Custom in Chinese / Japanese...

笑龍功夫 is the title for a Martial Arts studio (custom-made at by request of the owner of the studio).

暴怒 means violent rage or fury in Chinese.

This is not appropriate for custom calligraphy!

指導員 means instructor, coach, or advisor.

指導員 is similar to Sensei but not a typical choice for custom calligraphy.

狡 means crafty, cunning, sly, deed, or sneaky person.

狡 is not really a positive word, so I don't suggest you order it for a custom wall scroll.

沒有道歉 means “no apologies” or “without apologies” in Chinese.

This phrase is inappropriate for custom calligraphy and is for educational purposes only.

芸妓 is how to refer to a geisha that offers “special services.”

Please don't order this, it's only here for reference. 芸妓 is not appropriate for custom calligraphy!

激怒 means violent rage, fury, to infuriate, enrage, exasperate, or indignation in Chinese, old Korean Hanja, and Japanese Kanji.

激怒 is not appropriate for custom calligraphy!

While 力量和勇氣 is not a typical Chinese phrase, this is how to write “strength and courage.”

If this is an important idea for you, we can make a great custom Chinese “strength and courage” wall scroll for you.

陰莖 is the most common title for penis in Chinese. There are at least 10 more ways to express “penis.”

A colloquial term used commonly in Chinese is “little brother.”

This selection is not appropriate for custom calligraphy. I only added this entry because thousands of people searched for penis on our website. You guys are weird!

Another way to say penis is "male root," pronounced "nán gēn" in Chinese, "dan kon" in Japanese, and 남근 or "nam geun" in Korean. This is shown to the right.

In Chinese, 流氓 means rogue, hoodlum, hooligan, gangster, or a person engaged in immoral behavior.

In Japanese, this is a title for a refugee (though so rarely used and obscure that many Japanese will not recognize this word).

Please don't order this, it's only here for reference only. 流氓 is not appropriate for custom calligraphy!

Seems a lot of you want to know how to write “shit” in Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja. 糞 is the single-character version of shit, which is used to express the ideas of manure, dung, and bullshit. Yes, at least in Chinese, they use this in much the same way as shit or bullshit is used in English.

Please don't try to order this, it's here only for reference. 糞 is not appropriate for custom calligraphy!

風水 is the famous technique and approach to arranging your home externally around natural features and internally to create balance and peace.

These two characters literally mean “wind water.” Obviously, the title is far more simple than the concept behind this subject.

It may enlighten you slightly to know that the character for “wind” can also mean style, custom, or manner in some contexts. This may apply somewhat to this title.

In a technical sense, this title is translated as Chinese geomancy.

This is a rarely-used word for ocean in Japanese, Chinese, and Korean. This is here mostly for reference - please order a different ocean for your custom calligraphy wall scroll.

The first character means “big” or “great.”
The second means “ocean” or “body of water” (it can sometimes mean “foreign” but not in this case).
The first character designates that you are talking about a great or huge body of water (certainly a major ocean and not a smaller sea).

Nothing could be more true. When I was in the Marine Corps, we trained for years for combat that often lasts only hours.

養兵千日用兵一時 is a Chinese proverb that, also reminds me of a common phrase used in the military to describe combat: “Weeks of total boredom, punctuated with five minutes of sheer terror.”

This may have some roots in Sun Tzu's The Art of War. Though I can not find this passage in his writings.

On the subject of the Art of War, if you have a favorite passage, we can create a custom calligraphy scroll with that phrase.

国家忠诚父母孝道朋友有信杀生有择临战无退 are the five codes of Tang Soo Do.

I suggest you have this arranged in five columns when you get to the options page for your custom calligraphy wall scroll.

Here are my translations of each of the five codes:
國家忠誠 Be loyal to your country.
父母孝道 In regards to parents, behave in a filial way.
朋友有信 Be faithful in friendship.
殺生有擇 When fighting for life and death, make noble choices.
臨戰無退 No retreat in battle.

Note: “Tang Soo Do” is a romanization of 唐手道. It's 당수도 in Korean Hangul. It can also be romanized as “Tangsudo” or “Dangsudo.”

知子莫若父 can be translated as “No one knows a son better than his father.”

This idiom is based on the idea that after spending many years together, family members know everything about each other. Better than anyone else, a father knows the qualities and shortcomings of his son.

If you are looking for something about “father and son,” this is probably the best selection.

While this is the original proverb (very old), others have been composed about various combinations of mothers, sons, daughters, and fathers. Let me know if you need a custom version.

Seems a lot of you want to know how to write “shit” in Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja. Well, here it is.

Do not, under any circumstances, try to order this selection for a wall scroll. None of the calligraphers that I work with would dare to lower themselves to such a level and actually write “shit” for you. 大便 is only here for reference. 大便 is not appropriate for custom calligraphy!

大便 is thousands of years old and was absorbed into both Japanese and Korean (if you note, the pronunciation is very similar in all three languages).

This version is sometimes used as a verb (when used with some other words).

米海兵隊 is the Japanese way to write “United States Marine Corps” or simply “U.S. Marines.”

Breaking down each Kanji, this means:
“rice (American) ocean/sea soldiers/army/military corps/regiment/group.”

This title will only make sense in Japanese, it is not the same in Chinese! Make sure you know your audience before ordering a custom wall scroll.

