Custom Profound Chinese & Japanese Calligraphy Wall Scroll

We have many options to create artwork with Profound characters on a wall scroll or portrait.
If you want to create a cool Profound wall scroll, this is the place. Below you will find a few Asian symbols that express the idea of profound.


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  1. Brevity: Fewer Words are Best

  2. Clever / Superb / Wonderful

  3. Compassionate Heart / Benevolent Heart

  4. Words Have Enormous Weight: One Word Worth Nine Caldrons

  5. I am Enough

  6. Intense / Serious / Deep / Profound

  7. Profound / Powerful Words

  8. Sangha

  9. Intense / Serious

10. Silence

11. Tea Fate

12. Tranquility Yields Transcendence

13. Better to Travel 10,000 Miles than Read 10,000 Books

14. Mysterious

15. Flower in the Mirror, Moon on Water


Brevity: Fewer Words are Best

 shǎo shuō wéi jiā
Brevity: Fewer Words are Best Scroll

Getting to the point quickly with the fewest words possible is the suggestion of this 少說為佳 Chinese proverb.

But taking it more profound, there is a warning that using too many words may act to “tip your hat” or “show your hand” (to use two American idioms).

It can also be said that using many words does not make the message have more value.

This is really about the art of brevity.

My only hope is that I did not use too many words to explain this proverb.

Clever / Superb / Wonderful

 miào
 myou
 
Clever / Superb / Wonderful Scroll

The meanings for 妙 include: clever; wonderful; strange; unusual; superb; excellent; beautiful; mystic; supernatural; profound; mysterious; good; surpassing; fine, lovely, charming; special; outstanding; incomparable.

As you can see, this single character can mean a lot of things (a bit ambiguous).

Compassionate Heart / Benevolent Heart

 cí xīn
 jishin
Compassionate Heart / Benevolent Heart Scroll

慈心 means “Compassionate Heart” or “Benevolent Heart.”

It's used in day-to-day speech to refer to someone who has the traits of benevolence, mercy, and compassion for their fellow humans.

This title is also used in Buddhism with the same profound meaning.

Words Have Enormous Weight: One Word Worth Nine Caldrons

 yī yán jiǔ dǐng
Words Have Enormous Weight: One Word Worth Nine Caldrons Scroll

一言九鼎 is an ancient Chinese proverb used in modern times to talk of profound or powerful words.

Highly-Valued Bronze Tripod Caldron The literal meaning is “one word [worth] nine [sacred] tripods.” The tripod is a highly-prized three-legged (sometimes four-legged) metal pot or kettle of ancient China. They are often made of bronze, and the Emperor would have large ones gilded in gold. See the image to the right for an example.

 jǐ zú yǐ
I am Enough Scroll

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.

Intense / Serious / Deep / Profound

 shēn kè
 shinkoku / misa
Intense / Serious / Deep / Profound Scroll

深刻 is a Chinese word that is the form of intense that describes a person who is deep, serious, and a true thinker.

If you find yourself contemplating the world and coming up with profound ideas, this might be the word for you. In some contexts (especially Korean), it can mean seriousness, gravity, or acuteness.

In Japanese, this can mean “serious problem” or can be a rare given name, Misa. You should not use this if your audience is Japanese.

Profound / Powerful Words

 rù mù sān fēn
Profound / Powerful Words Scroll

入木三分 is a four-character Chinese proverb that translates in English to a strong form of “profound” or “written with a forceful hand.”

But there is much more to the story...

The deep meaning behind this proverb comes from a man named Wan Xizhi, who lived in the third century.

He was a great writer and calligrapher whose writing style influenced generations of other writers and calligraphers.

He once wrote words on a piece of wood to be taken to an engraver.
When the engraver began to carve the characters into the wood, he found that Wang Xizhi's writing had penetrated the wood about 3/8 of an inch.

Thus people believed that his words were so powerful and profound that they caused the ink from his brush to penetrate the wood deeply.

The proverb literally means “penetrated wood three fen” (A fen is an ancient Chinese measurement of a little over 1/8 of an inch or almost 4mm).

 sēng qié
 sougya
Sangha Scroll

In Buddhism, 僧伽 refers to a community of monks and/or nuns (one of the “Three Jewels”). In general terms, it can simply mean “all followers of the Buddha.”

