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供養 is the Chinese, Japanese, and Korean rough equivalent to the Sanskrit word, Pūjā.
The meaning is: To make offerings (to the Gods), to supply, to provide for one's elders, to support one's parents, a memorial service for the dead, holding a service, any offering for body or mind, to make offerings of whatever nourishes (e.g., food, goods, incense, lamps, scriptures, the doctrine).
The final meaning varies greatly depending on the context in which the word is used.
In Mahayana Buddhism, 四大 represents mahābhūta, the four elements of which all things are made: earth, water, fire, and wind.
This can also represent the four freedoms: speaking out freely, airing views fully, holding great debates, and writing big-character posters.
In some contexts, this can be a university or college offering four-year programs.
To others, this can represent the Tao, Heaven, Earth, and King.
Going back to the Buddhist context, these four elements “earth, water, fire, and wind,” represent 堅, 濕, 煖, 動, which are: solid, liquid, heat, and motion.
龍馬精神 is an old proverb that is used to wish someone good health and success combined as a great compliment.
The meaning is “The vigor and spirit of the legendary dragon-horse.” These four characters are often accompanied by four more which mean “...and the power and prestige of the tiger.” Here we are just offering the first part which is considered the short version.
By giving a wall scroll like this to someone, you were either wishing or telling them that they have an amazing quality. There is also a suggestion of good health - at least anyone with the vigor of a dragon horse would seem to also be in good health.
Note: In Japanese, this would be read as the spirit of 坂本龍馬 (Sakamoto_Ryōma), a beloved rebel who help abolish the old Japanese feudal system. This can be confusing, so I am declaring this proverb to be Chinese only.
Latin American / Cuban Revolutionary
切格瓦拉 is the name “Che Guevara,” as written (transliterated) in Mandarin Chinese.
Once revered by Chinese people as a Socialist rebel, he's now just a historical figure that school children briefly learn about in China.
切格瓦拉 is because China used to be a truly-Communist/Socialist nation, and thus, other Communists and Socialists were heroes.
In modern China, with its free-market economy, those former heroes fade a little.
We are not offering the “Che” character alone, as few would associate it with Che Guevara, so you need the full name to be clear (minus Ernesto, which is his real first name).
聖經 is how to write Bible in Chinese.
The first character means Holy, sacred, saint, or sage.
The second character means sacred book or scripture.
Each Sunday morning, if you are near a Catholic or Protestant Church, you will see plenty of Chinese people carrying their Bibles. Virtually every large or medium city in China has at least one Christian church. Beijing has about 14 Christian churches of Catholic and various Protestant denominations. That number doubles if you count all the church services that are for foreigners only and doubles again if you count all of the underground Christian Churches. Many Embassies (Canadian, Italian, French, etc.) offer Protestant and Catholic services. However, the U.S. Embassy is the most unfriendly in all of China, offering no such religious services, regularly denying entry, and kicking out Americans and others, whether or not they have official business.
忍術 is the “art of the ninja” in Japanese. Most Japanese people associate ninjas with romance and reverence for Japan's ancient past. But most will accept that the ninja is an idea or way of life whose time has passed. However, this has not stopped floods of movies about ninjas and dojos offering Ninjutsu training from keeping the idea of the ninja alive in modern times.
My modern Japanese dictionary defines this as “assassination, stealth, and combat techniques” or “fighting art of the ninja.”
Note that when writing this as Kanji, Japanese tend to write the first character in the form shown to the right. Because this is specifically a Japanese title, we only suggest a Japanese calligrapher for this selection - and you will get the form shown to the right if you do that (please ignore the fact that some of the images you see during the following pages in the options process will be the Chinese/alternate form).
This is the Mawangdui version of Daodejing chapter 54.
These search terms might be related to Offering:
The following table may be helpful for those studying Chinese or Japanese...
