Buy a Shaolin calligraphy wall scroll here!
Personalize your custom “Shaolin” project by clicking the button next to your favorite “Shaolin” title below...
Little Forest
The 少林 or Shaolin monks of China have been practicing the art of Kung Fu for thousands of years. While there are many schools of Kung Fu in China, Shaolin are one of the more religiously devout and disciplined.
The title of Shaolin actually refers to a specific Buddhist monastery. It should be noted that the Shaolin were famous in China long before the Kung Fu TV show. Their fame in China is due to the monks' heroic and swift rescue of an emperor during the Tang Dynasty. Most Chinese people are not keenly aware of the Kung Fu TV show and have no idea who David Carradine is or anything about his character, Kwai Chang Caine.
Note: The literal meaning of 少林 is “little forest.”
The fame of the Shaolin has spread all over Asia, as even though this is a Chinese title, the same characters are used in Japanese with the same meaning.
少林長拳 is a combination of two titles. The first two characters mean little forest, as in the little forest of the Shaolin monks (shao lin = little forest). The second two characters mean “long fist.”
This title is specific to a particular technique - if you are studying Shaolin Chang Chuan, then you are already aware of all the ramifications.
少林禪 translates as “Little Forest Meditation.”
少林禪 is part of a movement to provide spiritual and mental health by integrating the practices of martial arts and meditation.
More information at Shaolin Chan Foundation.
This is a poem, including a title, that celebrates the tactics and virtues of the Shaolin Kung Fu Monks for future generations.
少林寺 is the full title of the Shaolin Temple.
This refers to the Buddhist monastery famous for its kung fu monks.
少林寺 is also known in Japanese, where they use the same characters but romanize them as Shourinji or Shōrinji.
Some believe this monastery and temple represent where Bodhidharma sat with his face to a wall for nine years, leading to his discovery of enlightenment and the establishment of Buddhism in China.
少林拳 is the title of the martial art (style of Kung Fu) that is taught to the monks and students in the Shaolin Buddhist Monastery.
The addition of Chuan or Quan, which means fist is what signifies that you are talking about this school or form of martial arts.
Shaolin Style
少林流 is the Japanese martial arts title “Shorin-ryu.”
Though the first part of the title comes from the Shaolin (small forest) monks of China.
In Japan, this refers to the Okinawa School of Karate.
Note that often in Japanese, the first Kanji of this title was changed to the version shown to the right. If you prefer this version, please click on the Kanji to the right instead of the button above.
Shaolin Temple Style
Matsumura Sōkon's Shaolin Style
This in-stock artwork might be what you are looking for, and ships right away...
Gallery Price: $90.00
Your Price: $49.77
Gallery Price: $178.00
Your Price: $98.88
Gallery Price: $180.00
Your Price: $99.88
The following table may be helpful for those studying Chinese or Japanese...
Title | Characters | Romaji (Romanized Japanese) | Various forms of Romanized Chinese | |
Shaolin | 少林 | sho rin / shorin | shǎo lín / shao3 lin2 / shao lin / shaolin | |
