# You are the maker of your own destiny



## Hakkar

Hello everyone.

I am looking for the translation of this sentence in Chinese. I particularly like the 命 character.

Are there some chengyus that could translate this sentence suitably? I think that the concept of "destiny" in Chinese is often linked to something which is bound to happen eventually, something predestined, so I'm not completely sure if a chengyu like this exists. But I'm not 100% certain of it.

Thank you in advance for your help.


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## Lamb67

http://wap.5156edu.com/xh/html4/12909.html

"Zhi ming bu you" for one.

"destiny is something for which we must strive; fate is what happens if you don't."
A quote found here i.e. English Only😁


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## Hakkar

Lamb67 said:


> http://wap.5156edu.com/xh/html4/12909.html
> 
> "Zhi ming bu you" for one.


Doesn't that translate to something like" Be not afraid of your fate"?


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## skating-in-bc

命運自造


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## SuperXW

Hakkar said:


> I think that the concept of "destiny" in Chinese is often linked to something which is bound to happen eventually, something predestined, so I'm not completely sure if a chengyu like this exists.


Exactly. That's why it is hard to find any classic 4-character chengyu for "you are the maker of your own destiny".
There are some expressions and idioms such as 不信命 "don't believe in fate", 逆天改命 "disobey the heaven and change the fate" but they sound too rebellious which does not convey the positive sense of yours.
Skating's 4-character word is self-created, technically not a chengyu, but still a good and concise one that can deliver the sense.

Besides, you can also consider longer sentences in modern Chinese which are often used as mottos.
1. 行动决定命运
literally: "Action decides fate." (You can change "action" into 态度 "attitude", 思想 "thoughts", 选择 "choice"... if you believe so.)
2. 命运掌握在自己手中
Literally: (One's) fate is mastered in one's own hands.
3. 做自己命运的主人/主宰者
Literally: Be the master of your own fate.


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## Hakkar

SuperXW said:


> Exactly. That's why it is hard to find any classic 4-character chengyu for "you are the maker of your own destiny".
> There are some expressions and idioms such as 不信命 "don't believe in fate", 逆天改命 "disobey the heaven and change the fate" but they sound too rebellious which does not convey the positive sense of yours.
> Skating's 4-character word is self-created, technically not a chengyu, but still a good one that can deliver the sense.
> 
> Besides, you can also consider longer sentences in modern Chinese which are often used as mottos.
> 1. 行动决定命运
> literally: "Action decides fate." (You can change "action" into 态度 "attitude", 思想 "thoughts", 选择 "choice"... if you believe so.)
> 2. 命运掌握在自己手中
> Literally: (One's) fate is mastered in one's own hands.
> 3. 做自己命运的主宰者
> Literally: Be the master of your own fate.


Thank you. I would like to ask another question. My Chinese is good but not good enough to predict people's general views or opinions about a cultural matter. Therefore I would like to ask, what would people think of a sentence like the ones you posted? This is linked to my previous thread, i.e. it's a sentence to post on a skype status. It goes per se that people's opinions are mostly all different, but since this is a matter of cultural views, what is the general opinion about "self-made men" in China/Taiwan? This is mostly about work and success.


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## SuperXW

Hakkar said:


> Thank you. I would like to ask another question. My Chinese is good but not good enough to predict people's general views or opinions about a cultural matter. Therefore I would like to ask, what would people think of a sentence like the ones you posted? This is linked to my previous thread, i.e. it's a sentence to post on a skype status. It goes per se that people's opinions are mostly all different, but since this is a matter of cultural views, what is the general opinion about "self-made men" in China/Taiwan? This is mostly about work and success.


By using any of the above suggestion (except for 知命不忧), you'll be seen as a confident, independent and diligent person, the same to the English motto, I believe.
They are perfectly fine to be used as Skype status.
Unless your work-culture emphasizes teamwork a lot, or you are in a romantic relationship, these mottos may sound a bit too independent. 😹 Sound like your fate is unfair and pressing you so you have to fight it all alone...


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## skating-in-bc

命由天定, *運由自造*。


SuperXW said:


> Skating's 4-character word is self-created


"命運自造" ==> 10,100 google results.  I made sure it had already been in use before I posted the suggestion.
英漢詞典: 古代宣稱命運前定、讓人安於現狀，近代堅信命運自造、鼓勵奮爭和進取。
腦筋網: 佛講因果, 有因必有果, 命運自造, 業果自招。
台灣教會公報新聞網: 台灣有3種命運觀, 即是傳統的「命運天定論」、佛教徒的「命運自造論」及基督徒的「命運自決論」。


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## hx1997

我命由我不由天…？


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## SuperXW

skating-in-bc said:


> 命由天定, *運由自造*。
> 
> "命運自造" ==> 10,100 google results.  I made sure it had already been in use before I posted the suggestion.
> 英漢詞典: 古代宣稱命運前定、讓人安於現狀，近代堅信命運自造、鼓勵奮爭和進取。
> 腦筋網: 佛講因果, 有因必有果, 命運自造, 業果自招。
> 台灣教會公報新聞網: 台灣有3種命運觀, 即是傳統的「命運天定論」、佛教徒的「命運自造論」及基督徒的「命運自決論」。


恕我肤浅了。我之前没有听过这个词，可以确定的是这个词不在《成语词典》里。
也许区域用语习惯有差别，百度只找到39个结果，且多有重合。
根据结果，以及您的示例，似乎多与佛教有关。


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## SuperXW

hx1997 said:


> 我命由我不由天…？


你是董天宝还是哪吒？ 😹


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## skating-in-bc

Hakkar said:


> I would like to ask *another question*...what is the general opinion about "*self-made men*" in China/Taiwan?


