牽羊悔亡
ken.you.kai.bou

Literally: pull / lead – sheep – regret – perish

Alternately: You’ll be unhappy unless you take an active part in shaping things. If you see something through properly instead of just letting it run its natural course, you will have no regrets. A flock of sheep left to their own devices will wander, lock horns, and otherwise run into trouble, so human guidance is necessary – and so it is in other facets of life as well.

Notes: This comes to us from the I Ching (易経, Japanese Ekikyou). Interestingly, the compound can be read, kanbun-style, as 羊を牽けば悔い亡びん (Hitsuji wo hikeba kui horobin).

Keep in mind that 悔亡 doesn’t mean “suffer and die”; it means “suffering will disappear.”

What looks like an ema (prayer plaque) at a shrine.