patience; endurance; perseverance
bitter (e.g. criticism); sharp; biting; severe; scathing; harsh
8th in rank; eighth sign of the Chinese calendar
depressing; dark (e.g. story); grim (e.g. expression); irritating; annoying; tedious (work, person, etc.)
hot taste; sharp taste; pungent taste; salty taste
trial and tribulation; hardships; privations; difficulties
mentality; mood; sentiment; fretfulness; tedium; irritation
to undergo many hardships; to taste the bitters of life
Xinhai Revolution (of China; 1911)
toil and moil; working assiduously for; tireless hard work; painstaking labor (labour)
Metal Boar (48th term of the sexagenary cycle, e.g. 1911, 1971, 2031)
Metal Sheep (8th term of the sexagenary cycle, e.g. 1931, 1991, 2051)
trials and tribulations; adversities; suffering hardships and troubles
Metal Snake (18th term of the sexagenary cycle, e.g. 1941, 2001, 2061)
five pungent roots (in Buddhism or Taoism)
Metal Rabbit (28th term of the sexagenary cycle, e.g. 1951, 2011, 2071)
Metal Rooster (58th term of the sexagenary cycle, e.g. 1921, 1981, 2041)
Metal Ox (38th term of the sexagenary cycle, e.g. 1961, 2021, 2081)
hardships and joys; tasting the sweets and bitters of life; being well-versed in the ways of the world (having seen much of life)
Siebold's wild ginger (esp. its dried root or rhizome, used as an antitussive and analgesic in traditional Chinese medicine)
pungent vegetable (e.g. garlic, onion)
Siebold's wild ginger (Asarum sieboldii)
Viola vaginata (violet species)