巴祖 is the name Bazu in Chinese (Mandarin).

家族 is family in Japanese Kanji, Chinese and Korean.

This represents all the members of a family.

This can also mean household or clan, depending on the context.

祖父 is a title for grandfather in Japanese.

In Chinese, this is specifically paternal grandfather.

This title alone is not normal for a calligraphy wall scroll.

足球 is the word for football or soccer in Chinese.

As with most of the world, football is very popular in China. During the World Cup, the whole country seems to shut down to watch (regardless of whether Team China is playing or not).

Soccer is probably the 3rd most popular participation sport in China (after ping pong and badminton).

As you might expect, the first character means “foot” and the second character means “ball.”

FYI: This game would never be confused with American Football in Chinese. As with the rest of the world, there is a vague awareness of what American Football is (often described as "that game kind of like rugby").

For those familiar with American Football, there is some disgust regarding the fact that winners of the Superbowl call themselves "world champions" of a game that is only played in the USA. This is one of the reasons that jokes abound about how Americans are unaware that there is a world outside of their borders.

知足 means content with one's situation or to know contentment (hence happiness).

From the Zen Buddhist context, Chisoku or 知足 (knowing what’s enough) means always to know and be satisfied with one’s lot.

Human pain and suffering are born of greed, and that greed arises because we do not know what’s enough.

The Chinese philosopher, Menzi (372-289 BCE) said, “to nourish the mind, there is nothing better than to make the desires few.” This relays the idea that the best method to cultivate the mind is to have little desire.

滿族 is the Chinese title for the Manchu or Manchurian ethnic group.

In modern times, they hail from the Liaoning province of northeast China.

祖馬 is the name Zuma in Chinese (Mandarin).

祖米 is the name Zumi in Chinese (Mandarin).

祖拉 is the name Zura in Chinese (Mandarin).

祖克 is the name Zook in Chinese (Mandarin).

祖克 is the name Zucker in Chinese (Mandarin).

蘇祖 is the name Suzu in Chinese (Mandarin).

阿爾祖 is the name Arzoo in Chinese (Mandarin).

阿齊祖 is the name Azizu in Chinese (Mandarin).

阿祖爾 is the name Azur in Chinese (Mandarin).

手足情 is the love between siblings.

When you love, protect, care for, and have a deep bond that only brothers or sisters can.

The actual translation is “Hand and Foot,” but the relationship between brothers or sisters is like that of hands and feet. They belong together and complete the body. Even though this says “hand and foot,” it will always be read with the brotherly and sisterly love meaning in Chinese.

Note: During the past 20 years, the “One child policy” in China is slowly making this term obsolete.

己足以 is a profound and philosophical way to say “I am enough” in Chinese.

The first character means self or oneself.

The last two characters are a word that means sufficient or enough.

伊祖爾 is the name Izzul in Chinese (Mandarin).

吉祖斯 is the name Jeezus in Chinese (Mandarin).

坎祖爾 is the name Kanzul in Chinese (Mandarin).

雷祖安 is the name Rezuan in Chinese (Mandarin).

里祖安 is the name Ridzuan in Chinese (Mandarin).

日祖安 is the name Rizuan in Chinese (Mandarin).

五祖拳 is a martial arts concept (or school) known as Five Ancestors' Fist.

The first character means five.
The second means ancestor, forefather, or grandparents.
The third means fist.

The ancestors referred to by this title and whose attributes contribute to this style are as follows:
1. Grace of the White Crane.
2. Agility of the Monkey.
3. Precision and skill of Emperor Taizu (great mythical ancestor).
4. Power of Luohan (Buddhist arhat).
5. Breath of Damo (founder of Buddhism, or the first Buddha).

祖拜爾 is the name Zubair in Chinese (Mandarin).

祖拜爾 is the name Zubayer in Chinese (Mandarin).

祖豪斯 is the name Zuhause in Chinese (Mandarin).

祖赫拉 is the name Zuhra in Chinese (Mandarin).

祖萊卡 is the name Zulaika in Chinese (Mandarin).

祖瑪雅 is the name Zumaya in Chinese (Mandarin).

祖奈達 is the name Zunaidah in Chinese (Mandarin).

祖奈拉 is the name Zunaira in Chinese (Mandarin).

祖奈拉 is the name Zunayra in Chinese (Mandarin).

祖里亞 is the name Zuria in Chinese (Mandarin).

阿祖蘭 is the name Azuran in Chinese (Mandarin).

祖奈斯 is the name Zunaith in Chinese (Mandarin).

祖奈特 is the name Zunait in Chinese (Mandarin).

祖尼特 is the name Zuneet in Chinese (Mandarin).

昆祖姆 is the name Kunzum in Chinese (Mandarin).

祖贊納 is the name Zuzanna in Chinese (Mandarin).

祖貝爾 is the name Zuber in Chinese (Mandarin).

祖克曼 is the name Zuckerman in Chinese (Mandarin).

祖里塔 is the name Zurita in Chinese (Mandarin).

奧祖納 is the name Ozuna in Chinese (Mandarin).

馬祖爾 is the name Mazur in Chinese (Mandarin).

阿維祖 is the name Arvizu in Chinese (Mandarin).

蘇祖努 is the name Suzunu in Chinese (Mandarin).

滿足 is the kind of happiness that involves being satisfied and content.

This can also suggest the actions of “to satisfy,” and “to meet the needs of.”

Other single-word definitions include satisfaction, contentment, sufficient, enough, adequate, full, or complete.

