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Used in modern times for divorced couples that come back together
破鏡重圓 is about a husband and wife who were separated and reunited.
About 1500 years ago in China, there lived a beautiful princess named Le Chang. She and her husband Xu De Yan loved each other very much. But when the army of the Sui Dynasty was about to attack their kingdom, disposed of all of their worldly possessions and prepared to flee into exile.
They knew that in the chaos, they might lose track of each other, so the one possession they kept was a bronze mirror which is a symbol of unity for a husband and wife. They broke the mirror into two pieces, and each of them kept half of the mirror. They decided that if separated, they would try to meet at the fair during the 15th day of the first lunar month (which is the lantern festival). Unfortunately, the occupation was brutal, and the princess was forced to become the mistress of the new commissioner of the territory, Yang Su.
At the Lantern Festival the next year, the husband came to the fair to search for his wife. He carried with him his half of the mirror. As he walked through the fair, he saw the other half of the mirror for sale at a junk market by a servant of the commissioner. The husband recognized his wife's half of the mirror immediately, and tears rolled down his face as he was told by the servant about the bitter and loveless life that the princess had endured.
As his tears dripped onto the mirror, the husband scratched a poem into his wife's half of the mirror:
You left me with the severed mirror,
The mirror has returned, but absent are you,
As I gaze in the mirror, I seek your face,
I see the moon, but as for you, I see not a trace.
The servant brought the inscribed half of the mirror back to the princess. For many days, the princess could not stop crying when she found that her husband was alive and still loved her.
Commissioner Yang Su, becoming aware of this saga, realized that he could never obtain the princess's love. He sent for the husband and allowed them to reunite.
This proverb, 破鏡重圓, is now used to describe a couple who has been torn apart for some reason (usually divorce) but have come back together (or remarried).
It seems to be more common these days in America for divorced couples to reconcile and get married to each other again. This will be a great gift if you know someone who is about to remarry their ex.
燈 is a Chinese character, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja that means lamp, light, or lantern.
This can also be the Japanese female given name Hikaru.
In the Buddhist context, this is used to express the Sanskrit word, dīpa (the same meaning as a lamp or lantern).
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These search terms might be related to Lantern:
Divine Light
Faith is the Bird That Feels the Light When the Dawn is Still Dark
Inner Light / Intelligence
Intuitive Wisdom / Inner Light
Lamp / Lantern
Light / Bright
Light / Bright / Shine
Light / Bright and Promising Future
Light of the World
Merciful Heart / the Light From a Buddha Mind
Radiance / Rays of Light
Warriors of Light
Below are some entries from our dictionary that may match your lantern search...
Characters If shown, 2nd row is Simp. Chinese |
Pronunciation Romanization |
Simple Dictionary Definition |
燈 灯 see styles |
dēng deng1 teng hikaru ひかる |
More info & calligraphy: Lamp / Lantern(out-dated kanji) (1) light; lamp; (suf,ctr) (2) counter for electric lights; (female given name) Hikaru dīpa, a lamp, lantern; cf. 然燈 12. |
火龍 火龙 see styles |
huǒ lóng huo3 long2 huo lung |
More info & calligraphy: Fire Dragon |
盆 see styles |
pén pen2 p`en pen bon ぼん |
basin; flower pot; unit of volume equal to 12 斗[dou3] and 8 升[sheng1], approx 128 liters; CL:個|个[ge4] (1) tray; (2) family; household; (3) (abbreviation) (See 盂蘭盆) Obon; Bon Festival; Lantern Festival; Festival of the Dead; (4) (slang) gambler's den; (personal name) Suezawa Bowl, basin, tub. |
お盆 see styles |
obon おぼん |
(1) O-Bon; Bon Festival; Lantern Festival; Festival of the Dead; (2) tray |
万灯 see styles |
mandou / mando まんどう |
Buddhist lantern festival; (surname) Mandou |
中元 see styles |
zhōng yuán zhong1 yuan2 chung yüan chuugen / chugen ちゅうげん |
Ghost Festival on 15th day of 7th lunar month when offerings are made to the deceased (1) 15th day of the 7th lunar month; (last day of) Bon lantern festival; (2) (See お中元) mid-year gift; summer gift; Bon Festival gifts; (surname) Nakamoto The fifteenth of the seventh moon; see 孟蘭盆. |
