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1. Sandaiyu - Three Generation Soup
2. When Three People Gather, Wisdom is Multiplied
3. Sandaiyu
4. Better to be Happy than Rich
5. Three Treasures of Chinese Medicine
6. Open the Minds of the Next Generation To Stimulate Thinking
7. Romance of the Three Kingdoms
8. A sly rabbit has three openings to its den
9. Three
10. When Three People Gather, One Becomes a Teacher
11. Three Kingdoms
12. Three Souls
13. Three Treasures of Buddhism
14. The Three Truths
15. Take Refuge in the Three Treasures
16. Sandaiyu
三人寄れば文殊の知恵 literally means “when three people meet, wisdom is exchanged.”
Some will suggest this means when three people come together, their wisdom is multiplied.
That wisdom part can also be translated as wit, sagacity, intelligence, or Buddhist Prajna (insight leading to enlightenment).
In the middle of this proverb is “monju,” suggesting “transcendent wisdom.” This is where the multiplication of wisdom ideas comes from.
Note: This is very similar to the Chinese proverb, "When 3 people meet, one becomes a teacher."
Note: Because this selection contains some special Japanese Hiragana characters, it should be written by a Japanese calligrapher.
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.
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.
This word is often used to describe the idea of opening the minds of the young or the new generation.
See Also: Wisdom | Learning is Eternal | Learn From Wisdom
Novel Title
-or- The crafty rabbit has three different entrances to its lair
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.
The number three
三 is the number three in Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja.
This is a strange selection for a wall scroll, so it's here mostly for reference. I guess it's OK if the number three is important to you.
Because this character is rather simple (just three lines), there is an anti-fraud way to write three on bank documents. These variants are shown to the right.
三人行必有我师 means “when three people meet, one becomes the teacher.”
This famous Chinese philosophy suggests that when people come together, they can always learn from each other.
One person must be the teacher and others learn. And in turn, the others become the teachers of the knowledge they possess.
It is important to remember that we all have something to teach, and we all have something to learn as well.
三國 is the title for the Three Kingdoms period (220-280 A.D.) in Chinese history.
In Korean Hanja, this can also refer to one of several Three Kingdoms periods in Korean history.
In Japanese, this could refer to the Chinese Three Kingdoms period or be the surname Mitsukuni.
The Triple Gem
三寶 is the title for “Three Precious Treasures of Buddhism” or “The Triple Gem.”
These three treasures are the Buddha 佛, the Dharma 法 (teachings or the law of the Buddha), and the Sangha 僧 (the community of monks or followers).
This term is used by most (perhaps not all) Buddhists in China, Japan, and South Korea (written the same in the original form but pronounced differently in each language). Non-Buddhists may just read this as “Three Treasures” without the religious context. For instance, there is also a “Three Treasures of Chinese Medicine” that is sometimes titled the same way.
In modern Japanese and Simplified Chinese, this is written 三宝 instead of 三寶.
三諦 is a Buddhist term that means “threefold truth” or “three dogmas.”
The three truths are:
1. All things are void (卽空).
2. All things are temporary (卽假).
3. All things are in the middle state between these two (卽中).
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The following table may be helpful for those studying Chinese or Japanese...
Title | Characters | Romaji (Romanized Japanese) | Various forms of Romanized Chinese | |
Sandaiyu - Three Generation Soup | 三代湯 | sandaiyu | ||
When Three People Gather, Wisdom is Multiplied | 三人寄れば文殊の知恵 | san nin yore ba monju no chie sanninyorebamonjunochie | ||
Sandaiyu | サンダイユ | sandaiyu | ||
Better to be Happy than Rich | 安貧樂道 安贫乐道 | ān pín lè dào an1 pin2 le4 dao4 an pin le dao anpinledao | an p`in le tao anpinletao an pin le tao |
|
Three Treasures of Chinese Medicine | 精氣神 精气神 | jīng qì shén jing1 qi4 shen2 jing qi shen jingqishen | ching ch`i shen chingchishen ching chi shen |
|
Open the Minds of the Next Generation To Stimulate Thinking | 啟迪 启迪 | qǐ dí / qi3 di2 / qi di / qidi | ch`i ti / chiti / chi ti | |
Romance of the Three Kingdoms | 三國演義 三国演义 | sān guó yǎn yì san1 guo2 yan3 yi4 san guo yan yi sanguoyanyi | san kuo yen i sankuoyeni |
|
A sly rabbit has three openings to its den | 狡兔三窟 | jiǎo tù sān kū jiao3 tu4 san1 ku1 jiao tu san ku jiaotusanku | chiao t`u san k`u chiaotusanku chiao tu san ku |
|
Three | 三 / 參 三 / 参 | san | sān / san1 / san | |
When Three People Gather, One Becomes a Teacher | 三人行必有我師 三人行必有我师 | sān rén xíng bì yǒu wǒ shī san1 ren2 xing2 bi4 you3 wo3 shi1 san ren xing bi you wo shi sanrenxingbiyouwoshi | san jen hsing pi yu wo shih sanjenhsingpiyuwoshih |
|
Three Kingdoms | 三國 三国 | mitsu kuni / mitsukuni | sān guó / san1 guo2 / san guo / sanguo | san kuo / sankuo |
Three Souls | 三魂 | san tamashi santamashi | sān hún / san1 hun2 / san hun / sanhun | |
Three Treasures of Buddhism | 三寶 三宝 | san bou / sanbou / san bo | sān bǎo / san1 bao3 / san bao / sanbao | san pao / sanpao |
The Three Truths | 三諦 三谛 | san dai / san tai sandai / santai | sān dì / san1 di4 / san di / sandi | san ti / santi |
Take Refuge in the Three Treasures | 南無三寶 南无三宝 | na mu san bou namusanbou na mu san bo | nán mo sān bǎo nan2 mo san1 bao3 nan mo san bao nanmosanbao | nan mo san pao nanmosanpao |
Take Refuge in the Three Treasures | 歸依三寶 归依三宝 | ki e san bou kiesanbou ki e san bo | guī yī sān bǎo gui1 yi1 san1 bao3 gui yi san bao guiyisanbao | kuei i san pao kueiisanpao |
Sandaiyu | 三代玉 | sān dài yù san1 dai4 yu4 san dai yu sandaiyu | san tai yü santaiyü |
|
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. |
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.