Shaolin Disciple | 少林弟子 | shǎo lín dì zǐ shao3 lin2 di4 zi3 shao lin di zi shaolindizi | shao lin ti tzu shaolintitzu |
|
Shaolin Martial Arts | 少林武功 | shǎo lín wǔ gōng shao3 lin2 wu3 gong1 shao lin wu gong shaolinwugong | shao lin wu kung shaolinwukung |
|
Shaolin Chang Chuan | 少林長拳 少林长拳 | shào lín cháng quán shao4 lin2 chang2 quan2 shao lin chang quan shaolinchangquan | shao lin ch`ang ch`üan shaolinchangchüan shao lin chang chüan |
|
Shaolin Chan | 少林禪 少林禅 | sho rin zen shorinzen | shǎo lín chán shao3 lin2 chan2 shao lin chan shaolinchan | shao lin ch`an shaolinchan shao lin chan |
Shaolin Generational Poem | 嵩山少林寺曹洞正宗傳續七十字輩訣福慧智子覺了本圓可悟周洪普廣宗道慶同玄祖清靜真如海湛寂淳貞素德行永延恆妙體常堅固心朗照幽深性明鑒崇祚忠正善禧祥謹志原濟度雪庭為導師引汝歸鉉路 嵩山少林寺曹洞正宗传续七十字辈诀福慧智子觉了本圆可悟周洪普广宗道庆同玄祖清静真如海湛寂淳贞素德行永延恒妙体常坚固心朗照幽深性明鉴崇祚忠正善禧祥谨志原济度雪庭为导师引汝归铉路 | sōng shān shào lín sì cáo dòng zhèng zōng chuán xù qī shí zì bèi jué fú huì zhì zǐ jiào le běn yuán kě wù zhōu hóng pǔ guǎng zōng dào qìng tóng xuán zǔ qīng jìng zhēn rú hǎi zhàn jì chún zhēn sù dé xíng yong song1 shan1 shao4 lin2 si4 cao2 dong4 zheng4 zong1 chuan2 xu4 qi1 shi2 zi4 bei4 jue2 fu2 hui4 zhi4 zi3 jiao4 le5 ben3 yuan2 ke3 wu4 zhou1 hong2 pu3 guang3 zong1 dao4 qing4 tong2 xuan2 zu3 qing1 jing4 zhen1 ru2 hai3 zhan4 ji4 chun2 zhen1 su4 de2 xing2 yong song shan shao lin si cao dong zheng zong chuan xu qi shi zi bei jue fu hui zhi zi jiao le ben yuan ke wu zhou hong pu guang zong dao qing tong xuan zu qing jing zhen ru hai zhan ji chun zhen su de xing yong | sung shan shao lin ssu ts`ao tung cheng tsung ch`uan hsü ch`i shih tzu pei chüeh fu hui chih tzu chiao le pen yüan k`o wu chou hung p`u kuang tsung tao ch`ing t`ung hsüan tsu ch`ing ching chen ju hai chan chi ch`un chen su te hsing yung sung shan shao lin ssu tsao tung cheng tsung chuan hsü chi shih tzu pei chüeh fu hui chih tzu chiao le pen yüan ko wu chou hung pu kuang tsung tao ching tung hsüan tsu ching ching chen ju hai chan chi chun chen su te hsing yung |
|
Shaolin Temple | 少林寺 | shou rin ji shourinji sho rin ji | shào lín sì shao4 lin2 si4 shao lin si shaolinsi | shao lin ssu shaolinssu |
Shaolin Kung Fu | 少林功夫 | sho rin kan fu shorinkanfu | shǎo lín gōng fu shao3 lin2 gong1 fu shao lin gong fu shaolingongfu | shao lin kung fu shaolinkungfu |
Shaolin Chuan Shao Lin Quan | 少林拳 | shǎo lín quán shao3 lin2 quan2 shao lin quan shaolinquan | shao lin ch`üan shaolinchüan shao lin chüan |
|
Shorin-Ryu | 少林流 | shou rin ryuu shourinryuu sho rin ryu | ||
Shorin Ji Ryu | 少林寺流 | shou rin ji ryuu shourinjiryuu sho rin ji ryu | ||
Matsumura Shorin-Ryu | 鬆村少林流 松村少林流 | matsu mura shou rin ryuu matsumurashourinryuu matsu mura sho rin ryu | ||
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...
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.
Some people may refer to this entry as Shaolin Kanji, Shaolin Characters, Shaolin in Mandarin Chinese, Shaolin Characters, Shaolin in Chinese Writing, Shaolin in Japanese Writing, Shaolin in Asian Writing, Shaolin Ideograms, Chinese Shaolin symbols, Shaolin Hieroglyphics, Shaolin Glyphs, Shaolin in Chinese Letters, Shaolin Hanzi, Shaolin in Japanese Kanji, Shaolin Pictograms, Shaolin in the Chinese Written-Language, or Shaolin in the Japanese Written-Language.
23 people have searched for Shaolin in Chinese or Japanese in the past year.
Shaolin was last searched for by someone else on Sep 6th, 2024