Buy a Custom Money Chinese or Japanese Calligraphy Wall Scroll

金蛇 is Golden/Metal Snake in Chinese.

In the Chinese zodiac and sexagenary (60-year) cycle, this combination occurs in years that include 1881, 1941, 2001, and 2061.

In the sexagenary cycle, this year is represented by 辛巳.

See Also:  Snake

紅五蝠 is a play on words in Chinese because of some homophones.

The first thing you need to know is that the word for bat, 蝠, sounds exactly like the word for good fortune, 福. Thus, bats are often associated with good luck and good fortune in Chinese culture.

Five bats (五福 / 五蝠) means “five fortunes,” referring to luck, prosperity, wealth, happiness, and longevity.

The word red, 红, has the same sound as 宏 meaning vast, great, or magnificent. Therefore, a red bat means “vast fortune.”

Altogether, five red bats represent vast reaches of the five fortunes.

寶寶 is how Chinese people express “baby.”

The word is composed of the same character twice, and therefore literally means “double precious” or “double treasure.”

This would be a nice wall scroll to put either inside or by the door of your baby's room (not on the door, as wall scrolls swing around wildly when hung on doors that open and close a lot).

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.

安貧樂道 means “It's better to be happy than rich” in Chinese.

Even if you are poor, you should still feel satisfied in your life...

...Satisfaction, happiness and the meaning of your life come from within yourself and not from money or riches of the world.

In Chinese, there are a lot of four-character proverbs which express some very old philosophies.
Though there are only four characters on this scroll, in Chinese, the meanings often surpass the dictionary definition of each character.

In this case, you should not set your expectations too high for the money or riches you wish to have. One who sets their expectations too high is almost always disappointed. Instead, you should cherish what you have, seek to improve yourself from within, and not measure your worth by the size of your bank account.

See Also:  A Sly Rabbit Will Have Three Openings to Its Den

五福臨門 means “five good fortunes arrive [at the] door.”

It is understood to mean “may the five blessings descend upon this home.”

These blessings are known in ancient China to be: longevity, wealth, health, virtue, and natural death (living to old age). This is one of several auspicious sayings you might hear during the Chinese New Year.

This is the Chinese name for the Cayman Islands (overseas territory of the United Kingdom and a great place to hide money).

See Also:  North America | United Kingdom

珍愛 means to cherish, to treasure, or to love dearly in Chinese.

秘蔵 means to cherish, treasure, or prize in Japanese.

金似金挨玉似玉 is a Chinese proverb that literally translates as: [One who is] close to gold [is] like gold [and one who is] close to jade [is] like jade.

Figuratively, this means:
A good environment produces good people.
People are influenced by the company they keep.

Basically, if you hang out with good people, you are likely to become or stay good yourself. The opposite also is true. 挨This is like the moral version of “You are what you eat.”

Note: In Japanese, they have a similar phrase, 類は友を呼ぶ (rui wa tomo o yobu) Birds of a feather flock together. However, this is not a good meaning, so we’re not offering it for wall scrolls.

布施 is the Buddhist practice of giving known as Dāna or दान from Pali and Sanskrit.

Depending on the context, this can be alms-giving, acts of charity, or offerings (usually money) to a priest for reading sutras or teachings.

Some will put Dāna in these two categories:
1. The pure or unsullied charity, which looks for no reward here but only in the hereafter.
2. The sullied almsgiving whose object is personal benefit.
The first kind is, of course, the kind that a liberated or enlightened person will pursue.

Others will put Dāna in these categories:
1. Worldly or material gifts.
2. Unworldly or spiritual gifts.

You can also separate Dāna into these three kinds:
1. 財布施 Goods such as money, food, or material items.
2. 法布施 Dharma, as an act to teach or bestow the Buddhist doctrine onto others.
3. 無畏布施 Courage, as an act of facing fear to save someone or when standing up for someone or standing up for righteousness.

The philosophies and categorization of Dāna will vary among various monks, temples, and sects of Buddhism.

