Custom Shoshin - Mind of the Beginner Japanese Calligraphy Wall Scroll

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Mind of the Beginner

Shoshin

 chū xīn
 sho shin
Mind of the Beginner Scroll

初心 is often translated in Japanese as “beginner's mind” or “beginner's spirit.”

In Chinese, the dictionary definition is “one's original intention.”

The first character means first, initial, primary, junior, beginning, or basic.

The second character means heart, mind, soul, or essence.

初心 is one of the five spirits of the warrior (budo) and is often used as a Japanese martial arts tenet. Under that context, places such as the Budo Dojo define it this way: The state of shoshin is that of a beginners mind. It is a state of awareness that always remains fully conscious, aware, and prepared to see things for the first time. The attitude of shoshin is essential to continued learning.

Never Forget Your First Resolution

Never Lose Your Beginner's Spirit

 sho shin wasu ru be ka ra zu
Never Forget Your First Resolution Scroll

初心忘るべからず is an old Japanese proverb that suggests you try to never forget the enthusiasm you had as a child when you try new things (or even face the day-to-day). Basically, avoid having the mundane attitude that many people get with age.

You'll find this Japanese proverb translated in a few different ways. Here are some of them:
Don't forget your first resolution.
Never forget your childlike enthusiasm.
Forget not the beginner's mind.
Try never to lose your initial enthusiasm (freshness of attitude).


Note: This is sometimes written as 初心忘る可からず. The one shown above is used about 10x more often. There’s only one character difference between the two versions.


Note: Because this selection contains some special Japanese Hiragana characters, it should be written by a Japanese calligrapher.

 shou shin ryuu
Shoshin-Ryu Scroll

初心流 is often translated in Japanese as “beginner's mind style” or “beginner's spirit method.”

The first character means first, initial, primary, junior, beginning, or basic.

The second character means heart, mind, soul, or essence.

The third character means style, method, or some will translate it as a school.


Please note, there is more than one martial arts school that romanizes as Shoshin-Ryu.

 shou shin ryuu
Shoshin-Ryu Scroll

正心流 is a Japanese title that means “right heart style” or “true mind method.”

The first character means right, correct, greater, or true.

The second character means heart, mind, soul, or essence.

The third character means style, method, or some will translate it as a school.


Please note, there is more than one martial arts school that romanizes as Shoshin-Ryu.

Ultimate Reality

 jīng zhēn
 shou shin
Ultimate Reality Scroll

精眞 means pure truth or the apprehension of ultimate reality.




This in-stock artwork might be what you are looking for, and ships right away...

Gallery Price: $178.00

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

Title CharactersRomaji (Romanized Japanese)Various forms of Romanized Chinese
Mind of the Beginner初心sho shin / shoshinchū xīn / chu1 xin1 / chu xin / chuxinch`u hsin / chuhsin / chu hsin
Never Forget Your First Resolution初心忘るべからず / 初心忘る可からず
初心忘るべからず
sho shin wasu ru be ka ra zu
shoshinwasurubekarazu
Shoshin-Ryu初心流shou shin ryuu
shoushinryuu
sho shin ryu
Shoshin-Ryu正心流shou shin ryuu
shoushinryuu
sho shin ryu
Ultimate Reality精眞shou shin / shoushin / sho shinjīng zhēn
jing1 zhen1
jing zhen
jingzhen
ching chen
chingchen
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.


Dictionary

Lookup in my Japanese & Chinese Dictionary

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.