If you are wondering about rice, America is known as “rice country” or “rice kingdom” when literally translated. The Kanji for rice is often used as an abbreviation in front of words (like a sub-adjective) to make something “American.” Americans say “rice burner” for a Japanese car and “rice rocket” for a Japanese motorcycle. If you did the same in Japanese, it would have the opposite meaning.

Note: I have not verified this but I’ve found this title used for U.S. Marines in Korean articles, so it’s most likely a normal Korean term as well (but only in Korean Hanja).

See Also:  Marine Corps | Navy | Army | Art of War | Warrior | Military

跆拳道精神禮義廉耻忍耐克己百折不屈 is General Choi's writing that is often called “The Tenets of Taekwon-do.”

The actual title would be translated as “Taekwondo Spirit” or “The Spirit of Taekwondo.” It was originally written in Korean Hanja (Chinese characters used in Korea for about 1600 years).

This 氣 energy flow is a fundamental concept of traditional Asian culture.

氣 is romanized as “Qi” or “Chi” in Chinese, “Gi” in Korean, and “Ki” in Japanese.
Chi is believed to be part of everything that exists, as in “life force” or “spiritual energy.” It is most often translated as “energy flow” or literally as “air” or “breath.” Some people will simply translate this as “spirit,” but you must consider the kind of spirit we're talking about. I think this is weighted more toward energy than spirit.

The character itself is a representation of steam (or breath) rising from rice. To clarify, the character for rice looks like this:
Steam was apparently seen as visual evidence of the release of “life energy” when this concept was first developed. The Qi / Chi / Ki character is still used in compound words to mean steam or vapor.
The etymology of this character is a bit complicated. It's suggested that the first form of this character from bronze script (about 2500 years ago) looked like these samples:
However, it was easy to confuse this with the character for the number three. So the rice radical was added by 221 B.C. (the exact time of this change is debated). This first version with the rice radical looks like this:
The idea of Qi / Chi / Ki is really a philosophical concept. It's often used to refer to the “flow” of metaphysical energy that sustains living beings. Yet there is much debate that has continued for thousands of years as to whether Qi / Chi / Ki is pure energy or consists partially or fully of matter.

You can also see the character for Qi / Chi / Ki in common compound words such as Tai Chi / Tai Qi, Aikido, Reiki, and Qi Gong / Chi Kung.

In the modern Japanese Kanji, the rice radical has been changed into two strokes that form an X.

The original and traditional Chinese form is still understood in Japanese, but we can also offer that modern Kanji form in our custom calligraphy. If you want this Japanese Kanji, please click on the character to the right instead of the “Select and Customize” button above.

More language notes: This is pronounced like “chee” in Mandarin Chinese, and like “key” in Japanese.
This is also the same way to write this in Korean Hanja where it is Romanized as “gi” and pronounced like “gee” but with a real G-sound, not a J-sound.
Though Vietnamese no longer use Chinese characters in their daily language, this character is still widely known in Vietnam.

See Also:  Energy | Life Force | Vitality | Life | Birth | Soul

This poem was written almost 1200 years ago during the Tang dynasty.

It depicts traveling up a place known as Cold Mountain, where some hearty people have built their homes. The traveler is overwhelmed by the beauty of the turning leaves of the maple forest that surrounds him just as night overtakes the day, and darkness prevails. His heart implores him to stop, and take in all of the beauty around him.

First, before you get to the full translation, I must tell you that Chinese poetry is a lot different than what we have in the west. Chinese words simply don't rhyme in the same way that English or other western languages do. Chinese poetry depends on rhythm and a certain beat of repeated numbers of characters.

I have done my best to translate this poem keeping a certain feel of the original poet. But some of the original beauty of the poem in its original Chinese will be lost in translation.

Far away on Cold Mountain, a stone path leads upwards.
Among white clouds, people's homes reside.
Stopping my carriage I must, as to admire the maple forest at nights fall.
In awe of autumn leaves showing more red than even flowers of early spring.

Hopefully, this poem will remind you to stop, and “take it all in” as you travel through life.
The poet's name is “Du Mu” in Chinese that is: .
The title of the poem, “Mountain Travels” is:
You can have the title, poet's name, and even “Tang Dynasty” written as an inscription on your custom wall scroll if you like.

More about the poet:

Dumu lived from 803-852 AD and was a leading Chinese poet during the later part of the Tang dynasty.
He was born in Chang'an, a city in central China and the former capital of the ancient Chinese empire in 221-206 BC. In present-day China, his birthplace is currently known as Xi'an, the home of the Terracotta Soldiers.

He was awarded his Jinshi degree (an exam administered by the emperor's court which leads to becoming an official of the court) at the age of 25 and went on to hold many official positions over the years. However, he never achieved a high rank, apparently because of some disputes between various factions, and his family's criticism of the government. His last post in the court was his appointment to the office of Secretariat Drafter.

During his life, he wrote scores of narrative poems, as well as a commentary on the Art of War and many letters of advice to high officials.

His poems were often very realistic and often depicted everyday life. He wrote poems about everything, from drinking beer in a tavern to weepy poems about lost love.

The thing that strikes you most is the fact even after 1200 years, not much has changed about the beauty of nature, toils, and troubles of love and beer drinking.