Breaking down the characters separately:
布 (sometimes written 佈) means to spread out or announce, but also means cloth. In ancient times, cloth or robs were given to the Buddhist monks annually as a gift of alms - I need to do more research, but I believe there is a relationship here.
施 means to grant, to give, to bestow, to act, to carry out, and by itself can mean Dāna as a single character.

Dāna can also be expressed as 檀那 (pronounced “tán nà” in Mandarin and dan-na or だんな in Japanese). 檀那 is a transliteration of Dāna. However, it has colloquially come to mean some unsavory or unrelated things in Japanese. So, I think 布施 is better for calligraphy on your wall to remind you to practice Dāna daily (or whenever possible).

This is referred to as passage or chapter 33 of the Dao De Jing (often Romanized as “Tao Te Ching”).

These are the words of the philosopher Laozi (Lao Tzu).

Notes:

During our research, the Chinese characters shown here are probably the most accurate to the original text of Laozi. These were taken for the most part from the Mawangdui 1973 and Guodan 1993 manuscripts which pre-date other Daodejing texts by about 1000 years.

Grammar was a little different in Laozi’s time. So you should consider this to be the ancient Chinese version. Some have modernized this passage by adding, removing, or swapping articles and changing the grammar (we felt the oldest and most original version would be more desirable). You may find other versions printed in books or online - sometimes these modern texts are simply used to explain to Chinese people what the original text really means.

This language issue can be compared in English by thinking how the King James (known as the Authorized version in Great Britain) Bible from 1611 was written, and comparing it to modern English. Now imagine that the Daodejing was probably written around 403 BCE (2000 years before the King James Version of the Bible). To a Chinese person, the original Daodejing reads like text that is 3 times more detached compared to Shakespeare’s English is to our modern-day speech.

Extended notes:

While on this Biblical text comparison, it should be noted, that just like the Bible, all the original texts of the Daodejing were lost or destroyed long ago. Just as with the scripture used to create the Bible, various manuscripts exist, many with variations or copyist errors. Just as the earliest New Testament scripture (incomplete) is from 170 years after Christ, the earliest Daodejing manuscript (incomplete) is from 100-200 years after the death of Laozi.

The reason that the originals were lost probably has a lot to do with the first Qin Emperor. Upon taking power and unifying China, he ordered the burning and destruction of all books (scrolls/rolls) except those pertaining to Chinese medicine and a few other subjects. The surviving Daodejing manuscripts were either hidden on purpose or simply forgotten about. Some were not unearthed until as late as 1993.

We compared a lot of research by various archeologists and historians before deciding on this as the most accurate and correct version. But one must allow that it may not be perfect, or the actual and original as from the hand of Laozi himself.

一曰慈二曰儉三曰不敢為天下先 is an excerpt from the 67th Chapter of Lao Tzu's (Lao Zi's) Te-Tao Ching (Dao De Jing).

This is the part where the three treasures are discussed. In English, we'd say these three treasures are compassion, frugality, and humility. Some may translate these as love, moderation, and lack of arrogance. I have also seen them translated as benevolence, modesty, and “Not presuming to be at the forefront in the world.” You can mix them up the way you want, as translation is not really a science but rather an art.

I should also explain that the first two treasures are single-character ideas, yet the third treasure was written out in six characters (there are also some auxiliary characters to number the treasures).

If Lao Tzu's words are important to you, then a wall scroll with this passage might make a great addition to your home.

This text is the ninth chapter of the Daodejing / Tao Te Ching.

The text reads:
持而盈之、不如其已。揣而梲之、不可長保。 金玉滿堂、莫之能守。 富貴而驕、自遺其咎。 功遂身退、天之道。

This classical Chinese passage comes from the Mawangdui (馬王堆帛書) text.

黑闇女 is a Buddhist title that means “dark sister,” “dark one,” or “dark woman.”

There are two sisters:
One is the deva, 功德女 (“merit” or “achieving”), who causes people to acquire wealth.
The other is the “dark one,” 黑闇女, which causes people to spend and waste.

