyana meditation.

This is also used in Japanese, but in modern times, the second character has changed, so it's 安禅 now. If you want the modern Japanese version, just choose a Japanese calligrapher, and let me know when you place your order.

安定 is a word that means: quiet; settled; maintain; calm and orderly; stability; equilibrium.

寂靜 is the Chinese and old Japanese word for calmness, stillness, and tranquility.

In the Buddhist context, this can refer to the calmness of the heart, enlightenment, or the state of being calm and quiet - free from temptation and distress. This can be thought of as being in a state of earthly nirvāṇa.

Note: The second character is written just slightly differently in modern Japanese (静 instead of 靜). Expect a slight variation if you order this from the Japanese master calligrapher. The version shown here is considered the ancient Japanese and original Chinese form.

風暴 is the Chinese word for storm.

If the meaning of storm is somehow important or significant to you, these are the characters you want.

The first character means wind, and the second means violent or sudden.

Note: This would be understood in Korean Hanja, however, Koreans would generally use these characters in reverse order.

See Also:  Rain | Wave

暴風 is the Japanese Kanji and old Korean Hanja word for storm (can also mean gale, tempest, typhoon, hurricane, gale, violent wind, or windstorm - especially in Korean and Chinese).

If the meaning of storm is somehow significant to you, these are the Kanji you want.

The first Kanji means violent or sudden. The second Kanji means wind.

This also means storm in Chinese but more in regards to a wind storm than a general storm. It's about the same for this word in Korean.

See Also:  Rain | Wave | Wind

暴風雨 is a Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja word meaning rainstorm, storm, or tempest.

転ばぬ先の杖 is a Japanese proverb that literally translates as: Have a walking stick ready before stumbling.

This is similar to the English idiom, “A stitch in time saves nine.”

In simple terms, this means: Always being prepared in advance.

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

See Also:  Fix Roof Before the Rain; Dig the Well Before You Are Thirsty