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Ancestors in Chinese / Japanese...

Buy an Ancestors calligraphy wall scroll here!

Personalize your custom “Ancestors” project by clicking the button next to your favorite “Ancestors” title below...


  1. Crane

  2. Drinking the water of a well: One should never forget who dug it

  3. Family Bond / Family Ties

  4. Filial Piety / Filial Conduct

  5. Filial Piety

  6. The Dao of Filial Piety

  7. Honor for Ancestors

  8. Islam

  9. Nguyen / Ruan

10. Southern Praying Mantis

11. Five Ancestors Fist

12. Sanchin


Crane

Graceful bird of longevity

 hè
 gaku / tsuru
 
Crane Scroll

鶴 is a famous bird of China.

Known in China to be a very spiritual creature, the crane is a symbol of both longevity and the journey of the souls and spirits of ancestors.

Note: 鶴 can mean crane or stork in Japanese.

Drinking the water of a well: One should never forget who dug it

 chī shuǐ bú wàng jué jǐng rén
Drinking the water of a well: One should never forget who dug it Scroll

This proverb suggests that one should always be grateful to those who helped one succeed.

And remember your ancestors and those that came before you whose sacrifices made your present life better.

Some Chinese will separate the intended meaning from this proverb and translate this as “Don't forget the people who once helped you.” In Modern China, this idiom is virtually never used to refer to an actual well.

Note: This can be pronounced in Korean but it's not a commonly used phrase.

Family Bond / Family Ties

 qīn yuán
Family Bond / Family Ties Scroll

親緣 is a Chinese word that means affinity, family relationship, or consanguinity.

This speaks of the family bonds we have with others that share the same blood or ancestors.

Family Bond / Family Ties

 ruien
Family Bond / Family Ties Scroll

類縁 is a Japanese word that means affinity or family relationship.

This is about the bond shared by blood within a family or those from the same ancestor.

Filial Piety / Filial Conduct

 xiào xìng
 koukou
Filial Piety / Filial Conduct Scroll

孝行 expresses the idea of filial piety or filial conduct.

While the first character means filial piety by itself, the second character adds “action.” Therefore this represents the actions you take to show your respect and obedience to your elders or ancestors.

Confucius is probably the first great advocate for filial piety.

Filial Piety

 xiào
 kou
 
Filial Piety Scroll

孝 represents filial piety.

Some will define this in more common English as “respect for your parents and ancestors.”

孝 is a subject deeply emphasized by the ancient philosophy and teachings of Confucius.

Some have included this in the list for the Bushido, although generally not considered part of the 7 core virtues of the warrior.

Note: 孝 is not the best of meanings when seen as a single character. Some will read the single-character form to mean “missing my dead ancestors.” However, when written as part of Confucian tenets, or in the two-character word that means filial piety, the meaning is better or read differently (context is important for this character).

We suggest one of our other two-character filial piety entries instead of this one.

The Dao of Filial Piety

 xiào dào
 kou dou
The Dao of Filial Piety Scroll

孝道 most clearly expresses the Confucian philosophy of filial piety.

Confucius taught that all should be respectful and obedient to their parents. Included in this idea is honoring your ancestors.

The second character is “dao/tao” or “the way” as in Taoism. You can say this title is “The Tao of Filial Piety” or “The Way of Filial Piety.”


See Also:  Confucius

Honor for Ancestors

 zǔ xiān chóng bài
 so sen suu hai
Honor for Ancestors Scroll

祖先崇拜 means “Appreciation and honor of your ancestors.”

This can refer to anyone from your grandparents and beyond.

The first two characters mean ancestors or forefathers.

The last two characters mean worship, adore/adoration, or admiration.

This is the kind of wall scroll that a filial son or daughter in China or Japan would hang to honor their ancestors who paved the way for the new generation.


拝Japanese use a slight variation on the last Kanji. If you want this specifically Japanese version, just click on the Kanji image to the right (instead of the button above). Note that Japanese people would easily be able to identify the original Chinese form of that Kanji anyway.

They also have a similar phrase in old Korean but the first two characters are reversed - just let me know if you want that version when you place your order.

Islam

(phonetic version)

 yī sī lán jiào
Islam Scroll

伊斯蘭教 both means and sounds like “Islam” in Mandarin Chinese.

The first three characters sound like the word “Islam,” and the last character means “religion” or “teaching.” It's the most general term for “Islam” in China. The highest concentration of Muslims in China is Xinjiang (the vast region in northwest China that was called The East Turkistan Republic until 1949 and is sometimes called Chinese Turkistan, Uyghuristan). Here you will find Uygurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and others that are descendants of Turkmen (possibly mixed with Persians and Arabs). Many of their ancestors were traders who traveled the silk road to buy and sell spices and silk and exchange other goods from the Orient and the Middle East.

I spent some time in Xinjiang and got to know this community. They are strong people who can endure much. They are friendly and love to have a good time. I was a stranger but was treated by villagers (near China's border with Afghanistan) as if I was a good friend.
However, I have heard that it's best not to cross them, as in this land, the law is the blade, and everything is “eye for an eye.” The Chinese government has little control in Xinjiang, with almost no police officers except in the capital of Urumqi (so it's a 60-hour roundtrip train ride to seek the aid of law enforcement in most cases).

While few seem devout, there are at least small mosques in every village. And you will never see a man or woman outside without a head covering.

It should be noted that these people are all citizens of China, but they are officially of the Caucasian race. A visit to Xinjiang will change your idea of what it means to be Chinese.