These sisters always accompany each other.

Start customizing a “Double Happiness Guest Book Wall Scroll” Here!

The paper panel length can be whatever you choose from 68cm to 135cm (27” to 53”).

If you don't mention what paper length you want in the special instructions tab (on the next page), we'll make it about 100cm (40”).

The medium-size scroll with a 33cm x 100cm (13” x 40”) paper panel can usually handle up to 89 signatures. That breaks down to 37 signatures per empty square and 15 signatures around the 囍 character. If you switch to a 135cm paper panel, add another 37 potential signatures.

We can splice two 135cm papers together, but that would be a crazy-long scroll. These are only estimates, your mileage may vary.

With silk panels, this will yield a wall scroll about 155cm (61”) long. That's enough for up to 89 signatures. Of course, that depends on if your guests just sign a brief salutation and name, or more verbose good wishes. Customer feedback is that 126 people can sign the 135cm long paper on a medium-sized scroll. If we go bigger than that, there will be a minor paper seam and an extra charge. Email me with your specifications if you need something special.

Most customers pick the festive red paper with gold flecks and white or ivory silk. Red is a good luck color in Chinese culture, thus the most popular choice. But, you can do any color combination that you want.

There is a long history of Chinese-character-use outside of mainland China. This Double Happiness character is also seen at weddings in Korea, Vietnam, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, as well as in Chinese communities in Thailand, Indonesia, and elsewhere. While Japan borrowed Chinese characters into their language, you won't see 囍 as often at Japanese weddings.

别人屁臭自家香 literally translates as:
Other people's flatulence stinks, [but] one's own is fragrant.

Figuratively, this means:
Some people criticize defects in others that they (seem to) treasure in themselves.

金木水火土 is a list of the Chinese characters for the five elements in a comfortable order (meaning that they “feel right” to a Chinese person who views this arrangement).

The order is metal, wood, water, fire, and earth.

Note that sometimes the metal element is translated as gold. And earth refers to soil versus the whole planet earth.

花 is the simple way to write “flower” in Chinese, Japanese, and old Korean.

It can also mean blossoms or can refer to a fancy or assorted pattern.

Note: In some contexts, it can mean “spend money.” However, as a single character, it will be read as a flower.

This has the meaning of Xochitl (flower) in Spanish, so if your name is Xochitl, I suggest this character to represent your name.

More random information about this character:
花 is the Korean surname spelled as “Hwa” before the Korean Romanization reformation of 2000-2001.
It's also a somewhat common given name in China (for females).
花 is a borrowed word from Chinese, so it sounds similar in Chinese and Korean.

In Japanese, 名妓 means “distinguished/talented/beautiful geisha.”

The meaning in Chinese (and the deeper meaning in Japanese) would be “distinguished/talented/beautiful prostitute.”

I am not sure that our master calligrapher will even write this, so please note that fact if you decide to place the order. Of course, we'll refund your money if he refuses.

金妮 is the transliteration to Mandarin Chinese for the name Ginny.

This means “golden girl,” or “girl of gold” in Chinese.

幸福金婚 means “Happy Golden Anniversary” and is a great gift for a couple who is celebrating 50 years together.

The first two characters mean happy, blessed, or happiness.

The last two characters mean “couple's golden anniversary.” It means “golden wedding” or “golden marriage,” but this is only used for the 50-year-mark of a marriage (the same way we use gold to represent 50 years in the west).

幸福金婚 is a nice title to use with an inscription. You could request something like, “Happy 50th Anniversary, Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” to be written down the side of this title in smaller Chinese characters.

Please note: This can be pronounced and understood in Japanese but not as commonly used in Japan. Japanese people who read this will understand it but might tend to feel it’s of Chinese origin.

金龍 is the Chinese title for Golden Dragon.

The first character means gold, golden, or metal.

The second character is dragon.

This title has the same meaning in Japanese but is used mainly as a given name, Kinryu, or in reference to a certain kind of noodle soup in Japan.