中台 see styles |
chuudai / chudai ちゅうだい |
(1) (rare) exact center of the Garbhadhatu mandala; (2) platform upon which the fire is lit in a stone lantern; (place-name, surname) Nakadai |
元夜 see styles |
yuán yè yuan2 ye4 yüan yeh |
Lantern Festival; night of 15th of first lunar month; see also 元宵[yuan2 xiao1] |
元宵 see styles |
yuán xiāo yuan2 xiao1 yüan hsiao genshou / gensho げんしょう |
Lantern Festival; night of the 15th of the first lunar month; see also 元夜[yuan2 ye4]; sticky rice dumplings night of the 15th day of the first month in the lunar calendar |
八方 see styles |
bā fāng ba1 fang1 pa fang happou / happo はっぽう |
the eight points of the compass; all directions (1) all sides; the four cardinal directions and the four ordinal directions; (2) (See 八方行灯) large hanging lantern; (surname) Yakata lit. eight directions |
八間 see styles |
hachiken はちけん |
(See 釣り行灯,八方・2) large hanging paper lantern; (surname) Hachima |
冰燈 冰灯 see styles |
bīng dēng bing1 deng1 ping teng |
ice lantern |
天灯 see styles |
tentou / tento てんとう |
sky lantern (light paper lantern elevated by hot air from the flame) |
天燈 天灯 see styles |
tiān dēng tian1 deng1 t`ien teng tien teng |
sky lantern (miniature hot-air balloon used during festivals) |
奉灯 see styles |
houtou / hoto ほうとう |
(noun/participle) votive lantern |
幻灯 see styles |
gentou / gento げんとう |
slide projector; magic lantern |
幻燈 幻灯 see styles |
huàn dēng huan4 deng1 huan teng gentou / gento げんとう |
lantern slides (out-dated kanji) slide projector; magic lantern |
弓張 see styles |
yumihari ゆみはり |
(irregular okurigana usage) (1) stringing a bow; person who strings bows; (2) (abbreviation) crescent moon; (3) (abbreviation) paper lantern with a bow-shaped handle; (surname) Yumihari |
御盆 see styles |
obon おぼん |
(1) O-Bon; Bon Festival; Lantern Festival; Festival of the Dead; (2) tray |
挑燈 挑灯 see styles |
tiǎo dēng tiao3 deng1 t`iao teng tiao teng |
to light a lamp; to raise a lantern |
掻灯 see styles |
kaitomoshi かいともし |
(See 釣り灯籠) lantern hanging from the eaves of a temple or shrine |
提灯 see styles |
chouchin / chochin ちょうちん |
paper lantern; Chinese lantern; Japanese lantern |
提燈 提灯 see styles |
tí dēng ti2 deng1 t`i teng ti teng chouchin / chochin ちょうちん |
a portable lamp paper lantern; Chinese lantern; Japanese lantern |
水燈 水灯 see styles |
shuǐ dēng shui3 deng1 shui teng suitō |
The water-lantern festival in the seventh month. |
湯圓 汤圆 see styles |
tāng yuán tang1 yuan2 t`ang yüan tang yüan tanyuen タンユエン tanyuェn タンユェン tanen タンエン |
boiled or deep-fried balls of glutinous rice flour, usually eaten during Lantern Festival (out-dated kanji) (food term) tangyuan; tang yuan; Chinese dumplings made from glutinous rice flour |
火灯 see styles |
gatou / gato がとう katou / kato かとう |
pottery lantern (curved conical shape) |
火袋 see styles |
hibukuro ひぶくろ |
(See 灯篭) fire box in traditional Japanese lantern |
火頭 火头 see styles |
huǒ tóu huo3 tou2 huo t`ou huo tou kazu がとう |
pottery lantern (curved conical shape) A monastery cook. |
灯体 see styles |
toutai / totai とうたい |
theatrical light; instrument (US theatre light); lantern (UK theatre light); stage light |
灯篭 see styles |
tourou / toro とうろう |
garden lantern; hanging lantern |
The following table may be helpful for those studying Chinese or Japanese...
Title | Characters | Romaji (Romanized Japanese) | Various forms of Romanized Chinese | |
Broken Mirror Rejoined | 破鏡重圓 破镜重圆 | pò jìng chóng yuán po4 jing4 chong2 yuan2 po jing chong yuan pojingchongyuan | p`o ching ch`ung yüan pochingchungyüan po ching chung yüan |
|
Lamp Lantern | 燈 灯 | tou / to | dēng / deng1 / deng | teng |
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. |
Successful Chinese Character and Japanese Kanji calligraphy searches within the last few hours...
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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.
Some people may refer to this entry as Lantern Kanji, Lantern Characters, Lantern in Mandarin Chinese, Lantern Characters, Lantern in Chinese Writing, Lantern in Japanese Writing, Lantern in Asian Writing, Lantern Ideograms, Chinese Lantern symbols, Lantern Hieroglyphics, Lantern Glyphs, Lantern in Chinese Letters, Lantern Hanzi, Lantern in Japanese Kanji, Lantern Pictograms, Lantern in the Chinese Written-Language, or Lantern in the Japanese Written-Language.
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