Notes: Though there are not vast numbers of Chinese Hindus, in the Hindu faith, this term means “community together.”
The original Sanskrit word is also Romanized as samgha.
The first character means “monk.” The second character means Buddha or Shakyamuni.
僧伽 is a transliteration of the original Sanskrit, but it uses two very profound Chinese characters related to Buddhism.

Some may pronounce this as “seng qie” or “seng jia” in Mandarin (two possible pronunciations for the second character). Note that “qie” sounds like “chee-ah” using typical English pronunciation. Chinese Romanization is not actually designed to match English sounds.


僧僧Note that when writing this as Kanji, Japanese will tend to write the first character in the form shown to the right. If you select our Japanese master calligrapher, please expect this special Kanji form. However, it should also be noted that this is not a common term in Japanese (except by certain sects of Buddhism or perhaps devout Buddhists in Japan).

Intense / Serious

 shin ken
Intense / Serious Scroll

真剣 is a Japanese word that means intense, serious, or earnest. It describes a person who is deep, serious, and a true thinker or dreamer.

Literally, this means “true sword,” as compared to a sharpened wooden practice sword blank. It's real, true, and serious.

 mò
 moku
 
Silence Scroll

默 / 黙 means silent or silence and is often used in a Buddhist context.

Other meanings include dark, secret, or profound.


The original form is , but you will sometimes see it written in the Japanese variant form. If you want it in the Japanese form, please choose a Japanese calligrapher and use this to start your order instead of the button above:

 chá yuán
Tea Fate Scroll

茶緣 is a special title for the tea lover. This kind of means “tea fate,” but it's more spiritual and hard to define. Perhaps the tea brought you in to drink it. Perhaps the tea will bring you and another tea-lover together. Perhaps you were already there, and the tea came to you. Perhaps it's the ah-ha moment you will have when drinking the tea.

I've been told not to explain this further, as it will either dilute or confuse the purposefully-ambiguous idea embedded in this enigma.

I happen to be the owner of a piece of calligraphy written by either the son or nephew of the last emperor of China, which is the title he wrote. It was given to me at a Beijing tea house in 2001. 茶緣 is where I learned to love tea after literally spending weeks tasting and studying everything I could about Chinese tea. I did not understand the significance of the authorship or the meaning of the title at all. Some 10 years later, I realized the gift was so profound and had such providence. Only now do I realize the value of a gift that it is too late to give proper thanks for. It was also years later that I ended up in this business and could have the artwork properly mounted as a wall scroll. It has been borrowed for many exhibitions and shows and always amazes native Chinese and Taiwanese who read the signature. This piece of calligraphy I once thought was just a bit of ink on a thin and wrinkled piece of paper, is now one of my most valued possessions. And fate has taught me to be more thankful for seemingly simple gifts.

Tranquility Yields Transcendence

 níng jìng zhì yuǎn
Tranquility Yields Transcendence Scroll

寧靜致遠 is an ancient Chinese idiom that means “tranquility yields transcendence.”

This suggests pursuing a quiet life of profound study.

The first two characters mean tranquility. The last two characters mean “go far,” which suggests achieving much in your life or expanding beyond normal limits. The direct translation would read something like, “[With] tranquility [in your life, you'll] go far.”

Compare this to the English idiom: Still waters run deep.

Better to Travel 10,000 Miles than Read 10,000 Books

 xíng wàn lǐ lù shèng dú wàn juǎn shū
Better to Travel 10,000 Miles than Read 10,000 Books Scroll

行万里路胜读万卷书 translates a few ways:
To travel ten thousand miles beats reading ten-thousand books.
Better to travel ten thousand li than to read ten thousand books. (a “li” is an ancient Chinese mile)
Traveling thousands of miles is better than reading thousands of books.

No matter how you slice it, this Chinese proverb is claiming that experience is more profound and meaningful than what you can get from a book. Go do it! Don't just read about it.

 yōu xuán
 yū gen
Mysterious Scroll

幽玄 is the Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja word meaning dim, deep, mysterious, subtle grace, hidden beauty, mysterious profundity, elegant simplicity, or subtle and profound.