This proverb can be translated as “Cherish Time as if it was Gold” or “Time is as Valuable as Gold.”

This basically suggests that time is gold, and you should value the time you have (and use it well).

春宵一刻 is a Japanese proverb that means “A moment of time in a spring evening (is worth a thousand pieces of gold).”

金魚 is the title for goldfish in Chinese and Japanese.

There was a time in ancient China when only the Emperor could possess the actual yellow-gold colored fish. This is why alternate coloration such as orange, black, red, and white was bred. Many believe this is why colors other than yellow-gold are more common for “goldfish” in pet shops today.

護惜 is a Zen Buddhist word that means to protect, guard, treasure, and/or cherish.

迫力 is a Chinese word that is a form of personal strength.

It is a word that describes a person who is willing to take a risk. In English, we might say, “Someone with guts.”

An example might be a person that is not rich but invests a lot of money into something (knowing they could double their money or lose it all). Win or lose, this is a person that knows or pushes their potential.

Tearing this word apart, the first character means “to compel,” urgent, urge, force, imminent, or “spur on.” The second means power, strong, bear, or exert.

Note: 迫力 is also a word in Japanese Kanji and Korean Hanja but with a meaning more like force, intensity, appeal, strength, impact, force, or simply power.

天恵 means “Heaven's Blessing,” “Blessings from Heaven,” or “Blessed by Heaven” in Japanese Kanji.

Depending on the context in which this is used, it can also mean “gift of nature,” or even “natural resources” (as in Heaven or God bestowed things like oil, iron, gold, and other natural resources upon mankind).

一言九鼎 is an ancient Chinese proverb used in modern times to talk of profound or powerful words.

The literal meaning is “one word [worth] nine [sacred] tripods.” The tripod is a highly-prized three-legged (sometimes four-legged) metal pot or kettle of ancient China. They are often made of bronze, and the Emperor would have large ones gilded in gold. See the image to the right for an example.

This 金瑞祥龍之家 or “home golden auspicious dragon” title was added by special request of a customer.

The first character means gold or golden.
The second and third characters hold the meaning of auspiciousness and good luck.
The fourth character is dragon.
The fifth is a possessive modifier (like making “dragon” into “dragon's”).
The last character means home (but in some context can mean “family” - however, here it would generally be understood as “home”).

Note: The word order is different than the English title because of grammar differences between English and Chinese. This phrase sounds very natural in Chinese in this character order. If written in the English word order, it would sound very strange and lose its impact in Chinese.

Note: Korean pronunciation is included above, but this has not been reviewed by a Korean translator.

精, 氣, 神 are the characters jing, qi, and shen.

As a set, these three characters are known in English as the treasures of traditional Chinese medicine, the treasures of Qi Gong, or the three treasures of Taoism / Daoism.

Sometimes this set is titled 三寶 (sānbǎo) or “three treasures,” but here, we're writing each treasure out.

Here's how these characters are perceived in this context...
Jing: nutritive essence; refined; perfected; pure
Qi: vitality; energy; force; breath; vigor
Shen: spirit; soul; mind; being

To keep it simple, you can use “essence, vitality, and spirit” to define these.

金妮 is a transliteration to Mandarin Chinese for the name Jinni.

This means “golden girl” or “girl of gold” in Chinese.

This is the special name I made up and chose for my third daughter. There is also another, more common way to transliterate this name which is 吉尼 instead of 金妮.

This is the title Kanazawa Ryu in Japanese Kanji.

This can refer to Hirokazu Kanazawa, founder of Shotokan or the city Kanazawa in Japan.

金 = gold
沢 = marsh / swamp / abundance / richness
流 = style / lineage / system / school

So Kanazawa-Ryū literally means:
“Golden Marsh School” or poetically “School of Abundant Gold / Rich Spirit.”

金 is how the name King is transliterated into Mandarin Chinese.