The notion of "self-made" is similar to what we call 白手起家 in Chinese, for instance, "_self-made entrepreneurs_" (白手起家的創業者), who are hailed as the driving forces of economic development and admired for their self-reliance and hard work.


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## KLAUSED

SuperXW said:


> 恕我肤浅了。我之前没有听过这个词，可以确定的是这个词不在《成语词典》里。
> 也许区域用语习惯有差别，百度只找到39个结果，且多有重合。
> 根据结果，以及您的示例，似乎多与佛教有关。
> View attachment 78655


It's probably a fairly recent "invention" in Taiwan, too. You only get three hits on google when you set the time frame to before Dec. 31, 2015.






skating-in-bc said:


> "命運自造" ==> 10,100 google results.  I made sure it had already been in use before I posted the suggestion.


This number is not accurate. I get the same number when I search for "命運自造" but the actual results only span 12 pages (10 results per page), and on the last page it says "共約 118 項結果".


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## skating-in-bc

明.袁了凡 《了凡四訓》*命由我作*, 福自己求。
作 = make


KLAUSED said:


> This number is not accurate. I get the same number when I search for "命運自造" but the actual results only span 12 pages (10 results per page), and on the last page it says "共約 118 項結果".


No matter how many google hits it actually has, I am not the one who coined the phrase "命運自造" as SuperXW baselessly claimed.


KLAUSED said:


> It's probably a fairly recent "invention" in Taiwan


What matters to me more is that it has been in use on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.  For example:
Taiwan:
黎小娟 1996 國防醫學院碩士論文《母血篩檢唐氏症陽性反應的孕婦面對羊膜穿刺之決策經驗》六、傳統命運觀：命運天定論、命運自造論。

董芳苑 2005 臺灣醫學人文學刊《台灣社會諸宗教的醫療倫理》台灣社會始終流傳著命運天定與命運自造這兩種宿命論。

Mainland:
班玛智美 (四川藏族) 2000《怙主至尊班玛塔确丹比坚赞仁波切及其持明法嗣父祖简传.序言》先要了解伟大的佛陀所讲的因果规律, 命运自造之真实不虚。

高月明 2010 河南人民出版社《科学禅定.第十章.第二节》佛学并不是“宿命论”，而是“命运自造论”。

余东海 (原籍浙江丽水, 现居广西南宁) 2014《吉人天相论》五、命运自造: 人世间很多苦难是自造的, 很多灾祸是自招的, 很多噩运是自找的, 很多灭亡是自取的。


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## KLAUSED

skating-in-bc said:


> What matters to me more is that it has been in use on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.


Sure. Just not sure if it is (has been) used as widely as "10,100 google results" suggest.


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## skating-in-bc

KLAUSED said:


> Sure. Just not sure if it is (has been) used as widely as "10,100 google results" suggest.


"10,100 google results" obviously include duplicate records, which I didn't care because my post was to prove its preexistence, not its popularity. A common idiom such as 白手起家 easily gets about 9,760,000 google results. Having used to seeing the numbers of search results on google, I didn't think that 10,100 hits would automatically suggest "命運自造" is a widely used phrase.

For instance, "命運天定", which is not a common phrase, still gets about 33,600 google results (or only 92 results after omitting similar entries).  The more common expression "命由天定" gets about 540,000 results.


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## KLAUSED

skating-in-bc said:


> "10,100 google results" obviously include duplicate records, which I didn't care because my post was to prove its preexistence, not its popularity.


"10,100 google results" certainly give people the impression "命運自造" is more commonly used than it actually is, resulting in replies like #10.

It'd be nice if there was a Chinese corpus that included phrases like "命運自造", "命由己造", "命運天定", "命由天定". None of the corpora I found (Google Ngram, 現代漢語語料庫詞頻統計, 现代汉语语料库检索) seems to cover any of these phrases.


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## skating-in-bc

KLAUSED said:


> ...phrases like "命運自造", "命由己造", "命運天定", "命由天定". None of the corpora I found seems to cover any of these phrases.


They are idiomatic nonetheless. They are so natural that we would automatically assume they are created by native speakers of Chinese even if we have never encountered them before.

I think 命運自造 is a good translation of "_you are the maker of your own destiny_" because:
(1) the English saying can also imply 業果自受 (that is, "_you take responsibility for your thoughts and actions and their outcomes_"), which is a concept frequently discussed in the Buddhist texts. 命運自造, likewise, often appears in a Buddhist context. From the perspective of Buddhism, 命運 and 業果 are strongly associated.
(2) 命 alone (as in "命由天定") usually refers to Confucian notion of 天命, which is a predestined "divine fate" beyond a person's control. With the inclusion of 運, 命運 (as in "命運自造") may cover the "destiny" predetermined by a person's decisions and actions.


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## KLAUSED

skating-in-bc said:


> They are so natural that we would automatically assume they are created by native speakers of Chinese even if we have never encountered them before.


Exactly why SuperXW assumed 命運自造 was your own creation.


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## 陈堉翾

希望是本无所谓有，无所谓无的。这正如地上的路；*其实地上本没有路，走的人多了，也便成了路。*——鲁迅《故乡》


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