Nguyen / Ruan

Surname

 ruǎn
 jyun
 Min / Gen
 
Nguyen / Ruan Scroll

阮 is the original Chinese character that represented the Vietnamese surname Nguyễn before Vietnam stopped using Chinese characters and romanized their language. It is probably the most common surname in all of Vietnam. While romanized as Nguyen, it sounds more like the English word “Win” or “When.” 阮 can also represent the Nguyen Dynasty in Vietnam, which lasted from 1802 to 1945.

阮 is also the Chinese surname Ruan, most Chinese with this surname have ancestors from a small state named Ruan during the Shang Dynasty (1600-1046 BC) located in the southeast of modern-day Gansu Province.

In Japanese, this can be the rare surnames pronounced Min, Gen, Ken, Gan, or En.

Besides a surname, this character also represents an ancient musical instrument.

Southern Praying Mantis

 nán pài táng láng
Southern Praying Mantis Scroll

南派螳螂 can be translated literally as “Southern School Praying Mantis” or “Southern Style Praying Mantis.”

Despite its name, the Southern Praying Mantis style of Chinese martial arts is unrelated to the Northern Praying Mantis style. Southern Praying Mantis is instead related most closely to fellow Hakka styles such as Dragon and more distantly to the Fujian family of styles that includes Fujian White Crane, Five Ancestors, and Wing Chun.

This style of martial arts focuses more on fighting skills rather than aesthetics.

Of course, you already knew that if you were looking for this term.

Note: This title can be pronounced and does have meaning in Korean but only to Koreans familiar with Chinese martial arts.

Five Ancestors Fist

 wǔ zǔ quán
Five Ancestors Fist Scroll

五祖拳 is a martial arts concept (or school) known as Five Ancestors' Fist.

The first character means five.
The second means ancestor, forefather, or grandparents.
The third means fist.

The ancestors referred to by this title and whose attributes contribute to this style are as follows:
1. Grace of the White Crane.
2. Agility of the Monkey.
3. Precision and skill of Emperor Taizu (great mythical ancestor).
4. Power of Luohan (Buddhist arhat).
5. Breath of Damo (founder of Buddhism, or the first Buddha).

 sān zhàn
 san sen
Sanchin Scroll

三戦 is a title that literally means “three battles/conflicts/wars.”

三戦 is often figuratively used to relay the idea of a battle to unify the mind, body, and spirit.

Original usage likely comes from Fujian province in Southern China (just across from Taiwan).

This title is used in various schools such as Okinawan Karate, Uechi-Ryū, Gōjū-Ryū, Fujian White Crane, and Five Ancestors among others.


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

Title CharactersRomaji (Romanized Japanese)Various forms of Romanized Chinese
Crane
gaku / tsuruhè / he4 / heho
Drinking the water of a well: One should never forget who dug it吃水不忘掘井人chī shuǐ bú wàng jué jǐng rén
chi1 shui3 bu2 wang4 jue2 jing3 ren2
chi shui bu wang jue jing ren
chishuibuwangjuejingren
ch`ih shui pu wang chüeh ching jen
chih shui pu wang chüeh ching jen
Family Bond
Family Ties
親緣
亲缘
qīn yuán / qin1 yuan2 / qin yuan / qinyuanch`in yüan / chinyüan / chin yüan
Family Bond
Family Ties
類縁ruien
Filial Piety
Filial Conduct
孝行koukou / kokoxiào xìng
xiao4 xing4
xiao xing
xiaoxing
hsiao hsing
hsiaohsing
Filial Pietykou / koxiào / xiao4 / xiaohsiao
The Dao of Filial Piety孝道kou dou / koudou / ko doxiào dào / xiao4 dao4 / xiao dao / xiaodaohsiao tao / hsiaotao
Honor for Ancestors祖先崇拜
祖先崇拜 / 祖先崇拝
so sen suu hai
sosensuuhai
so sen su hai
zǔ xiān chóng bài
zu3 xian1 chong2 bai4
zu xian chong bai
zuxianchongbai
tsu hsien ch`ung pai
tsuhsienchungpai
tsu hsien chung pai
Islam伊斯蘭教
伊斯兰教
yī sī lán jiào
yi1 si1 lan2 jiao4
yi si lan jiao
yisilanjiao
i ssu lan chiao
issulanchiao
Nguyen
Ruan
阮 / 阮
Min / Genruǎn / ruan3 / ruanjuan
Southern Praying Mantis南派螳螂nán pài táng láng
nan2 pai4 tang2 lang2
nan pai tang lang
nanpaitanglang
nan p`ai t`ang lang
nanpaitanglang
nan pai tang lang
Five Ancestors Fist五祖拳wǔ zǔ quán
wu3 zu3 quan2
wu zu quan
wuzuquan
wu tsu ch`üan
wutsuchüan
wu tsu chüan
Sanchin三戦san sen / sansensān zhàn / san1 zhan4 / san zhan / sanzhansan chan / sanchan
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 Ancestors in my Japanese & Chinese Dictionary


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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!

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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.


Check out my lists of Japanese Kanji Calligraphy Wall Scrolls and Old Korean Hanja Calligraphy Wall Scrolls.

Some people may refer to this entry as Ancestors Kanji, Ancestors Characters, Ancestors in Mandarin Chinese, Ancestors Characters, Ancestors in Chinese Writing, Ancestors in Japanese Writing, Ancestors in Asian Writing, Ancestors Ideograms, Chinese Ancestors symbols, Ancestors Hieroglyphics, Ancestors Glyphs, Ancestors in Chinese Letters, Ancestors Hanzi, Ancestors in Japanese Kanji, Ancestors Pictograms, Ancestors in the Chinese Written-Language, or Ancestors in the Japanese Written-Language.

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