The meaning of this character is metal or gold, and it only vaguely sounds like “king”. But it was used in many articles for famous people like Larry King. If my last name was “King”, I would rather use the character 王 which means king, and romanizes as “wang” or “wong.”

金繕い is kintsukuroi or kinzukuroi, the Japanese art of repairing pottery with a lacquer mixed with gold, silver, etc.

I added this because many people searched for this title. Not sure how appropriate this is for a calligraphy wall scroll.

白酒紅人面黃金黑世心 literally says: [Just as] white liquor makes people's faces turn red, [So] yellow gold makes people's hearts turn black.

This is a warning about the nature of greed. The suggestion is that one who lusts for gold and riches will eventually have a black heart (or become a heartless greedy bastard). As a wall scroll, this is a reminder and warning to keep yourself from following the greedy path.

愛護 is the Chinese and Japanese Kanji for cherish, to treasure, to take care of, to love and protect, to provide loving protection, or tender care.

人為財死鳥為食亡 is a Chinese proverb that literally states that human beings will die for riches, just as birds will for food.

Figuratively it means that man will do anything in his means to become rich. Personally, I think dying for food is a more noble cause.

Often translated as “Men die in pursuit of wealth, birds die in pursuit of food. The 人 in this proverb just means human, so “men” is a placeholder for human with that translation - an English language problem that we have no easy gender-neutral nouns.

This proverb is meant to serve as a warning about the follies of greed.

金 is the symbol for metal (often means gold or money) in Chinese, Korean and Japanese.

In an interesting twist, in Japanese, this Kanji can also mean “Friday.” I guess Friday is “the golden day” in Japan.

Gold / Metal is one of the five elements that ancient Chinese believed all things were composed of. These elements are also part of the cycle of Chinese astrology. Every person has both an animal sign, and one of the five elements according to the date of their birth. See also Five Elements and Chinese 12 Animals / Zodiac.

錢 is the simplest way to say “money” in Chinese.

It can also mean cash, coins, or currency. It's also a surname, Qian, in China.

This also means coins in old Korean Hanja and Japanese Kanji (though they use a slightly alternate form in Japan, as seen to the right). In both Japan and Korea, this can simply mean “one cent.”

On the left side of this character is a radical, which means “gold” (or metal, depending on context).

On the right are two repeated radicals which currently mean “small” or “narrow” but used to kind of mean “tools” or “weapons.”

It's a bit of a stretch, but you could suggest that money = “gold weapons” or “gold tools” in Chinese. Many Chinese people would argue otherwise depending on what they know of or the way they understand the etymology of the right side radical. I've seen some who say it means “industrialized gold,” but I take that to mean “raw gold turned into coins.”

金錢/金銭 means money, cash, currency, or wealth in Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja.

Literally, it means “gold coins” but has come to be used to mean money in general, as well as the idea of wealth.

The second character of this word is written in a variant form in Japan. The more common version in Japan is shown to the right. Click on the Kanji to the right instead of the button above if you want this Japanese variant in your calligraphy.

金窝银窝不如自己的狗窝 is a Chinese slang proverb that means “Golden house, [or a] silver house, not as good as my own dog house.”

It's basically saying that even a house made of gold or silver is not as good as my own home (which may only be suitable for a dog but at least it's mine).

百折不撓 is a Chinese proverb that means “Be undaunted in the face of repeated setbacks.”

More directly translated, it reads, “[Overcome] a hundred setbacks, without flinching.” 百折不撓 is of Chinese origin but is commonly used in Japanese and somewhat in Korean (same characters, different pronunciation).

This proverb comes from a long, and occasionally tragic story of a man that lived sometime around 25-220 AD. His name was Qiao Xuan, and he never stooped to flattery but remained an upright person at all times. He fought to expose the corruption of higher-level government officials at great risk to himself.

Then when he was at a higher level in the Imperial Court, bandits were regularly capturing hostages and demanding ransoms. But when his own son was captured, he was so focused on his duty to the Emperor and the common good that he sent a platoon of soldiers to raid the bandits' hideout, and stop them once and for all even at the risk of his own son's life. While all of the bandits were arrested in the raid, they killed Qiao Xuan's son at first sight of the raiding soldiers.

