Buy an 〇 calligraphy wall scroll here!
Personalize your custom “〇” project by clicking the button next to your favorite “〇” title below...
〇 is the famous Enso symbol, which you will see widely used by Japanese Zen Buddhists.
In a twist, I am starting to see Enso used more and more by Chinese Buddhists.
Here is the typical appearance of Enso artwork by Japanese calligrapher Kougetsu.
Enso is not a Japanese Kanji character. It falls more into the category of a symbol. There is some debate, but many consider Enso to be a religious symbol.
Some call this “The Circle of Enlightenment.” Others call it the “Infinity Circle.” If you actually took the meanings of the two Kanji (円相) that make up the word “En-so,” you could read it as “Mutual Circle” or “Circle of Togetherness.” I think the Enso symbol can simply mean different things to different people. Therefore, you should let it have the meaning that you perceive.
The appearance of your Enso will be determined by the artist's personal style, feeling, mood, etc.
零 is the number zero in Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja.
零 is a strange selection for a wall scroll, so it's here mostly for reference. I guess it's OK if zero is important to you.
Note: In modern Japan and China, they will often just write a circle to represent zero in lieu of this character.
Below are some entries from our dictionary that may match your 〇 search...
Characters If shown, 2nd row is Simp. Chinese |
Pronunciation Romanization |
Simple Dictionary Definition |
〇 see styles |
líng ling2 ling maru まる |
More info & calligraphy: Enso - Japanese Zen Circle(1) circle (sometimes used for zero); (2) 'correct' (when marking); (3) symbol used as a placeholder (either because a number of other words could be used in that position, or because of censorship); (4) period; full stop; (5) maru mark; semivoiced sound; p-sound |
〇× see styles |
marubatsu まるばつ |
circle and cross; right and wrong (answers); true-false |
〇〇 see styles |
marumaru まるまる |
(1) symbol used as a placeholder (either because a number of other words could be used in that position, or because of censorship); (prefix noun) (2) certain; unnamed; undisclosed; unidentified |
Variations: |
maru まる |
(1) (sometimes used for zero) (See 丸・まる・1) circle; (2) (when marking a test, homework, etc.) (See 二重丸) "correct"; "good"; (unc) (3) (placeholder used to censor individual characters or indicate a space to be filled in) (See 〇〇・1) *; _; (4) (See 句点) period; full stop; (5) (See 半濁点) handakuten (diacritic) |
20時 see styles |
nijuuji / nijuji にじゅうじ |
8 PM |
G10 see styles |
jiiten / jiten ジーテン |
Group of Ten; G-10 |
10年代 see styles |
juunendai / junendai じゅうねんだい |
the '10s; the tens |
20年代 see styles |
nijuunendai / nijunendai にじゅうねんだい |
the '20s; the twenties |
30年代 see styles |
sanjuunendai / sanjunendai さんじゅうねんだい |
the '30s; the thirties |
40年代 see styles |
yonjuunendai / yonjunendai よんじゅうねんだい |
the '40s; the forties |
502膠 502胶 see styles |
wǔ líng èr jiāo wu3 ling2 er4 jiao1 wu ling erh chiao |
cyanoacrylate glue |
50年代 see styles |
gojuunendai / gojunendai ごじゅうねんだい |
the '50s; the fifties |
60年代 see styles |
rokujuunendai / rokujunendai ろくじゅうねんだい |
the '60s; the sixties |
70年代 see styles |
nanajuunendai / nanajunendai ななじゅうねんだい |
the '70s; the seventies |
80年代 see styles |
hachijuunendai / hachijunendai はちじゅうねんだい |
the '80s; the eighties |
90年代 see styles |
kyuujuunendai / kyujunendai きゅうじゅうねんだい |
the '90s; the nineties |
一一〇番 see styles |
hyakutooban ひゃくとおばん |
(noun/participle) police emergency tel. no. (in Japan) |
北10線 see styles |
kitajissen きたじっせん |
(place-name) Kitajissen |
Variations: |
marubatsu まるばつ |
circle and cross; right and wrong (answers); true-false |
〇×テスト see styles |
marubatsutesuto まるばつテスト |
true-false test; yes-no test |
Variations: |
marumaru まるまる |
(1) symbol used as a placeholder (either because a number of other words could be used in that position, or because of censorship); (prefix noun) (2) certain; unnamed; undisclosed; unidentified |
090金融 see styles |
zerokyuuzerokinyuu / zerokyuzerokinyu ゼロキューゼロきんゆう |
loan sharks operating from a cellphone (i.e. without a fixed phone number); 090 financing |
スター80 see styles |
sutaaeitii / sutaeti スターエイティー |
(work) Star 80 (film); (wk) Star 80 (film) |
トップ10 see styles |
topputen トップテン |
(adj-no,n) top ten |
プラマイ0 see styles |
puramaizero プラマイゼロ |
(abbreviation) (kana only) (See プラスマイナスゼロ) no loss or gain; coming out even |
南10線西 see styles |
minamijissennishi みなみじっせんにし |
(place-name) Minamijissennishi |
南20線西 see styles |
minaminijissennishi みなみにじっせんにし |
(place-name) Minaminijissennishi |
東10号北 see styles |
higashijuugoukita / higashijugokita ひがしじゅうごうきた |
(place-name) Higashijuugoukita |
東10号南 see styles |
higashijuugouminami / higashijugominami ひがしじゅうごうみなみ |
(place-name) Higashijuugouminami |
東10線北 see styles |
higashijissenkita ひがしじっせんきた |
(place-name) Higashijissenkita |
The following table may be helpful for those studying Chinese or Japanese...
Title | Characters | Romaji (Romanized Japanese) | Various forms of Romanized Chinese | |
Enso - Japanese Zen Circle | 〇 | en sou / ensou / en so | ||
Zero | 零 零 / 〇 | rei / zero | líng / ling2 / ling | |
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.