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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 mean “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.
Other translations include indefatigability, indomitableness, or unremitting tenacity.
The first two characters can be stand-alone words in Chinese.
In Japanese, this is considered two words (with very similar meanings). It's more common to see the word order flipped to 不撓不屈 in Japanese.
The same characters are used in old Korean Hanja. Just like in Japanese, the words are swapped to 不撓不屈 creating a word pronounced “불요불굴” in Korean.
See 不撓不屈
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.
Persistence to overcome all challenges
百折不撓 is a Chinese proverb that 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 from 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 strong will who puts up stubborn resistance against great odds.
My Chinese-English dictionary defines these 4 characters as “keep on fighting despite 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 | Strength | Perseverance | Persistence
堅韌不拔 is about perseverance, being steadfast and persistent.
堅韌不拔 is a great phrase for you if you commit to your goals and overcome obstacles, no matter how long it takes.
The translation of this proverb literally means “something so persistent or steadfast, that it is not uprootable, movable, or surpassable.”
Other translations include being firm and indomitable or tenacious and unyielding.
See Also: Tenacious | Devotion | Persistence | Indomitable
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Below are some entries from our dictionary that may match your Indomitable Unyielding search...
Characters If shown, 2nd row is Simp. Chinese |
Pronunciation Romanization |
Simple Dictionary Definition |
不屈不撓 不屈不挠 see styles |
bù qū bù náo bu4 qu1 bu4 nao2 pu ch`ü pu nao pu chü pu nao fukutsufutou / fukutsufuto ふくつふとう |
More info & calligraphy: Indomitable / Unyielding(yoji) indefatigability; indomitableness; with unremitting tenacity |
堅韌不拔 坚韧不拔 see styles |
jiān rèn bù bá jian1 ren4 bu4 ba2 chien jen pu pa |
More info & calligraphy: Perseverance |
負けじ魂 see styles |
makejidamashii / makejidamashi まけじだましい |
More info & calligraphy: Indomitable Spirit |
The following table may be helpful for those studying Chinese or Japanese...
Title | Characters | Romaji (Romanized Japanese) | Various forms of Romanized Chinese | |
Indomitable Unyielding | 不屈不撓 不屈不挠 | fu kutsu fu tou fukutsufutou fu kutsu fu to | bù qū bù náo bu4 qu1 bu4 nao2 bu qu bu nao buqubunao | pu ch`ü pu nao puchüpunao pu chü pu nao |
Indomitable Persistence Fortitude | 不屈 | fukutsu | bù qū / bu4 qu1 / bu qu / buqu | pu ch`ü / puchü / pu chü |
Indomitable Spirit | 負けじ魂 | ma ke ji damashii makejidamashii ma ke ji damashi | ||
Undaunted After Repeated Setbacks | 百折不撓 百折不挠 | hyaku setsu su tou hyakusetsusutou hyaku setsu su to | bǎi zhé bù náo bai3 zhe2 bu4 nao2 bai zhe bu nao baizhebunao | pai che pu nao paichepunao |
Perseverance | 堅韌不拔 坚韧不拔 | jiān rèn bù bá jian1 ren4 bu4 ba2 jian ren bu ba jianrenbuba | chien jen pu pa chienjenpupa |
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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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