Near the end of his career, a new Emperor came to power, and Qiao Xuan reported to him that one of his ministers was bullying the people and extorting money from them. The new Emperor refused to listen to Qiao Xuan and even promoted the corrupt Minister. Qiao Xuan was so disgusted that in protest, he resigned from his post as minister (something almost never done) and left for his home village.

His tombstone reads “Bai Zhe Bu Nao” which is now a proverb used in Chinese culture to describe a person of strong will who puts up stubborn resistance against great odds.

My Chinese-English dictionary defines these 4 characters as “keep on fighting despite all setbacks,” “be undaunted by repeated setbacks,” and “be indomitable.”

Our translator says it can mean “never give up” in modern Chinese.

Although the first two characters are translated correctly as “repeated setbacks,” the literal meaning is “100 setbacks” or “a rope that breaks 100 times.” The last two characters can mean “do not yield” or “do not give up.”
Most Chinese, Japanese, and Korean people will not take this absolutely literal meaning but will instead understand it as the title suggests above. If you want a single big word definition, it would be indefatigability, indomitableness, persistence, or unyielding.

See Also:  Tenacity | Fortitude | Strength | Perseverance | Persistence

This Japanese word means precious, valuable, priceless, noble, exalted, or sacred.

貴重品 means precious or treasured as an adjective or as a noun, valuables or treasures in Japanese.

貴重品 exists in the Korean dictionary but is rarely if ever, used in Korea.

純情 means “Pure Heart” in Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja.

It's used to reflect the ideas of being “pure and innocent.”

Depending on the context in which this title is used, it can relay “self-sacrificing devotion” or, in some cases, “naïveté.”
This would be in the same way we might refer to a young girl giving her lunch money to a beggar on the street. She has a pure and precious heart but perhaps is also a bit naive.

紅包 literally means “red treasure.”

Depending on the context, it can also mean “money wrapped in red as a gift,” “a bonus payment,” “a kickback,” or “a bribe.”

However, most of the time, this is an innocent gift of money in a red envelope that is given from an elder relative to a youngster. This usually happens during the Chinese New Year. It can also happen in preparation for or during a wedding in China.

紅包 is pronounced “Hong Bao” (with an “oh” vowel sound on hong) in Mandarin Chinese. Filipino Chinese call it “Ang Pao.” There are a few other variations.

勤儉起家 is a Chinese proverb that suggests you begin to rise up by thrift and hard work.

Diligent work and spending money wisely will almost always pay off.

信仰希望慈善堅忍正義慎重節制 is a list in Chinese and Japanese Kanji of an interpretation of the Seven Heavenly Virtues.

1. Faith is belief in God, and the right virtues.
2. Hope is taking a positive future view that good will prevail.
3. Charity is a concern for, and active helping of, others.
4. Fortitude is never giving up.
5. Justice is being fair and equitable with others.
6. Prudence is care of and moderation with money.
7. Temperance is moderation of needed things and abstinence from things that are not needed.

The full list is here. 信仰希望慈善堅忍正義慎重節制 is a word list, not a common phrase. While all Chinese and Japanese people will recognize the words in the list, they may not understand what the list is about (unless they are familiar with the Seven Heavenly Virtues).

don’t get this as a tattoo or anything like that without first consulting a native translator in the target language. These are fine for a wall scroll but a long discussion is needed before you commit to this for a lifetime inking commitment.

室利 is a Buddhist term or title that comes from the Sanskrit śrī.

The meaning is fortunate, lucky, prosperous, wealth, or beauty. This can be a sort of suffix for certain deities or respected people in Buddhism.

銀 is the Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja for silver.

This same word can refer to things that are silver-colored, money or currency, silver coins, or silver paint.

In Japanese, this can be a given name “Ginji.”

