Wind, Forest, Fire, Mountain 風林火山
fūrin kazan4 characters24 strokes
風林火山 (fūrin kazan) means be swift as the wind, quiet as a forest, fierce as fire and steady as a mountain, words made famous by a samurai warlord's banner.
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Meaning 意味
What 風林火山 means
A Japanese four-character idiom, yojijukugo, read fūrin kazan.
LiterallyWind, forest, fire, mountain.
風林火山 means to be fast like the wind, quiet like a forest, fierce like fire and steady like a mountain. It is well known in Japan as the banner motto of Takeda Shingen.
Where it comes from. The words come from The Art of War by Sun Tzu. The 16th-century warlord Takeda Shingen made them famous by putting them on his battle banner.
“Our coach's motto is fūrin kazan: move fast, stay calm, attack hard and hold your ground.”
When people write it in Japan. People in Japan write it for kakizome, the first calligraphy of the New Year, or to fire themselves up before a sports match or a performance.
Japanese children know every kanji here by 2nd grade.
How to write it 書き方
Brush tips for 風林火山
Three things to watch
- In 風, let the outer frame widen a little toward the bottom. Flick the 2nd stroke up at the end so the character stands firm.
- In 林, make the left 木 slimmer and end its last stroke as a dot. On the right 木, let the sweep down to the right stretch out freely.
- In 山, the 2nd stroke comes down the left side, then turns right. This forms a flat base for the character.
Stroke order
Follow the vermilion stroke, frame by frame.
Stroke order data: KanjiVG by Ulrich Apel, CC BY-SA 3.0.
How to practice 練習
Trace first, then copy
- PrintPrint both pages at actual size, on US Letter or A4. Page 1 is the model. Page 2 is the tracing sheet.
- TraceTrace the outlines with a brush pen. Or lay thin hanshi paper over the page and trace with brush and ink.
- CopySet the model beside your paper and copy it stroke by stroke. Look at the model more than at your own paper.
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