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See also: Bushido - Code of the Samurai Warrior
1. Bushi Kai
3. Warrior
4. Bushido / The Way of the Samurai
The first character is the spirit or essence of a warrior. The second character means soldier, officer, or official. 武士 is also used appropriately enough to describe a piece of a chess game. This can also be translated as soldier, cavalier, palace guard, or samurai and sometimes as knight. I've occasionally seen this translated as strong man or tough man (gender not necessarily implied).
By far, this is the most common way to write warrior in Chinese characters, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja.
Note: In Japanese, this is Bushi, as in Bushido.
武士道 is the title for "The Code of the Samurai".
Sometimes called "The Seven Virtues of the Samurai", "The Bushido Code", or "The Samurai Code of Chivalry".
This would be read in Chinese characters, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja as "The Way of the Warrior", "The Warrior's Way", or "The Warrior's Code".
It's a set of virtues that the Samurai of Japan and ancient warriors of China and Korea had to live and die by. However, while known throughout Asia, this title is mostly used in Japan and thought of as being of Japanese origin.
The seven commonly-accepted tenets or virtues of Bushido are: Rectitude 義, Courage 勇, Benevolence 仁, Respect 礼(禮), Honour 名誉, Honesty 誠, and Loyalty 忠実. These tenets were part of an oral history for generations, thus, you will see variations in the list Bushido tenets depending on who you talk to.
See our page with just Code of the Samurai / Bushido here
This can be read as "Peaceful Warrior" or "Warrior for Peace" in Japanese. This sounds like an oxymoron in Japanese, so it's a weird title. Expect Japanese people to be perplexed when they see it.
Character breakdown:
平和 (heiwa) peace; harmony.
の (no) possessive particle.
武士 (bushi) warrior; samurai; soldier.
This Japanese proverb simply reads, "[In] Flowers it's Cherry Blossoms, [In] Men it's Warriors".
花は櫻木人は武士 is meant to say that of all the flowers in the world, the cherry blossom is the best. And of all men in the world, the Samurai or Warrior is the best
This proverb has been around for a long time. It's believed to have been composed sometime before the Edo Period in Japan (which started in 1603).
Some will drop one syllable and pronounce this, "hana wa sakura hito wa bushi". That's "sakura" instead of "sakuragi", which is like saying "cherry blossom" instead of "cherry tree".
The third character was traditionally written as 櫻. But in modern Japan, that became 桜. You may still see 櫻 used from time to time on older pieces of calligraphy. We can do either one, so just make a special request if you want 櫻.
Note: Because this selection contains some special Japanese Hiragana characters, it should be written by a Japanese calligrapher.
In Japanese, the modern definition, using simple terms is "A martial art involving swords" or "The art of the sword".
However, in Chinese, this is the word for fencing (as in the Olympic sport).
I will suppose that you want this for the Japanese definition which comes from skills and techniques developed in the 15th century. At that time, Kenjutsu (or swordsmanship) was a strictly military art taught to Samurai and Bushi (soldiers). The fact that swords are rarely used in military battles anymore, and with the pacification of Japan after WWII, Kenjutsu is strictly a ceremonial practice often studied as a form of martial art (more for the discipline aspect rather than practical purpose).
Language note: The Korean definition is close the Japanese version described above. However, it should be noted that this can mean "fencing" depending on context in Japanese, Chinese, and Korean.
Character variation notes: There are slight variations possible with second character. Either way is correct and understood by both Japanese and Chinese folks.
Since there are about 5 common ways to write the sword character, if you are particular about which version you want, please note that in the "special instructions" when you place your order.
Romanization note: This term is often Romanized as Kenjitsu, however, following the rules of Japanese Romaji, it should be Kenjutsu.
The following table may be helpful for those studying Chinese or Japanese...
Title | Characters | Romaji (Romanized Japanese) | Various forms of Romanized Chinese | |
Bushi Kai | 武士會 武士会 | bu shi kai / bushikai | ||
Bushi-Ryu Jujutsu | 武士流柔術 | bu shi ryuu ju jutsu bushiryuujujutsu bu shi ryu ju jutsu | ||
Warrior | 武士 | bu shi / bushi | wǔ shì / wu3 shi4 / wu shi / wushi | wu shih / wushih |
Bushido The Way of the Samurai | 武士道 | bu shi do / bushido | wǔ shì dào wu3 shi4 dao4 wu shi dao wushidao | wu shih tao wushihtao |
Peaceful Warrior | 平和の武士 | hei wa no bu shi heiwanobushi | ||
In Flowers the Cherry Blossom, In Men the Samurai | 花は櫻木人は武士 花は桜木人は武士 | hana wa sakuragi hito wa bushi | ||
Kenjutsu Kenjitsu | 剣術 剑术 | kenjutsu | jiàn shù / jian4 shu4 / jian shu / jianshu | chien shu / chienshu |
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. |
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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!
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.
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