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In Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja, 神明 title refers to deities or gods (can be the singular or plural form).
Depending on the context, this could also mean “divine.”
Specifically, in Japanese, this can refer to Amaterasu (as an enshrined deity).
In some Buddhist contexts, this also means deity but can also refer to “intelligence” (as in all-knowing).
御影 is a Japanese word that means divine spirit or honorific language for “spirit of the dead.”
This can also refer to an image of a deity, buddha, royal, noble, etc.)
In the Buddhist context, it can mean (wooden) images of saints or deities.
御影 is also a Japanese name, Mikage.
Note: This is also a word in Chinese but not used very often in China (except perhaps by certain Buddhists).
弁財天 is a Buddhist term that can be translated or transliterated as Benzaiten or Saraswati.
弁財天 is the Buddhist goddess of music, eloquence, wealth, and water.
This goddess of eloquence came into Buddhism from the Hindu goddess Saraswati. Benzaiten and Saraswati are considered by most to be one and the same. However, in Japanese culture, Benzaiten has been conflated with several other deities.
不動明王 is the fierce form of the Buddha Vairocana, and the most important of the Myō-ō or Ming Wang class of deities.
Romanized as Fudō Myō-ō, in Japanese Buddhism or Bùdòng Míngwáng / Pu-Tung Ming-Wang in Chinese Buddhism,
Originally Acala/Achala (अचल “The Immovable”), Acalanātha (अचलनाथ “Immovable Lord”) or Āryācalanātha (आर्याचलनाथ, “Noble Immovable Lord”).
In English, this deity is sometimes called “Wisdom King.”
天 means “heaven” or “sky” in Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja.
The context determines if you are talking about heaven or the sky above (often they are the same concept).
When combined with other characters, words like “today” and “tomorrow” are created. While sometimes the character for “sun” is used to mean “day,” often “sky” represents “day” in Asian languages.
Example: 今天 (this sky) = “today,” 明天 (next sky) = “tomorrow” in modern Chinese and Japanese.
In Chinese culture, regardless of which religion, it's almost always assumed that God (and any other deities) live up above the sky. The concept of God living in the sky is likely the reason heaven is associated with this character.
The equation goes something like this: God's domain is the sky, thus, the sky is heaven.
Note: As a single character, this is a little ambiguous, so you might want to choose our Kingdom of Heaven selection instead.
觀音/観音 is the Buddhist deity known as the Goddess of Mercy or Bodhisattva of Compassion.
In Chinese, the proper name of this being is Guan Yin. There is some debate as to whether Guan Yin is female. The argument comes from some scripture that suggests Buddhist deities take on the male form. Others say that Guan Yin has no sex. And still, others are okay with the female representation of Guan Yin.
This bodhisattva is also known or Romanized in the following ways:
Mandarin Chinese: Guan Yin, Kuan Yin, Kwan Yin.
Japanese: Kannon, Kwannon.
Sanskrit: Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara.
Korean: Gwan-eum.
Vietnamese: Quan Âm.
Thai: Kuan Eim.
English: Bodhisattva of Mercy and Salvation, Goddess of Compassion, Buddha of Mercy, et al.
Note: The first character has a slight variation in Japanese. If your audience is specifically Japanese, you may want to select that version.
See Also: Buddhism | Goddess | Namo Amitabha | Bodhisattva
This demon title comes from the ancient Sanskrit word Asura.
阿修羅 is often used in Buddhism when describing various demons. Sometimes defined as “Fighting and battling a giant demon.”
In the context of Buddhism: This title originally meant a spirit, spirits, or even the gods (perhaps before 1700 years ago). It now generally indicates titanic demons, enemies of the gods, with whom, especially Indra, they wage constant war. They are defined as “not devas,” “ugly,” and “without wine.” There are four classes of asuras, separated according to their manner of rebirth. They can be egg-born, womb-born, transformation-born, and spawn- or water-born. Their abode is in the ocean, north of Sumeru but certain of the weaker dwell in a western mountain cave. They have realms, rulers, and palaces, as have the devas.
In terms of power, Asuras rank above humans but below most other deities. They live near the coastal foot of Mount Sumeru (on the northern side). Their domain is partially or wholly in the ocean.
The following table may be helpful for those studying Chinese or Japanese...
Title | Characters | Romaji (Romanized Japanese) | Various forms of Romanized Chinese | |
Deities Gods | 神明 | jin myou / jinmyou / jin myo | shén míng shen2 ming2 shen ming shenming | |
Shili Shiri Sri | 室利 | shiri | shì lì / shi4 li4 / shi li / shili | shih li / shihli |
Lucky Star | 福星 | fukusei | fú xīng / fu2 xing1 / fu xing / fuxing | fu hsing / fuhsing |
Divine Spirit | 御影 | goei | yù yǐng / yu4 ying3 / yu ying / yuying | yü ying / yüying |
Benzaiten | 弁財天 弁财天 | ben zai ten benzaiten | biàn cái tiān bian4 cai2 tian1 bian cai tian biancaitian | pien ts`ai t`ien pientsaitien pien tsai tien |
Fudo Myo-o Wisdom King | 不動明王 不动明王 | fu dou myou ou fudoumyouou fu do myo o | bù dòng míng wáng bu4 dong4 ming2 wang2 bu dong ming wang budongmingwang | pu tung ming wang putungmingwang |
Heaven | 天 | ten | tiān / tian1 / tian | t`ien / tien |
Goddess of Mercy and Compassion | 觀音 / 観音 观音 | kan non / kannon | guān yīn / guan1 yin1 / guan yin / guanyin | kuan yin / kuanyin |
Frightful Demon Asura | 阿修羅 阿修罗 | ashura | ē xiū luó e1 xiu1 luo2 e xiu luo exiuluo | o hsiu lo ohsiulo |
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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