| 受罪 | shòu zuì | to endure / to suffer / hardships / torments / a hard time / a nuisance |   |
| 艰辛 | jiān xīn | hardships / arduous / difficult | |
| 不知 | bù zhī | not to know / unaware / unknowingly / fig. not to admit (defeat, hardships, tiredness etc) | |
| 风雨 | fēng yǔ | wind and rain / the elements / (fig.) trials and hardships | |
| 攀登 | pān dēng | to climb / to pull oneself up / to clamber / to scale / fig. to forge ahead in the face of hardships and danger | |
| 吃苦 | chī kǔ | to bear hardships | |
| 风尘 | fēng chén | windblown dust / hardships of travel / vicissitudes of life / prostitution | |
| 吃苦耐劳 | chī kǔ nài láo | hardworking and enduring hardships (idiom) | |
| 千辛万苦 | qiān xīn wàn kǔ | to suffer untold hardships (idiom) / trials and tribulations / with difficulty / after some effort | |
| 叫苦 | jiào kǔ | to whine about hardships / to complain of one's bitter lot / to complain / to grumble | |
| 风霜 | fēng shuāng | wind and frost / fig. hardships | |
| 艰险 | jiān xiǎn | difficult and dangerous / hardships and perils | |
| 同甘共苦 | tóng gān gòng kǔ | shared delights and common hardships (idiom) / to share life's joys and sorrows / for better or for worse | |
| 甘苦 | gān kǔ | good times and hardships / joys and tribulations / for better or for worse | |
| 翻山越岭 | fān shān yuè lǐng | lit. to pass over mountain ridges (idiom) / fig. hardships of the journey | |
| 饱经风霜 | bǎo jīng fēng shuāng | weather-beaten / having experienced the hardships of life | |
| 糟糠 | zāo kāng | chaff, husks, distillers' dregs etc (food eaten by the poor) / (fig.) rubbish / junk / (abbr. for 糟糠妻[zao1 kang1 qi1]) wife who goes through the hardships of poverty with her husband | |
| 凄风苦雨 | qī fēng kǔ yǔ | lit. bleak wind and icy rain (idiom) / fig. hardships / miserable circumstances | |
| 筚路蓝缕 | bì lù lán lu:3 | the hardships of beginning an undertaking (idiom) | |
| 披荆斩棘 | pī jīng zhǎn jí | lit. to cut one's way through thistles and thorns (idiom) / fig. to overcome all obstacles on the way / to break through hardships / to blaze a new trail | |
| 刻苦耐劳 | kè kǔ nài láo | to bear hardships and work hard (idiom) / assiduous and long-suffering / hard-working and capable of overcoming adversity | |
| 多难兴邦 | duō nàn xīng bāng | much hardships may awaken a nation (idiom) / calamity that prompts renewal | |
| 备尝辛苦 | bèi cháng xīn kǔ | to have suffered all kinds of hardships (idiom) | |
| 不辞辛苦 | bù cí xīn kǔ | to make nothing of hardships | |
| 活罪 | huó zuì | bitter sufferings / great hardships | |
| 满脸风尘 | mǎn liǎn fēng chén | lit. with a face full of dust / showing the hardships of travel (idiom) | |
| 忆苦饭 | yì kǔ fàn | unsavory meal taken in remembrance of past hardships / fig. poor-tasting meal | |
| 历尽沧桑 | lì jìn cāng sāng | to have been through the hardships of life / to have been through the mill | |
| 一把屎一把尿 | yī bǎ shǐ yī bǎ niào | to have endured all sorts of hardships (to raise one's children) (idiom) | |
| 熬出头 | áo chū tóu | to break clear of all the troubles and hardships / to achieve success / to make it | |
| 天龙人 | Tiān lóng rén | (Tw) (slang) privileged people oblivious to the hardships of others / Taipei residents or urban dwellers who consider themselves superior to others (orthographic borrowing from Japanese 天竜人 / "Tenryūjin", an arrogant, privileged group in the manga "One Piece") | |
| 糟糠妻 | zāo kāng qī | wife who goes through the hardships of poverty with her husband | |
| 备尝辛苦 | bèi cháng - xīn kǔ | (idiom) to have suffered all kinds of hardships | |
| 没苦硬吃 | méi kǔ - yìng chī | (neologism c. 2024) to stubbornly endure hardships that need not be endured / to go out of one's way to make things difficult for oneself | |
| 风霜雨雪 | fēng - shuāng - yǔ - xuě | lit. wind, frost, rain and snow (idiom) / fig. all kinds of trials and hardships | |
