By Jade PearceEpoch Times Staff

Have you ever been faced with a daunt-ing obstacle, but forged ahead with

courage and determination? If so, you would have exempli-fied this week’s idiom勇往直前, which translates as “marching forward courageously”.

This Chinese idiom origi-nated from the 16th-century Chinese novel, The Investiture of the Gods (Fengshen Yanyi). Set during the decline of the Shang Dynasty and the rise of the Zhou Dynasty, it is a myth-ological story that intertwines gods and human heroes.

In Chapter 73, the prince Yellow Flying Tiger had led a 10,000-strong Zhou army to surround and capture the Green Dragon Pass, which was guarded by the general Qiu Yin and no more than ten of his lieutenants.

Amidst the Zhou army’s fearsome battle cries, Qiu Yin called together a meeting with his lieutenants and said, “The Zhou army have trespassed our boundaries illegally, and shown insolence. Until reinforcements arrive, each of you must now give your all to serve your country.”

His generals replied, “We will fight till our last breath,” and grinding their fists, they marched forward courageously.

This idiom describes march-ing forward to meet adversity without hesitation or doubt, in spite of how badly the odds

are stacked against oneself. It is about exhibiting the greatest courage under the direst circum-stances, and not stopping until one’s objective is reached.

PerseveranceLife is like a journey across a

vast ocean. As we sail ahead, we will, at times, encounter favour-able winds or terrible storms. As captain of our vessel, we must be willing to rise to the challenge, and must never give up.

In life, there will always be

sweet and bitter moments, joy and sadness, laughter and tears, as well as successes and failures. And naturally, there will always be obstacles and difficulties.

Before he became one of the most well-known and respected US presidents in history, the great Abraham Lincoln had to deal with multiple failures throughout his life. He ran for and lost eight elections, twice failed in business, and once even suffered a nervous breakdown.

But he did not give up, and instead used each failure as a stepping stone forward, finally becoming one of the greatest US presidents in history. His life story tells us that we should never retreat, but always move forward with determination.

Famous scientist Marie Curie

once said: “Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in our-selves. We must believe that we are gifted for something, and that this thing, at whatever cost, must be attained.”

And she is right—it was through perseverance that Mad-ame Curie discovered the ele-ment radium, and pioneered the application of radioactivity to medicine.

It was through perseverance that Thomas Edison conducted over a thousand experiments, and invented the light bulb.

It was through persever-ance that the ancient Chinese historian Sima Qian endured imprisonment, castration, and humiliation to complete his

monumental work, the Records of the Grand Historian (Shiji)—one of the oldest and most influ-ential historical works in human history.

We will all encounter difficul-ties in life, but, we should also take to heart the truth in this anonymous quote: “Attitude is the difference between an ordeal and an adventure.”

When a difficulty is viewed as a burden, it becomes even harder to move forward. But when viewed as a positive stepping stone or a challenge, it opens up a path for self-improvement.

A positive attitude, persever-ance, and going forward with courage and without hesita-tion—these are the elements that will enable one to live a success-ful and meaningful life.

By Candy ChanEpoch Times Staff

The character 勇 (yǒng) refers to the concepts of bravery, courage, and valour.It is composed of two parts: the character 甬 (yǒng) on top, from which 勇 (yǒng) receives its pronunciation, and the rad-ical and character 力 (lì) on the bottom, which provides the

meaning.力 (lì) means strength and also indicates power, influence, and capability. The character depicts a person reaching down and using the strength of the arm to pick up an object, with the 丿 stroke representing the arm and the hooked stroke around it representing the hand.Two common character combi-nations using 勇 are 勇气 (yǒng qì), referring to having a brave

spirit and being courageous; and 勇敢 (yǒng gǎn), meaning to be daring, bold, brave, and valiant.The phrase 有勇无谋 (yǒu yǒng wú móu) refers to someone who is brave but does not plan beforehand (i.e. someone who is foolhardy or reckless), while 智勇双全 (zhì yǒng shuāng quán) is used to describe some-one who is both wise and cou-rageous.

chinese characters

Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something, and that this thing, at whatever cost, must be attained.

Marie Curie (1867-1943)

Courage (yǒng) 勇

chinese idioms

勇往直前Marching Forward Courageously

values & virtuesEpoch TimEs july 25 – augusT 7, 2014 37

Firefighters forging ahead bravely to save the lives and property of civilians.

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