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1. Highest Quality / Top Notch
2. When the sun rises it first shines on the highest mountain
4. Hella
5. Paramartha
7. Integrity
9. Islam
上等 is the Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja for the highest quality, top-notch, superiority, first-class, or very good.
This old Buddhist phrase means, “When the sun rises it always shines first on the highest mountain,” or “When the sun appears, it first casts its light upon the highest mountain.”
This comes from the Avatamsaka Sutra and has been used as the name or portion of the name for temples in Japan and sites in China.
The Buddha's first round of teaching (Avatamsaka period) is likened to the time when the sun rises from the east horizon. When the sun first rises it illuminates the high mountains. In this analogy, the high mountains represent the great Bodhisattvas and/or those most ready to receive enlightenment and liberation.
This can be romanized from Japanese as “Nichi shutsu sen shō kō san,” “Nisshutsu saki teru takayama,” or “Hide temazu kōzan wo terasu yama.” The last one is probably the most common. Ask three Japanese people what they think the pronunciation is, and you will get three different opinions.
Supreme / Highest
最高 means the highest level, supreme, top, the most, or the best.
Depending on the context, it can mean the most expensive or highest quality.
We struggled to find a word that encompasses the English, “hella” with a meaning like, “really,” “a lot,” “totally,” and/or “very.”
In Chinese, Japanese, and old Korean, 太 is a character that is often said as an adjective in front of other words, to make “good” into “too good,” or “extremely good.”
The meaning of this character from the dictionary is highest, greatest, too (much), very, extremely, fat, grand, magnificent, excellent, or great.
波羅末陀 is the Chinese and Japanese way to write the ancient Sanskrit word Paramārtha or परमार्थ which now means the highest truth, ultimate truth, ultimate reality, or fundamental meaning.
Paramārtha is the name of a famous Buddhist monk born in 499 CE. Paramārtha traveled the world (including Cambodia and territories that are now part of China) to spread the teachings of Buddhism by translating scriptures into the local languages so the truth could be understood by the masses.
So, we should all want to be a Paramārtha who brings the ultimate truth, knowledge, and enlightenment to others.
Special Military Term
When reading an account of some battles in China, I came across the Chinese word, 嚴整. As it turns out, 嚴整 is only used in military circles to describe neat, orderly, and well-disciplined troops. Perhaps this is actually closer to the meaning I was taught while in the U.S. Marines.
The first character literally means stern, serious, strict, or severe (it can also mean airtight or watertight.
The second character means exact, in good order, whole, complete, and orderly.
Together, these two characters multiply each other into a word that expresses the highest military level of discipline.
See Also: Self-Control | Will-Power
Integrity is living by your highest values. It is being honest and sincere. Integrity helps you to listen to your conscience, do the right thing, and tell the truth. You act with integrity when your words and actions match. Integrity gives you self-respect and a peaceful heart.
Please note that the second Kanji sometimes has an alternate form in Japanese. Let us know if you want the alternate form shown to the right.
Note: This entry is cross-listed as “honesty” because it also fits that definition.
Beyond Integrity, this word also means "upright" and "honest" in Chinese. Means "integrity," "honesty" or "frankness" in Japanese.
将軍 or Shogun, in the simplest definition, is a General, but you could also use words such as commander, lord, overlord, highest ranking, or commanding officer.
The title “Shogun” has held some slightly ambiguous meanings at times in Japanese history.
In the west, when someone mentions “Shogun,” we may be filled with thoughts of gallant warriors. Some might even think of the TV mini-series with Richard Chamberlain. Often westerners use the words, Samurai and Shogun interchangeably, but that's really not technically correct. In the case of the Samurai, the Shogun was a designated (by the emperor) leader of a gild of Samurai. In this context, the Shogun was a Samurai lord. Or effectively, a commanding officer of a company of Samurai - to put it in modern military terms.
Sometimes a Shogun was a general; other times, he was the leader of a military government in Japan - but not a front-line warrior like a Samurai.
Variants of the same characters are used in China for the rank and title of a General of the People's Liberation Army (and the same term and characters have been used for the last 2200 years since the Qin Dynasty).
(phonetic version)
伊斯蘭教 both means and sounds like “Islam” in Mandarin Chinese.
The first three characters sound like the word “Islam,” and the last character means “religion” or “teaching.” It's the most general term for “Islam” in China. The highest concentration of Muslims in China is Xinjiang (the vast region in northwest China that was called The East Turkistan Republic until 1949 and is sometimes called Chinese Turkistan, Uyghuristan). Here you will find Uygurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and others that are descendants of Turkmen (possibly mixed with Persians and Arabs). Many of their ancestors were traders who traveled the silk road to buy and sell spices and silk and exchange other goods from the Orient and the Middle East.