狡兔三窟 speaks to the cunning character of a sly rabbit. Such a rabbit will not have just one hole but rather a few entrances and exits from his liar.

About 2,250 years ago, a rich man told his assistant to go and buy something wonderful that he did not yet possess. He was a man that already had everything, so the assistant went to a local village that owed a great deal of money to the rich man. The assistant told the village elders that all debts were forgiven. All the villagers rejoiced and praised the rich man's name. The assistant returned to the rich man and told him he had purchased “benevolence” for him. The rich man was mildly amused but perhaps slightly confused by the action.

Sometime later, the rich man fell from the favor of the Emperor and was wiped out without a penny to his name. One day he was walking aimlessly and stumbled into the village where the debts had been forgiven. The villagers recognized the man and welcomed him with open arms, clothed, fed him, and gave him a place to live.

Without trying, the man had become like the sly and cunning rabbit. When his exit was blocked, he had another hole to emerge from - and was reborn. This story and idiom come from a book titled “The Amendment” - it's unclear whether this man actually existed or not. But the book did propel this idiom into common use in China.

Still today, this idiom about the rabbit is used in China when suggesting “backup plans,” alternate methods, and anyone with a good escape plan.

十戒 means Ten Commandments or Ten Precepts.

In the Buddhist context, these are prohibitions consisting of five commandments for the layman:
1. Not to destroy life 不殺生 Pāṇātipātāveramaṇi.
2. Not to steal 不倫盜 Adinnādānāver.
3. Not to commit adultery 不婬慾 Abrahmacaryaver.
4. Not to lie 不妄語 Musāvādāver.
5. Not to take intoxicating liquor 不飮酒 Suramereyya-Majjapamādaṭṭhānāver.

The ten commandments for the monk are the preceding five plus:
6. Not to eat food outside of regulated hours 不非時食 Vikāla-Bhojanāver.
7. Not to use garlands or perfumes 不著華鬘好香塗身 Mālā- Gandha-Vilepana-Dhāraṇa-Maṇḍana-Vibhūṣanaṭṭhānā.
8. Not to sleep on high or broad beds (chastity) 不坐高廣大牀 Uccāsayanā-Mahāsayanā.
9. Not to take part in singing, dancing, musical or theatrical performances 不歌舞倡伎不往觀聽 Nacca-Gīta-Vādita-Visūkadassanāver.
10. To refrain from acquiring uncoined or coined gold, or silver, or jewels 不得捉錢金銀寶物 Jātarūpa-Rajata-Paṭīggahaṇāver.

These original Buddhist commandments date back to about 2500 years ago. The English definitions above are followed by Chinese characters and original Pali pronunciation.

Under the Māhayāna Buddhism, these ten commands for the monk were changed, to accord with the new environment of the monk, to the following: not to kill, not to steal, to avoid all unchastity, not to lie, not to slander, not to insult, not to chatter, not to covet, not to give way to anger, to harbor no skepticism.

不贵尺之壁而重寸之阴 literally translates as: Treasure not a foot long [piece of] jade, [rather] treasure an inch of time.

Figuratively, this suggests that time is the most important/valuable thing in life.

時は金なり is the Japanese phrase meaning “Time is Money.”

It matches the use and meaning of the same idiom as used in English.

Note: Because this selection contains some special Japanese Hiragana characters, it should be written by a Japanese calligrapher.

一刻千金 is a Chinese and Japanese proverb that can be translated as “time is gold,” “every minute counts,” “every moment is precious,” “time is money,” or “precious time.”

In Chinese, 珍寶 means treasure, something you value highly, or something very precious to you.

In Japanese, 珍寶 has a meaning like “rare treasure.”

珍 can mean a precious thing or treasure. 寶 can mean a jewel or gem, a treasure, or simply precious. Together these two characters reinforce each other into a word that clearly means treasure.

寶 means precious thing or treasure.

This can also mean precious, a gem, a pearl, or anything valuable.

