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鼈 refers to a species of turtle.
鼈 is Trionyx Sinensis.
鼈 refers to different turtles in different languages. See individual language notes below:
Japanese: 鼈 means “snapping turtle” or “mud turtle.” But rarely used as a single Kanji like this in Japanese.
Chinese: 鼈 means soft-shelled turtle. A specific species, Trionyx Sinensis is native to Asia.
In China, this species is related to the “wang ba,” a soft-shelled turtle sometimes known in English as a banjo turtle (due to its long neck, and general shape). Unfortunately, there is a word, “wang ba dan” which means the egg of this species of turtle. That term has come to mean “bastard” in Chinese (a turtle hatches from an abandoned egg, and does not know who his mother or father is). 鼈 is not a good selection for a wall scroll if your audience is Chinese.
In Korean, this character can be pronounced (though most Koreans would have to look it up in a dictionary). It has not been in common use in Korea for at least a few hundred years.
General notes: You may notice that the bottom half of this character is the same as some other turtle-related titles. That bottom half is actually an ancient character that means “toad.” Though not seen in this way today, most turtle-related characters hold the meaning of “a toad with a shell” in their ancient origin. That toad character is rarely used alone anymore but you can see what it looks like in the image to the right.
Below are some entries from our dictionary that may match your 鼈 search...
Characters If shown, 2nd row is Simp. Chinese |
Pronunciation Romanization |
Simple Dictionary Definition |
鼈 鳖 see styles |
biē bie1 pieh kame かめ |
More info & calligraphy: Japanese Snapping Turtle / Chinese Soft Shell Turtle(1) (kana only) Chinese soft-shelled turtle (Pelodiscus sinensis); soft-shelled turtle (Trionychidae); (2) (すっぽん only) trap door located on the walkway in a kabuki theatre; (3) (すっぽん only) bilge pump (used on traditional Japanese ships); (surname) Kame A turtle, tortoise. |
田鼈 see styles |
tagame たがめ |
(kana only) Lethocerus deyrollei (species of giant water bug) |
石鼈 see styles |
hizaragai ひざらがい jiigase / jigase じいがせ |
(1) (kana only) chiton (any marine mollusk of the class Polyplacophora); sea cradle; (2) Japanese chiton (Acanthopleura japonica) |
鼈奴 see styles |
beccharo べっちゃろ |
(place-name) Beccharo |
鼈甲 see styles |
bekkou / bekko べっこう |
(1) tortoiseshell (of the hawksbill turtle); bekko; (2) (in Chinese medicine) tortoiseshell (esp. of the Chinese soft-shelled turtle) |
鼈茸 see styles |
suppontake; suppontake すっぽんたけ; スッポンタケ |
(kana only) common stinkhorn (Phallus impudicus) |
鼈頭 see styles |
goutou / goto ごうとう |
(place-name) Goutou |
月と鼈 see styles |
tsukitosuppon つきとすっぽん |
(expression) like chalk and cheese (superficially similar, but completely different) (the moon and a turtle shell are both round, but they are otherwise completely different); like day and night; like the difference between heaven and hell |
藻鼈川 see styles |
mobetsugawa もべつがわ |
(personal name) Mobetsugawa |
藻鼈橋 see styles |
mobetsubashi もべつばし |
(place-name) Mobetsubashi |
鼈宮谷 see styles |
bekkuya べっくや |
(surname) Bekkuya |
鼈甲屋 see styles |
betsukouya / betsukoya べつこうや |
(surname) Betsukouya |
鼈甲斎 see styles |
bekkousai / bekkosai べっこうさい |
(surname) Bekkousai |
鼈甲色 see styles |
bekkouiro / bekkoiro べっこういろ |
amber (colour, color) |
鼈甲蜂 see styles |
bekkoubachi / bekkobachi べっこうばち |
spider wasp; pompilid |
鼈甲飴 see styles |
bekkouame / bekkoame べっこうあめ |
hard candy; candy suckers molded on a griddle; tortoise-shell candy |
鼈甲餡 see styles |
bekkouan / bekkoan べっこうあん |
(food term) tortoiseshell sauce; thickened sauce of dashi, soy, mirin, etc. |
鼈頭洲 see styles |
bettosu べっとす |
(place-name) Bettosu |
鼈鼻蛇 see styles |
biē bí shé bie1 bi2 she2 pieh pi she |
a type of poisonous snake |
鼈不愼ロ see styles |
biē bù shèn bie1 bu4 shen4 pieh pu shen |
The tortoise, clinging to a stick with its mouth, being carried in fight, warned not to open its mouth to speak, yet did, fell and perished; moral, guard your lips. |
鼈不愼口 see styles |
biē bù shèn xì bie1 bu4 shen4 xi4 pieh pu shen hsi |
the tortoise not daring to speak |
鼈甲あん see styles |
bekkouan / bekkoan べっこうあん |
(food term) tortoiseshell sauce; thickened sauce of dashi, soy, mirin, etc. |
鼈甲細工 see styles |
bekkouzaiku / bekkozaiku べっこうざいく |
article of tortoise shell; tortoiseshell work |
Variations: |
bekkou / bekko べっこう |
(1) (See タイマイ) tortoiseshell (of the hawksbill turtle); bekko; (2) (in Chinese medicine) (See スッポン・1) tortoiseshell (esp. of the Chinese soft-shelled turtle) |
Variations: |
tagame; tagame たがめ; タガメ |
(kana only) Lethocerus deyrollei (species of giant water bug) |
Variations: |
bekkou / bekko べっこう |
(1) (See 玳瑁) tortoiseshell (of the hawksbill turtle); bekko; (2) (in Chinese medicine) (See 鼈・1) tortoiseshell (esp. of the Chinese soft-shelled turtle) |
Variations: |
bekkouame / bekkoame べっこうあめ |
(See 鼈甲色) hard candy; candy suckers molded on a griddle; tortoise-shell candy |
Variations: |
hizaragai(膝皿貝, 火皿貝, 石鼈); jiigase(石鼈, 爺ga背); hizaragai / hizaragai(膝皿貝, 火皿貝, 石鼈); jigase(石鼈, 爺ga背); hizaragai ひざらがい(膝皿貝, 火皿貝, 石鼈); じいがせ(石鼈, 爺が背); ヒザラガイ |
(1) (kana only) chiton (any marine mollusk of the class Polyplacophora); sea cradle; (2) Japanese chiton (Acanthopleura japonica) |
Variations: |
tsukitosuppon(月tosuppon); tsukitosuppon(月tosuppon, 月to鼈) つきとスッポン(月とスッポン); つきとすっぽん(月とすっぽん, 月と鼈) |
(exp,n) (idiom) two things that superficially similar but completely different; night and day; chalk and cheese; the Moon and a turtle |
Variations: |
bekkouan / bekkoan べっこうあん |
{food} tortoiseshell sauce; thickened sauce of dashi, soy, mirin, etc. |
The following table may be helpful for those studying Chinese or Japanese...
Title | Characters | Romaji (Romanized Japanese) | Various forms of Romanized Chinese | |
Japanese Snapping Turtle Chinese Soft Shell Turtle | 鼈 | suppon / supon | biē / bie1 / bie | pieh |
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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!
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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.