I spent some time in Xinjiang and got to know this community. They are strong people who can endure much. They are friendly and love to have a good time. I was a stranger but was treated by villagers (near China's border with Afghanistan) as if I was a good friend.
However, I have heard that it's best not to cross them, as in this land, the law is the blade, and everything is “eye for an eye.” The Chinese government has little control in Xinjiang, with almost no police officers except in the capital of Urumqi (so it's a 60-hour roundtrip train ride to seek the aid of law enforcement in most cases).
While few seem devout, there are at least small mosques in every village. And you will never see a man or woman outside without a head covering.
It should be noted that these people are all citizens of China, but they are officially of the Caucasian race. A visit to Xinjiang will change your idea of what it means to be Chinese.
These search terms might be related to Highest:
Forgiveness (From the Top Down)
Highest Quality / Top Notch
The Supreme Mahayana Truth
Top Quality / First Class
The following table may be helpful for those studying Chinese or Japanese...
Title | Characters | Romaji (Romanized Japanese) | Various forms of Romanized Chinese | |
Highest Quality Top Notch | 上等 | joutou / joto | shàng děng shang4 deng3 shang deng shangdeng | shang teng shangteng |
When the sun rises it first shines on the highest mountain | 日出先照高山 | hiide temazu kousan wo terasu yama hide temazu kosan wo terasu yama | rì chū xiān zhào gāo shān ri4 chu1 xian1 zhao4 gao1 shan1 ri chu xian zhao gao shan richuxianzhaogaoshan | jih ch`u hsien chao kao shan jihchuhsienchaokaoshan jih chu hsien chao kao shan |
Simply the Best | 最高 | sai kou / saikou / sai ko | zuì gāo / zui4 gao1 / zui gao / zuigao | tsui kao / tsuikao |
Hella | 太 | tai | tài / tai4 / tai | t`ai / tai |
Paramartha | 波羅末陀 波罗末陀 | ha ra ma da haramada | bō luó mò tuó bo1 luo2 mo4 tuo2 bo luo mo tuo boluomotuo | po lo mo t`o polomoto po lo mo to |
Well-Disciplined Orderly | 嚴整 严整 | yán zhěng yan2 zheng3 yan zheng yanzheng | yen cheng yencheng |
|
Integrity | 正直 | shoujiki / shojiki | zhèng zhí zheng4 zhi2 zheng zhi zhengzhi | cheng chih chengchih |
Shogun Japanese General | 將軍 将军 | shougun / shogun | jiāng jūn jiang1 jun1 jiang jun jiangjun | chiang chün chiangchün |
Islam | 伊斯蘭教 伊斯兰教 | yī sī lán jiào yi1 si1 lan2 jiao4 yi si lan jiao yisilanjiao | i ssu lan chiao issulanchiao |
|
In some entries above you will see that characters have different versions above and below a line. In these cases, the characters above the line are Traditional Chinese, while the ones below are Simplified Chinese. |
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All of our calligraphy wall scrolls are handmade.
When the calligrapher finishes creating your artwork, it is taken to my art mounting workshop in Beijing where a wall scroll is made by hand from a combination of silk, rice paper, and wood.
After we create your wall scroll, it takes at least two weeks for air mail delivery from Beijing to you.
Allow a few weeks for delivery. Rush service speeds it up by a week or two for $10!
When you select your calligraphy, you'll be taken to another page where you can choose various custom options.
The wall scroll that Sandy is holding in this picture is a "large size"
single-character wall scroll.
We also offer custom wall scrolls in small, medium, and an even-larger jumbo size.
Professional calligraphers are getting to be hard to find these days.
Instead of drawing characters by hand, the new generation in China merely type roman letters into their computer keyboards and pick the character that they want from a list that pops up.
There is some fear that true Chinese calligraphy may become a lost art in the coming years. Many art institutes in China are now promoting calligraphy programs in hopes of keeping this unique form
of art alive.
Even with the teachings of a top-ranked calligrapher in China, my calligraphy will never be good enough to sell. I will leave that to the experts.
The same calligrapher who gave me those lessons also attracted a crowd of thousands and a TV crew as he created characters over 6-feet high. He happens to be ranked as one of the top 100 calligraphers in all of China. He is also one of very few that would actually attempt such a feat.
Check out my lists of Japanese Kanji Calligraphy Wall Scrolls and Old Korean Hanja Calligraphy Wall Scrolls.
Some people may refer to this entry as Highest Kanji, Highest Characters, Highest in Mandarin Chinese, Highest Characters, Highest in Chinese Writing, Highest in Japanese Writing, Highest in Asian Writing, Highest Ideograms, Chinese Highest symbols, Highest Hieroglyphics, Highest Glyphs, Highest in Chinese Letters, Highest Hanzi, Highest in Japanese Kanji, Highest Pictograms, Highest in the Chinese Written-Language, or Highest in the Japanese Written-Language.