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危機 means crisis in Chinese and Japanese.
Separately, the first character here does mean “danger” or “to endanger,” and the second character can mean “opportunity.”
However, I want to debunk a myth that was propagated by some westerners who did not have a clear understanding of Asian languages...
While often, Chinese/Japanese/Korean compound words (words of two or more characters) are the sum of their parts, this is not always the case. The compound is often understood with a completely different meaning than the two characters individually.
Many have said that the Chinese/Japanese/Korean word for Crisis is made up of the characters for “danger” and “opportunity.” 危機 is true when phrased this way.
However, it's not absolutely correct to say that “danger + opportunity = crisis” in Asian cultures.
English example:
If I tell you that...
Bovine creature + Guy behind the plate in baseball = Locomotive train protection
...you would think I was mad. But consider that “cow + catcher = cowcatcher,” which is the device that used to be found on steam engines to protect them if they hit an animal on the tracks. When we hear the word “cowcatcher,” we don't separate the words into their individual meanings (necessarily).
The same is true with the word for crisis in Chinese/Japanese/Korean. While you can separate the characters, few Asian people would automatically do so in their minds.
The final answer:
It is a half-truth to say, “danger plus opportunity equals crisis” in Chinese/Japanese/Korean. Use this statement and concept with caution.
Also, the second character can mean “secret” or “machine,” depending on context so I guess you have to say “a dangerous machine = crisis” or “danger + a secret = crisis.” Both of these are only slightly more ridiculous than the first premise.
PS: 危機 is probably not a great word for a scroll unless you have a special use for it.
Below are some entries from our dictionary that may match your crisis search...
Characters If shown, 2nd row is Simp. Chinese |
Pronunciation Romanization |
Simple Dictionary Definition |
克服 see styles |
kè fú ke4 fu2 k`o fu ko fu kokufuku こくふく |
More info & calligraphy: Overcome(noun, transitive verb) conquest (of a difficulty, illness, crisis, etc.); overcoming; surmounting; bringing under control |
危機 危机 see styles |
wēi jī wei1 ji1 wei chi kiki きき |
More info & calligraphy: Crisis equals Danger plus Opportunity?crisis; critical situation; emergency; pinch; (female given name) Kiki |
緩急 缓急 see styles |
huǎn jí huan3 ji2 huan chi kankyuu / kankyu かんきゅう |
More info & calligraphy: Speed Control(1) high and low speed; fast and slow; pace; tempo; (2) lenience and severity; (3) emergency; crisis; dire situation |
風暴 风暴 see styles |
fēng bào feng1 bao4 feng pao |
More info & calligraphy: Storm |
峠 see styles |
xx xx5 xx touge / toge とうげ |
(Japanese kokuji) mountain pass; (fig.) crisis point; pr. tōge (n,n-suf) (1) (mountain) pass; highest point on a mountain road; ridge; (2) peak (e.g. of summer); worst (e.g. of an illness); crisis; critical point; most difficult part; (surname) Dougesaki |
急 see styles |
jí ji2 chi kyuu / kyu きゅう |
urgent; pressing; rapid; hurried; worried; to make (sb) anxious (adjectival noun) (1) sudden; abrupt; unexpected; (adjectival noun) (2) urgent; pressing; (adjectival noun) (3) steep; sharp; precipitous; (adjectival noun) (4) rapid; swift; fast; (5) emergency; crisis; danger; (6) urgency; hurrying; haste; (7) (See 序破急) (in gagaku or noh) end of a song Haste, urgency; promptly. |
縡 see styles |
zài zai4 tsai kon こん koto こと |
matter; affair (out-dated kanji) (1) (kana only) thing; matter; (2) (kana only) incident; occurrence; event; something serious; trouble; crisis; (3) (kana only) circumstances; situation; state of affairs; (4) (kana only) work; business; affair; (5) (kana only) after an inflectable word, creates a noun phrase indicating something the speaker does not feel close to; (suffix noun) (6) (kana only) nominalizing suffix; (7) (kana only) pretending to ...; playing make-believe ...; (n,n-suf) (8) (kana only) alias; aka; nickname; alternative name; also known as |
先途 see styles |
sendo せんど |
crisis in a battle; death; (place-name) Sendo |
分利 see styles |
bunri ぶんり |
(noun - becomes adjective with の) crisis (in an illness) |
初動 see styles |
shodou / shodo しょどう |
(1) initial response (e.g. to a crisis); action in the earliest stages; (2) initial shock (of an earthquake); preliminary tremor |
危局 see styles |
wēi jú wei1 ju2 wei chü kikyoku ききょく |
perilous situation crisis |
危急 see styles |
wēi jí wei1 ji2 wei chi kikyuu / kikyu ききゅう |
