Chinese Words for Luck, Strength and Courage

Chinese has several words for luck, and which one you reach for depends on the kind of luck. 運氣 (yùn qi) is luck as chance, good or bad. 福 (fú) is good fortune and blessing, the kind that lasts. 吉 (jí) is auspicious, used for dates, signs and wishes. For strength, 力量 (lì liang) is power, and 堅強 (jiān qiáng) is the inner kind that holds up under pressure. For courage, 勇氣 (yǒng qì).

The table below gives the core words, and the sections after it show how each one appears in real compounds and in Taiwan.

The core words at a glance

Idea	Chinese	Pinyin	Where you meet it
luck, chance	運氣	yùn qi	運氣很好 (yùn qi hěn hǎo), good luck
good luck	好運 / 幸運	hǎo yùn / xìng yùn	祝你好運, I wish you good luck
blessing, good fortune	福	fú	福氣, 祝福
auspicious	吉	jí	吉利, 吉祥, 大吉
strength, power	力量	lì liang	有力量, having strength
physical strength	力氣	lì qi	力氣很大 (lì qi hěn dà), very strong
courage	勇氣	yǒng qì	有勇氣, having courage
brave	勇敢	yǒng gǎn	她很勇敢
strong, resilient	堅強	jiān qiáng	要堅強, be strong
perseverance	毅力	yì lì	很有毅力

Luck

運氣 is neutral. It can be good (運氣好) or bad (運氣不好), and it is the word for the luck of the draw: 今天運氣不錯 (jīn tiān yùn qi bú cuò, I had some luck today). In the Ministry of Education dictionary, the word has a second reading, yùn qì with a full fourth tone, which means to channel your breath or energy into a body part. For luck, use the neutral-tone version, yùn qi.

For wishes, use 好運 (hǎo yùn, good luck) or 幸運 (xìng yùn, lucky, fortunate): 祝你好運 (zhù nǐ hǎo yùn, good luck to you). Bad luck has its own words: 倒楣 (dǎo méi, unlucky), 霉運 (méi yùn, a run of bad luck) and 厄運 (è yùn, a calamity, a hard fate). 命運 (mìng yùn) is fate, the sort of luck that is set for a whole life.

Many common wishes talk about safety and smoothness. Here 一 is written in its spoken tone; its dictionary tone is yī.

• 一路平安 (yí lù píng ān): a safe journey, for someone leaving. The dictionary notes it is used mostly as a blessing.
• 萬事如意 (wàn shì rú yì): may everything go as you wish.
• 一切順利 (yí qiè shùn lì): may everything go smoothly, popular before exams and trips.

For the numbers that carry luck, and the ones to avoid, see the guide to Chinese homophones and lucky numbers.

福: blessing, fortune and the upside-down character

福 is the character you see most at Lunar New Year. The Ministry of Education dictionary defines it as the general term for wealth, rank, long life and good fortune. Its everyday compounds:

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
福氣	fú qì	a blessing, being fortunate, the good things you are due
福分	fú fen	the share of good fortune you were given
幸福	xìng fú	happiness, wellbeing
祝福	zhù fú	to bless, to send good wishes
福利	fú lì	benefits, welfare (as in employee benefits)
惜福	xí fú	to value your good fortune

幸福 is the word for deep, settled happiness. The dictionary defines it as peace, good luck and everything going smoothly. 快樂 (kuài lè) is often the lighter, shorter-lived kind.

At New Year, red paper 春聯 (chūn lián, spring couplets) and a single 福 character go on doors. Some people hang the 福 upside down. The reason is a pun: 倒 (dào) means upside down, and 到 (dào) means to arrive. Upside-down 福, 福倒了 (fú dào le), sounds the same as 福到了 (fú dào le), “good fortune has arrived”.

吉: auspicious

吉 (jí) is the opposite of 凶 (xiōng, ominous). It is built into words for things that carry good omens:

• 吉利 (jí lì): lucky, auspicious, as in 這個數字很吉利 (zhè ge shù zì hěn jí lì, this number is lucky).
• 吉祥 (jí xiáng): auspicious, a good sign.
• 大吉 (dà jí): very auspicious. 大吉大利 (dà jí dà lì) is the four-character version.

Strength: 力, 力量 and 堅強

力 (lì) is the character for force. 力氣 (lì qi) and 力量 (lì liang) overlap, and the dictionary defines 力氣 simply as 力量. In speech, 力氣 tends to be physical: 他力氣很大 (tā lì qi hěn dà, he is very strong). 力量 can also describe the strength of a team or an idea, as in 團結的力量 (tuán jié de lì liang, the strength of unity). 努力 (nǔ lì) is to make an effort, and it uses the same character.

The words for resilience use other characters:

• 堅強 (jiān qiáng): firm and strong, hard to shake or break. It describes a person’s resilience, and 要堅強 is what people say to someone in a hard time.
• 堅持 (jiān chí): to persist, to insist. 堅持下去 (jiān chí xià qu, keep going).
• 堅定 (jiān dìng): firm, steadfast, usually about resolve.
• 毅力 (yì lì): willpower, endurance.

To cheer someone on, the everyday word is 加油 (jiā yóu), covered in the guide to beautiful Chinese words.

Courage: 勇

勇 (yǒng) means bold, strong, brave. 勇氣 (yǒng qì) is courage as a thing you have: 我沒有勇氣說 (wǒ méi yǒu yǒng qì shuō, I do not have the courage to say it). 勇敢 (yǒng gǎn) describes someone who dares: 你很勇敢 (nǐ hěn yǒng gǎn). And 勇往直前 (yǒng wǎng zhí qián) is a four-character expression for advancing boldly without fear, which you may know as a motto.

A caution before you pick one character for a tattoo

This is a learning page. If you are planning a tattoo, a few notes from the vocabulary above apply.

• A single character is often half a word. Many everyday Chinese words have two characters. 福 stands alone on doors at New Year. 運 on its own first means to move or transport. The Ministry of Education dictionary lists fate or fortune as a later sense, and in everyday speech the luck meaning almost always comes in compounds such as 好運 and 運氣. Check the pair before choosing the single.
• Script matters. 堅強 is Traditional, and the Simplified form is 坚强. Both exist, and a Taiwanese reader will notice the difference. Pick the script that matches the people who will read it.
• Ask a native speaker, and ask more than one. Show them the exact characters in the exact style, and ask what each reads as.

Related reading

• Chinese homophones and lucky numbers in Taiwan
• Chinese New Year greetings
• Beautiful Chinese words and what they mean
• Chengyu for intermediate learners