Custom Fortitude Chinese & Japanese Calligraphy Wall Scroll

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.

Note that when writing this as Kanji, Japanese will tend to write the second Kanji in the form shown to the right. If you select our Japanese master calligrapher, please expect this Kanji form (yes, it's just one stroke that is slightly different in location, crossing another stroke in the Japanese Kanji form).

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.

See Also...  Perseverance | Strength | Tenacity

This is the short form of a longer Chinese word, and also a word used in 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".

See Also...  Tenacity | Strength | Undaunted

This is a long word by Chinese standards. At least it is often translated as a single word into English. This simply means "Indomitable" or "Unyielding".

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".

Note: 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 | Strength | Undaunted

Patience is quiet hope and trust that things will turn out right. You wait without complaining. You are tolerant and accepting of difficulties and mistakes. You picture the end in the beginning and persevere to meet your goals.

These characters can also mean "to endure", "restrain oneself" and in some context it can mean "perseverance" or "endurance".

Note that when writing this as Kanji, Japanese will tend to write the first character in the form shown to the right. If you select our Japanese master calligrapher, please expect this Kanji form (yes, it's just one stroke that is slightly different in location, crossing another stroke in the Japanese Kanji form).

See Also...  Peace | Inner Peace | Harmony | Perseverance

This character contains the ideas of patience, perseverance and endurance. Alone, this single character can be a bit ambiguous or flexible. It can also mean to endure, to bear, to put up with or to conceal. If you want to simply decide what this character means to you within the general meaning, but keep it a mystery to others, this is a good choice.

If you want to be more direct, you may want to choose one of our other selections that mean perseverance or patience (you will see this character within those larger words/phrases).

There is a secondary meaning in Japanese, since this is the first character of the word ninja.

Note that when writing this as Kanji, Japanese will tend to write it in the form shown to the right. If you select our Japanese master calligrapher, please expect this Kanji form (yes, it's just one stroke that is slightly different in location, crossing another stroke in the Japanese Kanji form).

See Also...  Perseverance | Patience | Tenacious

Perseverance is being steadfast and persistent. You commit to your goals and overcome obstacles, no matter how long it takes. When you persevere, you don't give up...you keep going. Like a strong ship in a storm, you don't become battered or blown off course. You just ride the waves.



This translation literally means, "something so persistent or steadfast, that it is not uprootable / movable / surpassable".

See Also...  Tenacious | Devotion | Persistence | Indomitable

This 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 | Strength | Undaunted

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

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

This is the Japanese version of the 4-character perseverance. The same definition applies, and this would be understood in Chinese, but not a common expression.

Note that when writing this as Kanji, Japanese will tend to write the second Kanji in the form shown to the right. If you select our Japanese master calligrapher, please expect this Kanji form (yes, it's just one stroke that is slightly different in location, crossing another stroke in the Japanese Kanji form).

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 is a simpler version that just holds the meaning of "fortitude", "steadfast" and "persistent".

This is the Japanese version of the 2-character perseverance. The same definition applies. This makes sense in Chinese, but it has a meaning more like fortitude in Chinese.

Note that when writing this as Kanji, Japanese will tend to write the second Kanji in the form shown to the right. If you select our Japanese master calligrapher, please expect this Kanji form (yes, it's just one stroke that is slightly different in location, crossing another stroke in the Japanese Kanji form).

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.

Can also mean "opinionated" or "stubborn", in Chinese and Japanese, but in the nicest way possible (still bad). This just means "stubborn" in Korean (not a good scroll if your audience is Korean, in fact, we don't recommend this word at all). There are better ways to express this idea, such as tenacious or perseverance... ...see links below...

See Also...  Tenacious | Perseverance

This phrase means "Be undaunted in the face of repeated setbacks".

It 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 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 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 phrase 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 in spite of all setbacks", "be undaunted by repeated setbacks" and "be indomitable".

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.

See Also...  Tenacity | Strength | Undaunted | Honor

Means "physical strength", "physical power", or "physical stamina".