The version of this character shown to the left is the traditional Chinese and ancient/traditional Japanese version. In modern Japan and China, this character has been simplified. This simplified version is shown to the right. If you want this modern Japanese/simplified version, just click the Kanji on the right, instead of the button above. If your audience is Chinese or Korean, I recommend the ancient/traditional form. Only consider the simplified form if your audience is younger Japanese people.

財寶 is the Japanese word meaning “treasure” or “money and valuables.”

The first character means “property,” “money,” “wealth,” or “assets.” The second character means “treasure,” “wealth,” or “valuables” in Japanese. Together these two characters reinforce each other into a word that clearly means treasure in Japanese.

財寶 is also a word meaning “money and valuables” in Chinese but more of a daily use word - not as appropriate for a wall scroll if your audience is Chinese.

The second character shown to the left is the ancient/traditional Japanese version. In modern Japan, this character has been simplified. This simplified version is shown to the right. If you want this modern Japanese/simplified version, just click the Kanji on the right, instead of the button above.

金星 literally means gold star. Most of the time, in the context of the sky, this refers to the planet Venus.

Away from the sky, this can refer to a dazzling victory (e.g. win of a rank-and-file wrestler over the grand champion) or be the Japanese surname Kinboshi.

In the Buddhist context, this is Śukra, from Sanskrit for the planet Venus.

吾道一以貫之 is a phrase from the Analects of Confucius that translates as “My Way has one thread that runs through it.”

Other translations include:
My Way is penetrated by a single thread.
There is one single thread binding my Way together.
My Way is run through with a unifying thread.
My Way is Consistent.
And sometimes poetic license is taken, and it is translated as:
My Way is the only one; I'll treasure it and stick to it with humility until the end.

After this was said, some 2500+ years ago, another disciple of Confucius clarified the meaning by stating, “Our master's Way is to be loyal and have a sense of reciprocity.”

In Japanese, this is purported to be romanized as “Waga michi ichi wo motte kore wo tsuranuku,” though some will argue the true pronunciation.

Note: Sometimes written 吾道以一貫之 instead of 吾道一以貫之 with no difference in meaning.

武士の一言金鉄の如し is an old Japanese proverb about the value of the word of a warrior.

Here are a couple of versions of how this can be translated:

A warrior's single word is as unchanging and reliable as gold and steel.
A warrior's promise is as dependable as gold, and his [scabbard contains] untarnished steel (a sword).

Note: Sometimes this phrase is written as 男子の一言、金鉄の如し (danshi no ichigon kintetsu no gotoshi)

Note: Because this selection contains some special Japanese Hiragana characters, it should be written by a Japanese calligrapher.

The title says it all; this word is clearly understood in Chinese and Japanese as well as Korean Hanja.

財富 means wealth or riches in Chinese.

Hanging this on your wall will label you as a “lover of money” or a “greedy person.” Order this only if you don't mind being seen in this light.

円 is Yen, the Japanese currency.

円 is the Japanese variant of the original Chinese 圓 or 圆. It means circle, entirety, whole, full, or complete. It was the slang usage that became money, dough, or moola.

Occasionally, this is used as a given name or for other interesting uses. This version of the character is seldom used in Chinese unless referring to Japanese money.

Unless you have a specific reason to request it, this is a strange selection for a wall scroll.

羊 is the character for goat or sheep in Chinese, old Korean, and Japanese.

If you were born in the year of the goat (sheep), you . . .

Are sophisticated and considerate
Can always find the best solution to problems.
Are tolerant.
Are not afraid of hardship.
Know how to save money (thrifty).

See also our Chinese Zodiac page.

豬 is the character for boar, pig, or swine in Chinese and old Korean.

If you were born in the year of the boar/year of the pig, you...

Are optimistic.
Have good luck with wealth and money.
Are honest, generous, and warm-hearted.

The character shown to the right is the Japanese Kanji for "wild boar."
it’s an alternate/simplified form of pig/boar in Chinese (can be read by both Chinese and Japanese people). Click on that character instead of the button above if you want this version.

See also our Chinese Zodiac page.