Be Ambitious 大志を抱く
taishi o idaku5 characters22 strokes
大志を抱く (taishi o idaku) means to hold a great dream or goal firmly in your heart and keep it there.
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Meaning 意味
What 大志を抱く means
A Japanese saying, read taishi o idaku.
LiterallyEmbrace a great ambition.
大志を抱く means to hold a big dream or goal firmly in your heart. 大志 is a great ambition, and 抱く means to embrace or hold.
The hiragana を marks 大志 as the thing being held, and く completes the verb 抱く.
Where it comes from. The phrase is famous in Japan from 少年よ、大志を抱け, the Japanese version of "Boys, be ambitious." William S. Clark said these parting words to his students in Sapporo in 1877.
When people write it in Japan. It is a fitting kakizome, the first calligraphy of the New Year, when you set a big goal for the years ahead.
Japanese students learn the last of these kanji in junior high school.
How to write it 書き方
Brush tips for 大志を抱く
Regular script (kaisho)
- In the hand radical on the left of 抱 (tehen), bring the 2nd stroke straight down and flick it to the upper left. Sweep the 3rd stroke up toward the upper right.
- On the right side of 抱, bring the 8th stroke straight down, then run it to the right and finish with a flick up.
- Write を and く one size smaller than the kanji. After the turn in く, extend it a little long toward the lower right.
Semi-cursive script (gyōsho)
- At the end of the sweep to the left in 大, the brush tip turns up slightly. This shows the move into the sweep to the right.
- Keep を and く modest in size next to the kanji. In particular, keep を narrower than 志 above it.
- In the 士 at the top of 志, write the upper horizontal long and the lower one short. If you swap them, it becomes 土, a different 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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