Buy an 象 calligraphy wall scroll here!
Personalize your custom “象” project by clicking the button next to your favorite “象” title below...
象 is the single character that represents an elephant in Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja.
I must first say that 現象 is an odd thing to put on a wall scroll in Asian cultures. It won't make a lot of sense alone unless you have a special or personal meaning that you attach to it for yourself.
These two characters mean phenomenon in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean Hanja. They can also be translated as “a happening,” depending on context.
The sum of these characters is a little different than their individual meanings. But I will break it down anyway...
The first character means present, existing, actual, apparent, now, or current.
The second character alone means pattern after, imitate, image, shape, sign (of the times), form, appearance, to be like, to resemble, to take after, to seem, or elephant.
幻像 is a universal word for Illusion in Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja.
The first character means phantasm, vision, dream, illusion, apparition, or fantasy.
The second character means statue, picture, image, figure, portrait, shape, form, appearance, to be like, to resemble, to take after, to seem, or in rare/ancient context: an elephant.
Note that the first character can be written without the left-side radical in Chinese. This form is shown to the right. Both forms are acceptable in Chinese but the character shown to the right is more likely to be read as "elephant."
Below are some entries from our dictionary that may match your 象 search...
Characters If shown, 2nd row is Simp. Chinese |
Pronunciation Romanization |
Simple Dictionary Definition |
象 see styles |
xiàng xiang4 hsiang zou(p); zou / zo(p); zo ぞう(P); ゾウ |
More info & calligraphy: Elephantelephant (Elephantidae spp.); (surname) Zou gaja; hastin; also nāga; an elephant; v. 像 14. |
現象 现象 see styles |
xiàn xiàng xian4 xiang4 hsien hsiang genshou / gensho げんしょう |
More info & calligraphy: Phenomenonphenomenon phenomenon |
一象 see styles |
ichizou / ichizo いちぞう |
(given name) Ichizou |
万象 see styles |
banshou / bansho ばんしょう |
all creation; all nature; all the universe; (given name) Banshou |
三象 see styles |
sanzou / sanzo さんぞう |
(personal name) Sanzou |
亂象 乱象 see styles |
luàn xiàng luan4 xiang4 luan hsiang |
chaos; madness |
事象 see styles |
jishou / jisho じしょう |
event; phenomenon; matter |
二象 see styles |
nizou / nizo にぞう |
(personal name) Nizou |
仮象 see styles |
kashou / kasho かしょう |
semblance; appearance |
假象 see styles |
jiǎ xiàng jia3 xiang4 chia hsiang |
false appearance; facade |
健象 see styles |
kenzou / kenzo けんぞう |
(personal name) Kenzou |
公象 see styles |
koushou / kosho こうしょう |
(given name) Kōshou |
具象 see styles |
jù xiàng ju4 xiang4 chü hsiang gushou / gusho ぐしょう |
tangible image; concrete; representational (art) (noun, transitive verb) (ant: 抽象) concreteness; embodiment; expressing concretely |
写象 see styles |
shashou / shasho しゃしょう |
image |
准象 see styles |
junzou / junzo じゅんぞう |
(given name) Junzou |
勇象 see styles |
yuuzou / yuzo ゆうぞう |
(given name) Yūzou |
印象 see styles |
yìn xiàng yin4 xiang4 yin hsiang inshou / insho いんしょう |
impression (something that stays in one's mind); a memory impression; (given name) Inshou |
哲象 see styles |
tetsuzou / tetsuzo てつぞう |
(given name) Tetsuzou |
唯象 see styles |
wéi xiàng wei2 xiang4 wei hsiang |
phenomenological |
啓象 see styles |
keizou / kezo けいぞう |
(given name) Keizou |
四象 see styles |
sì xiàng si4 xiang4 ssu hsiang shishou / shisho ししょう |
four divisions (of the twenty-eight constellations 二十八宿[er4 shi2 ba1 xiu4] of the sky into groups of seven mansions), namely: Azure Dragon 青龍|青龙[Qing1 long2], White Tiger 白虎[Bai2 hu3], Vermilion Bird 朱雀[Zhu1 que4], Black Tortoise 玄武[Xuan2 wu3] four images; four symbols; four emblems; four phenomena; four phases; (given name) Shishou |
圖象 图象 see styles |
tú xiàng tu2 xiang4 t`u hsiang tu hsiang |
variant of 圖像|图像[tu2 xiang4] |
地象 see styles |
chishou / chisho ちしょう |
terrestrial phenomena (phenomenon) |
大象 see styles |
dà xiàng da4 xiang4 ta hsiang daizou / daizo だいぞう |
elephant; CL:隻|只[zhi1] (given name) Daizou large elephant |
天象 see styles |
tiān xiàng tian1 xiang4 t`ien hsiang tien hsiang tenshou / tensho てんしょう |
meteorological or astronomical phenomenon (e.g. rainbow or eclipse) weather; astronomical phenomena |
好象 see styles |
hǎo xiàng hao3 xiang4 hao hsiang |
to seem; to be like (variant of 好像[hao3 xiang4]) |
学象 see styles |
gakushou / gakusho がくしょう |
(given name) Gakushou |
対象 see styles |
taishou / taisho たいしょう |
(noun - becomes adjective with の) target; object (of worship, study, etc.); subject (of taxation, etc.) |
對象 对象 see styles |
duì xiàng dui4 xiang4 tui hsiang taizō |
target; object; partner; boyfriend; girlfriend; CL:個|个[ge4] object |
小象 see styles |
kozou / kozo こぞう |
young elephant; baby elephant |
The following table may be helpful for those studying Chinese or Japanese...
Title | Characters | Romaji (Romanized Japanese) | Various forms of Romanized Chinese | |
Elephant | 象 | zou / zo | xiàng / xiang4 / xiang | hsiang |
Phenomenon | 現象 现象 | genshou / gensho | xiàn xiàng xian4 xiang4 xian xiang xianxiang | hsien hsiang hsienhsiang |
Illusion | 幻像 幻像 / 幻象 | gen zou / genzou / gen zo | huàn xiàng huan4 xiang4 huan xiang huanxiang | huan hsiang huanhsiang |
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. |
Successful Chinese Character and Japanese Kanji calligraphy searches within the last few hours...
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.