Buy an 太極 calligraphy wall scroll here!
Personalize your custom “太極” project by clicking the button next to your favorite “太極” title below...
1. Tageik
3. Tai Chi Chuan / Tai Ji Quan
4. Tai Chi Ball
5. Tai Chi Chuan Dao / Tai Ji Quan Dao
太極 is the shortened title for Tai Chi Chuan or Tai Ji Quan that is sometimes used in Western countries.
Basically just removing the last character which means fist. I don't recommend this two-character selection because it's not really a word without the third character in Japanese and Chinese.
太極拳 is the famous Taoist meditation and martial art exercise. The direct translation of these characters would be something like “grand ultimate fist,” but that does not quite hit the mark for what this title really means.
An early-morning walk through any city in China near a park or an open area will yield a view of Chinese people practicing this ancient technique.
A typical scene is an old man of no less than 80 years on this earth, with a wispy white beard and perhaps a sword in one hand. He makes slow moves that are impossibly smooth. He is steady-footed and always in balance. For him, time is meaningless and proper form, and technique is far more important than speed.
For the younger generation, faster moves may look impressive and seem smooth to the casual observer. But more discipline and mental strength are needed to create perfectly smooth moves in virtual slow motion.
Note: There are two ways to Romanize these Chinese characters, as seen in the title above. The pronunciation and actual characters are the same in Chinese. If you really used English sounds/words to pronounce this, it would be something like “tie jee chew-on” (make the “chew-on” one flowing syllable).
五行太極拳 is a certain school or style of Tai Chi (Taiji).
The characters literally mean “Five Elements Tai Chi Fist.”
Notes:
In Taiwan, it would be Romanized as “Wu Hsing Tai Chi Chuan” - see the standard Mandarin method above in the gray box (used in mainland China and the official Romanization used by the Library of Congress).
The last three characters are sometimes translated as “Grand Ultimate Fist,” so the whole thing can be “Five Elements Grand Ultimate Fist” if you wish.
I have not confirmed the use of this title in Korean but if it is used, it's probably only by martial arts enthusiasts. The pronunciation is correct, as shown above for Korean.
Below are some entries from our dictionary that may match your 太極 search...
Characters If shown, 2nd row is Simp. Chinese |
Pronunciation Romanization |
Simple Dictionary Definition |
太極 太极 see styles |
tài jí tai4 ji2 t`ai chi tai chi taikyoku たいきょく |
More info & calligraphy: Tai Chi / Tai Jitaiji (in Chinese philosophy, the principle that embodies all potential things, incl. time and space); (personal name) Taikyoku |
太極拳 太极拳 see styles |
tài jí quán tai4 ji2 quan2 t`ai chi ch`üan tai chi chüan taikyokuken たいきょくけん |
More info & calligraphy: Tai Chi Chuan / Tai Ji Quan{MA} grand ultimate fist; Tai Chi Chuan |
太極劍 太极剑 see styles |
tài jí jiàn tai4 ji2 jian4 t`ai chi chien tai chi chien |
a kind of traditional Chinese sword-play |
太極図 see styles |
taikyokuzu たいきょくず |
taijitu (chi:); cosmic dual forces symbol; yin-yang symbol |