Title | Characters | Romaji (Romanized Japanese) | Various forms of Romanized Chinese | |
Offering Puja | 供養 供养 | ku you / kuyou / ku yo | gòng yǎng gong4 yang3 gong yang gongyang | kung yang kungyang |
Sanbo | 三方 | sanbou / sanpou / mitsukata sanbo / sanpo / mitsukata | ||
Shidai Sida Mahabhuta | 四大 | shi dai / shidai | sì dà / si4 da4 / si da / sida | ssu ta / ssuta |
The Spirit of the Dragon Horse | 龍馬精神 龙马精神 | lóng mǎ jīng shén long2 ma3 jing1 shen2 long ma jing shen longmajingshen | lung ma ching shen lungmachingshen |
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Che Guevara | 切格瓦拉 | qiè gé wǎ lā qie4 ge2 wa3 la1 qie ge wa la qiegewala | ch`ieh ko wa la chiehkowala chieh ko wa la |
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Holy Bible | 聖經 圣经 | shèng jīng sheng4 jing1 sheng jing shengjing | sheng ching shengching |
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Ninjutsu Ninjitsu | 忍術 忍术 | ninjutsu | rěn shù / ren3 shu4 / ren shu / renshu | jen shu / jenshu |
Daodejing Tao Te Ching - Chapter 54 | 善建者不拔善抱者不脫子孫以祭祀不絕修之身其德乃真修之家其德有余修之鄉其德乃長修之國其德乃夆修之於天下其德乃博以身觀身以家觀家以鄉觀鄉以邦觀邦以天下觀天下吾何以知天下然茲以此 善建者不拔善抱者不脱子孙以祭祀不绝修之身其德乃真修之家其德有余修之乡其德乃长修之国其德乃夆修之于天下其德乃博以身观身以家观家以乡观乡以邦观邦以天下观天下吾何以知天下然兹以此 | shàn jiàn zhě bù bá shàn bào zhě bù tuō zǐ sūn yǐ jì sì bù jué xiū zhī shēn qí dé nǎi zhēn xiū zhī jiā qí dé yǒu yú xiū zhī xiāng qí dé nǎi zhǎng xiū zhī guó qí dé nǎi féng xiū zhī yú tiān xià qí dé nǎi bó yǐ shēn guān shēn yǐ jiā guān jiā yǐ xiāng guān xiāng yǐ bāng guān bāng yǐ tiān xià guān tiān xià wú hé yǐ zhī tiān xià rán zī yǐ cǐ shan4 jian4 zhe3 bu4 ba2 shan4 bao4 zhe3 bu4 tuo1 zi3 sun1 yi3 ji4 si4 bu4 jue2 xiu1 zhi1 shen1 qi2 de2 nai3 zhen1 xiu1 zhi1 jia1 qi2 de2 you3 yu2 xiu1 zhi1 xiang1 qi2 de2 nai3 zhang3 xiu1 zhi1 guo2 qi2 de2 nai3 feng2 xiu1 zhi1 yu2 tian1 xia4 qi2 de2 nai3 bo2 yi3 shen1 guan1 shen1 yi3 jia1 guan1 jia1 yi3 xiang1 guan1 xiang1 yi3 bang1 guan1 bang1 yi3 tian1 xia4 guan1 tian1 xia4 wu2 he2 yi3 zhi1 tian1 xia4 ran2 zi1 yi3 ci3 shan jian zhe bu ba shan bao zhe bu tuo zi sun yi ji si bu jue xiu zhi shen qi de nai zhen xiu zhi jia qi de you yu xiu zhi xiang qi de nai zhang xiu zhi guo qi de nai feng xiu zhi yu tian xia qi de nai bo yi shen guan shen yi jia guan jia yi xiang guan xiang yi bang guan bang yi tian xia guan tian xia wu he yi zhi tian xia ran zi yi ci | shan chien che pu pa shan pao che pu t`o tzu sun i chi ssu pu chüeh hsiu chih shen ch`i te nai chen hsiu chih chia ch`i te yu yü hsiu chih hsiang ch`i te nai chang hsiu chih kuo ch`i te nai feng hsiu chih yü t`ien hsia ch`i te nai po i shen kuan shen i chia kuan chia i hsiang kuan hsiang i pang kuan pang i t`ien hsia kuan t`ien hsia wu ho i chih t`ien hsia jan tzu i tz`u shan chien che pu pa shan pao che pu to tzu sun i chi ssu pu chüeh hsiu chih shen chi te nai chen hsiu chih chia chi te yu yü hsiu chih hsiang chi te nai chang hsiu chih kuo chi te nai feng hsiu chih yü tien hsia chi te nai po i shen kuan shen i chia kuan chia i hsiang kuan hsiang i pang kuan pang i tien hsia kuan tien hsia wu ho i chih tien hsia jan tzu i tzu |
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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 Offering Kanji, Offering Characters, Offering in Mandarin Chinese, Offering Characters, Offering in Chinese Writing, Offering in Japanese Writing, Offering in Asian Writing, Offering Ideograms, Chinese Offering symbols, Offering Hieroglyphics, Offering Glyphs, Offering in Chinese Letters, Offering Hanzi, Offering in Japanese Kanji, Offering Pictograms, Offering in the Chinese Written-Language, or Offering in the Japanese Written-Language.