critical; desperate (situation) (1) emergency; crisis; imminent danger; (2) (obsolete) (See 絶滅危惧) Vulnerable (conservation status); VU |
危極 see styles |
kikyoku ききょく |
crisis; grave danger; serious depression |
国難 see styles |
kokunan こくなん |
national crisis; national disaster |
大事 see styles |
dà shì da4 shi4 ta shih daiji だいじ |
major event; major political event (war or change of regime); major social event (wedding or funeral); (do something) in a big way; CL:件[jian4],樁|桩[zhuang1] (adjectival noun) (1) important; serious; crucial; (adjectival noun) (2) valuable; precious; (3) (See 大事・おおごと) serious matter; major incident; matter of grave concern; crisis; (4) great undertaking; great enterprise; great thing; (adjectival noun) (5) (Tochigi dialect) (See だいじょうぶ・1) safe; OK (因緣) For the sake of a great cause, or because of a great matter―the Buddha appeared, i.e. for changing illusion into enlightenment. The Lotus interprets it as enlightenment; the Nirvana as the Buddha-nature; the 無量壽經 as the joy of Paradise. |
急難 急难 see styles |
jí nàn ji2 nan4 chi nan kyuunan / kyunan きゅうなん |
misfortune; crisis; grave danger; critical situation; disaster; emergency; to be zealous in helping others out of a predicament sudden or unexpected disaster |
緩解 缓解 see styles |
huǎn jiě huan3 jie3 huan chieh kankai かんかい |
to bring relief; to alleviate (a crisis); to dull (a pain) (noun/participle) (med) remission; cure; improvement; relief (of pain, symptoms, etc.) |
臨む see styles |
nozomu のぞむ |
(v5m,vi) (1) to look out on; to overlook; to front onto; (v5m,vi) (2) to face (a situation, crisis, etc.); to meet (e.g. death); to be confronted by; (v5m,vi) (3) to deal with (an issue); (v5m,vi) (4) to attend (e.g. a function); to appear (e.g. in court); to be present at; to go to (e.g. a place); to take part in; to participate; to join |
苦境 see styles |
kǔ jìng ku3 jing4 k`u ching ku ching kukyou / kukyo くきょう |
grievance; dire straits trouble; crisis; predicament; squeeze; pinch |
苦況 苦况 see styles |
kǔ kuàng ku3 kuang4 k`u k`uang ku kuang kukyou / kukyo くきょう |
wretched state; miserable plight trouble; crisis; predicament; squeeze; pinch |
逼迫 see styles |
bī pò bi1 po4 pi p`o pi po hippaku ひっぱく |
to force; to compel; to coerce (noun/participle) (1) stringency (financial); (monetary) tightness; (2) impending (dangers); pressing (crisis) pressure and constraint |
醞釀 酝酿 see styles |
yùn niàng yun4 niang4 yün niang |
(of alcohol) to ferment; (of a crisis) to be brewing; to mull over (an issue); to hold exploratory discussions |
難關 难关 see styles |
nán guān nan2 guan1 nan kuan |
difficulty; crisis |
風波 风波 see styles |
fēng bō feng1 bo1 feng po fuuha; kazanami / fuha; kazanami ふうは; かざなみ |
disturbance; crisis; disputes; restlessness; CL:場|场[chang2] (1) wind and waves; rough seas; storm; (2) discord; quarrel; trouble; (3) hardships (of life); adversity; (female given name) Fūha |
ひっ迫 see styles |
hippaku ひっぱく |
(noun/participle) (1) stringency (financial); (monetary) tightness; (2) impending (dangers); pressing (crisis) |
ヒンヂ see styles |
pinchi ピンチ |
(1) pinch; tough spot; bind; crisis; predicament; (2) clothespin; clothes peg; (personal name) Pinch |
分け目 see styles |
wakeme わけめ |
dividing line; parting (of the hair); partition; crisis |
危機感 see styles |
kikikan ききかん |
sense of impending crisis; sense of danger |
暴風圈 暴风圈 see styles |
bào fēng quān bao4 feng1 quan1 pao feng ch`üan pao feng chüan |
(meteorology) storm area (area exposed to winds of force 7 or higher during a typhoon); (fig.) area particularly badly affected by a crisis |
水危機 see styles |
mizukiki みずきき |
water crisis; water scarcity |
The following table may be helpful for those studying Chinese or Japanese...
Title | Characters | Romaji (Romanized Japanese) | Various forms of Romanized Chinese | |
Crisis equals Danger plus Opportunity? | 危機 危机 | kiki | wēi jī / wei1 ji1 / wei ji / weiji | wei chi / weichi |
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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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.
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.
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.
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 Crisis Kanji, Crisis Characters, Crisis in Mandarin Chinese, Crisis Characters, Crisis in Chinese Writing, Crisis in Japanese Writing, Crisis in Asian Writing, Crisis Ideograms, Chinese Crisis symbols, Crisis Hieroglyphics, Crisis Glyphs, Crisis in Chinese Letters, Crisis Hanzi, Crisis in Japanese Kanji, Crisis Pictograms, Crisis in the Chinese Written-Language, or Crisis in the Japanese Written-Language.
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