太極圖 太极图 see styles |
tài jí tú tai4 ji2 tu2 t`ai chi t`u tai chi tu |
diagram of cosmological scheme; Yin-Yang symbol ☯ |
太極旗 see styles |
taikyokuki; tegukki たいきょくき; テグッキ |
Taegukgi; national flag of South Korea |
打太極 打太极 see styles |
dǎ tài jí da3 tai4 ji2 ta t`ai chi ta tai chi |
to practice tai chi; (fig.) to avoid responsibility; to pass the buck |
皇太極 皇太极 see styles |
huáng tài jí huang2 tai4 ji2 huang t`ai chi huang tai chi |
Hong Taiji (1592-1643), eighth son of Nurhaci 努爾哈赤|努尔哈赤[Nu3 er3 ha1 chi4], reigned 1626-1636 as Second Khan of Later Jin dynasty 後金|后金[Hou4 Jin1], then founded the Qing dynasty 大清[Da4 Qing1] and reigned 1636-1643 as Emperor; posomethingumous name 清太宗[Qing1 Tai4 zong1] |
太極圖說 太极图说 see styles |
tài jí tú shuō tai4 ji2 tu2 shuo1 t`ai chi t`u shuo tai chi tu shuo |
philosophical book by Song dynasty scholar Zhou Dunyi 周敦頤|周敦颐[Zhou1 Dun1 yi2], starting from an interpretation of the Book of Changes |
武術太極拳 see styles |
bujutsutaikyokuken ぶじゅつたいきょくけん |
wushu; modern sport derived from traditional Chinese martial arts |
皇太極清太宗 皇太极清太宗 see styles |
huáng tài jí qīng tài zōng huang2 tai4 ji2 qing1 tai4 zong1 huang t`ai chi ch`ing t`ai tsung huang tai chi ching tai tsung |
Hong Taiji (1592-1643), eighth son of Nurhaci 努爾哈赤|努尔哈赤[Nu3 er3 ha1 chi4], reigned 1626-1636 as Second Khan of Later Jin dynasty 後金|后金[Hou4 Jin1], then founded the Qing dynasty 大清[Da4 Qing1] and reigned 1636-1643 as Emperor |
日本健康太極拳協会 see styles |
nipponkenkoutaikyokukenkyoukai / nipponkenkotaikyokukenkyokai にっぽんけんこうたいきょくけんきょうかい |
(org) Japan Health Taijiquan Association; (o) Japan Health Taijiquan Association |
The following table may be helpful for those studying Chinese or Japanese...
Title | Characters | Romaji (Romanized Japanese) | Various forms of Romanized Chinese | |
Tageik | 太極 太极 | tài jí / tai4 ji2 / tai ji / taiji | t`ai chi / taichi / tai chi | |
Tai Chi Tai Ji | 太極 太极 | taikyoku | tài jí / tai4 ji2 / tai ji / taiji | t`ai chi / taichi / tai chi |
Tai Chi Chuan Tai Ji Quan | 太極拳 太极拳 | tai kyoku ken taikyokuken | tài jí quán tai4 ji2 quan2 tai ji quan taijiquan | t`ai chi ch`üan taichichüan tai chi chüan |
Tai Chi Ball | 太極球 太极球 | tai kyoku kyuu taikyokukyuu tai kyoku kyu | tài jí qiú tai4 ji2 qiu2 tai ji qiu taijiqiu | t`ai chi ch`iu taichichiu tai chi chiu |
Tai Chi Chuan Dao Tai Ji Quan Dao | 太極拳道 太极拳道 | tài jí quán dào tai4 ji2 quan2 dao4 tai ji quan dao taijiquandao | t`ai chi ch`üan tao taichichüantao tai chi chüan tao |
|
Tai Chi Chuan Fa Tai Ji Quan Fa | 太極拳法 太极拳法 | tài jí quán fǎ tai4 ji2 quan2 fa3 tai ji quan fa taijiquanfa | t`ai chi ch`üan fa taichichüanfa tai chi chüan fa |
|
Five Elements Tai Chi Fist | 五行太極拳 五行太极拳 | go gyou tai kyoku ken gogyoutaikyokuken go gyo tai kyoku ken | wǔ xíng tài jí quán wu3 xing2 tai4 ji2 quan2 wu xing tai ji quan wuxingtaijiquan | wu hsing t`ai chi ch`üan wuhsingtaichichüan wu hsing tai chi chüan |
Tai Chi Wing Chun Kung Fu | 太極詠春功夫 太极咏春功夫 | tài jí yǒng chūn gōng fu tai4 ji2 yong3 chun1 gong1 fu tai ji yong chun gong fu taijiyongchungongfu | t`ai chi yung ch`un kung fu taichiyungchunkungfu tai chi yung chun kung fu |
|
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.