This can also be the Japanese personal name Yuugen or Yugen.

Flower in the Mirror, Moon on Water

 jìng huā shuǐ yuè
 kyou ka sui getsu
Flower in the Mirror, Moon on Water Scroll

鏡花水月 is an old Asian proverb that means “flowers in a mirror and the moon reflected in the lake” or “flowers reflected on a mirror and the moon reflected on the water's surface.”

Literally, 鏡花水月 reads “Mirror Flower, Water Moon.”

Figuratively this can be used to represent a lot of different ideas. It can be used to express an unrealistic rosy view or viewing things through rose-tinted spectacles. So you can use it to relay an idea about something that is visible but has no substance, something that can be seen but not touched, or something beautiful but unattainable such as dreams or a mirage.

This expression is used to describe things like the subtle and profound beauty of poems that cannot be described in words.

鏡 = Mirror (or lens)
花 = Flower(s)
水 = Water
月 = Moon


Can also be written 水月鏡花 (just a slight change in word/character order).


The following table may be helpful for those studying Chinese or Japanese...

Title CharactersRomaji (Romanized Japanese)Various forms of Romanized Chinese
Brevity: Fewer Words are Best少說為佳
少说为佳
shǎo shuō wéi jiā
shao3 shuo1 wei2 jia1
shao shuo wei jia
shaoshuoweijia
shao shuo wei chia
shaoshuoweichia
Clever
Superb
Wonderful
myou / myomiào / miao4 / miao
Compassionate Heart
Benevolent Heart
慈心jishincí xīn / ci2 xin1 / ci xin / cixintz`u hsin / tzuhsin / tzu hsin
Words Have Enormous Weight: One Word Worth Nine Caldrons一言九鼎yī yán jiǔ dǐng
yi1 yan2 jiu3 ding3
yi yan jiu ding
yiyanjiuding
i yen chiu ting
iyenchiuting
I am Enough己足以jǐ zú yǐ
ji3 zu2 yi3
ji zu yi
jizuyi
chi tsu i
chitsui
Intense
Serious
Deep
Profound
深刻shinkoku / misashēn kè / shen1 ke4 / shen ke / shenkeshen k`o / shenko / shen ko
Profound
Powerful Words
入木三分rù mù sān fēn
ru4 mu4 san1 fen1
ru mu san fen
rumusanfen
ju mu san fen
jumusanfen
Sangha僧伽sougya / sogyasēng qié / seng1 qie2 / seng qie / sengqieseng ch`ieh / sengchieh / seng chieh
Intense
Serious
真剣shin ken / shinken
Silence默 / 黙
mokumò / mo4 / mo
Tea Fate茶緣
茶缘
chá yuán / cha2 yuan2 / cha yuan / chayuanch`a yüan / chayüan / cha yüan
Tranquility Yields Transcendence寧靜致遠
宁静致远
níng jìng zhì yuǎn
ning2 jing4 zhi4 yuan3
ning jing zhi yuan
ningjingzhiyuan
ning ching chih yüan
ningchingchihyüan
Better to Travel 10,000 Miles than Read 10,000 Books行萬里路勝讀萬捲書
行万里路胜读万卷书
xíng wàn lǐ lù shèng dú wàn juǎn shū
xing2 wan4 li3 lu4 sheng4 du2 wan4 juan3 shu1
xing wan li lu sheng du wan juan shu
hsing wan li lu sheng tu wan chüan shu
Mysterious幽玄yū gen / yūgenyōu xuán / you1 xuan2 / you xuan / youxuanyu hsüan / yuhsüan
Flower in the Mirror, Moon on Water鏡花水月
镜花水月
kyou ka sui getsu
kyoukasuigetsu
kyo ka sui getsu
jìng huā shuǐ yuè
jing4 hua1 shui3 yue4
jing hua shui yue
jinghuashuiyue
ching hua shui yüeh
chinghuashuiyüeh
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.


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.


A nice Chinese calligraphy wall scroll

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.

A professional Chinese Calligrapher

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.

Trying to learn Chinese calligrapher - a futile effort

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.

A high-ranked Chinese master calligrapher that I met in Zhongwei

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.



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