In Japanese, the Kanji for this word is an alternate Chinese form. You can see and select this version at the right (recommended only if your audience is specifically Japanese).

See Also:  Satisfaction | Contentment | Pleasure | Well-Being

阿祖塞娜 is the name Azusena in Chinese (Mandarin).

杰祖斯特 is the name Jeezust in Chinese (Mandarin).

風雨無阻 is a proverb that is often translated as “Go ahead as planned regardless of the weather” or, “[Overcome] despite the rain and wind.”

This is a Chinese proverb that suggests that you are willing (or should be willing) to overcome any adversity, and accomplish your task at hand.

There is a second/optional part to this phrase that suggests that you should do this together with someone (see our other 8-character version if you want the full phrase).

祖哈拉斯 is the name Zuharaas in Chinese (Mandarin).

扎祖埃塔 is the name Zazueta in Chinese (Mandarin).

慈祥的祖父 is “Loving Grandfather” in the way people in Southern China call their father's father (paternal grandfather).

親愛的祖父 is how people in Southern China call their father's father (paternal grandfather) with the adjective/title “Dear” on the front.

慈祥的祖母 is “Loving Grandmother” in the most common way to refer to your father's mother (paternal grandmother) in Southern China.

The most common way to refer to your father's mother (paternal grandmother) in Southern China with the adjective/title “Dear” on the front.

奧爾索雷祖 is the name Orsorezu in Chinese (Mandarin).

莫克特祖瑪 is the name Moctezuma in Chinese (Mandarin).

慈祥的外祖父 is “Loving Grandfather” in the formal way that people in Southern China usually call their mother's father (maternal grandfather).

親愛的外祖父 is the formal way that people in Southern China usually call their mother's father (maternal grandfather) with the adjective/title “Dear” on the front.

慈祥的外祖母 is “Loving Grandmother” in the formal way to refer to your mother's mother (maternal grandmother) in Southern China.

亲爱的外祖母 is the formal way to refer to your mother's mother (maternal grandmother) in Southern China with the adjective/title “Dear” on the front.

真愛忠誠尊敬 is a Chinese word list that means love, loyalty, and respect.

祖先崇拜 means “Appreciation and honor of your ancestors.”

This can refer to anyone from your grandparents and beyond.

The first two characters mean ancestors or forefathers.

The last two characters mean worship, adore/adoration, or admiration.

This is the kind of wall scroll that a filial son or daughter in China or Japan would hang to honor their ancestors who paved the way for the new generation.

Japanese use a slight variation on the last Kanji. If you want this specifically Japanese version, just click on the Kanji image to the right (instead of the button above). Note that Japanese people would easily be able to identify the original Chinese form of that Kanji anyway.

They also have a similar phrase in old Korean but the first two characters are reversed - just let me know if you want that version when you place your order.

千里之行始於足下 is a Chinese proverb that means “a thousand-mile journey begins with the first step.”

This proverb figuratively means “big accomplishments come from an accumulation of little achievements made one by one.”

The first four characters are often translated as “Go ahead as planned regardless of the weather” or, “[Overcome] despite the rain and wind.” The last four characters can mean “Stick together” but literally means “Take the same boat [together].”

風雨無阻同舟共濟 is a Chinese proverb that suggests that you are willing (or should be willing) to overcome any adversity, and accomplish your task at hand. The second part (last four characters) is sometimes left off but this second part strongly suggests that you should overcome that adversity together.

This is referred to as passage or chapter 33 of the Dao De Jing (often Romanized as “Tao Te Ching”).

These are the words of the philosopher Laozi (Lao Tzu).

Notes:

During our research, the Chinese characters shown here are probably the most accurate to the original text of Laozi. These were taken for the most part from the Mawangdui 1973 and Guodan 1993 manuscripts which pre-date other Daodejing texts by about 1000 years.

Grammar was a little different in Laozi’s time. So you should consider this to be the ancient Chinese version. Some have modernized this passage by adding, removing, or swapping articles and changing the grammar (we felt the oldest and most original version would be more desirable). You may find other versions printed in books or online - sometimes these modern texts are simply used to explain to Chinese people what the original text really means.

This language issue can be compared in English by thinking how the King James (known as the Authorized version in Great Britain) Bible from 1611 was written, and comparing it to modern English. Now imagine that the Daodejing was probably written around 403 BCE (2000 years before the King James Version of the Bible). To a Chinese person, the original Daodejing reads like text that is 3 times more detached compared to Shakespeare’s English is to our modern-day speech.

Extended notes:

While on this Biblical text comparison, it should be noted, that just like the Bible, all the original texts of the Daodejing were lost or destroyed long ago. Just as with the scripture used to create the Bible, various manuscripts exist, many with variations or copyist errors. Just as the earliest New Testament scripture (incomplete) is from 170 years after Christ, the earliest Daodejing manuscript (incomplete) is from 100-200 years after the death of Laozi.

The reason that the originals were lost probably has a lot to do with the first Qin Emperor. Upon taking power and unifying China, he ordered the burning and destruction of all books (scrolls/rolls) except those pertaining to Chinese medicine and a few other subjects. The surviving Daodejing manuscripts were either hidden on purpose or simply forgotten about. Some were not unearthed until as late as 1993.

We compared a lot of research by various archeologists and historians before deciding on this as the most accurate and correct version. But one must allow that it may not be perfect, or the actual and original as from the hand of Laozi himself.

This is a poem, including a title, that celebrates the tactics and virtues of the Shaolin Kung Fu Monks for future generations.