Read / Reading

If you like to read, or your name is Read, this is the place to get your custom Chinese/Japanese calligraphy wall scroll...


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  1. Always with a Book in Hand

  2. Book

  3. Booker

  4. Learning leads to Knowledge, Study leads to Benevolence, Shame leads to Courage

  5. Double Happiness Guest Book

  6. Diligent Study Proverb

  7. Learning is Eternal

  8. Good Good Study, Day Day Up

  9. The Book of Five Rings

10. Book of Hosea

11. The Book of Changes / I Ching

12. Learn from Wisdom

13. Mindfulness

14. There is No Royal Road to Learning

15. The Sea of Knowledge Has No Limits

16. Open the Minds of the Next Generation To Stimulate Thinking

17. An Open Book Benefits Your Mind

18. Read

19. Read / Study

20. Read / Reading

21. Read

22. Read 10,000 Books, Travel 10,000 Miles

23. River of Literacy, Sea of Learning

24. Study / Learn / School

25. Better to Travel 10,000 Miles than Read 10,000 Books

26. Wisdom / Intelligence


Always with a Book in Hand

 shǒu bù shì juàn
Always with a Book in Hand Scroll

手不釋卷 is a Chinese proverb that literally means “always with a book in hand.”

It's a proverb said of a hardworking scholar or student.

This may refer to a student or scholar who is diligent and hardworking. It's a great gift for a student or scholar who loves books.

 shū
 sho
 
Book Scroll

書 is the most simple way to say “book” in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.

書 is usually read as “book” but can refer to a letter, or document.

In a certain context, it can refer to writing, penmanship, or handwriting. Especially in Chinese, it can be a short way to say calligraphy.

If you love books or want to write books, this is the simple, all-encompassing character for you.

 bù kè
Booker Scroll

布克 is the name Booker in Chinese (Mandarin).

 bukkaa
Booker Scroll

ブッカー is the name Booker in Japanese.


Note: Because this title is entirely Japanese Katakana, it should be written by a Japanese calligrapher.

Learning leads to Knowledge, Study leads to Benevolence, Shame leads to Courage

 hào xué jìn hū zhī lì xíng jìn hū rén zhī chǐ jìn hū yǒng
Learning leads to Knowledge, Study leads to Benevolence, Shame leads to Courage Scroll

好學近乎知力行近乎仁知恥近乎勇 is a Saying from Confucius which relates certain actions to virtues.

A more verbose translation:
To love learning is akin to knowledge,
to study diligently is akin to benevolence,
to know shame is akin to courage.

Double Happiness Guest Book

Customize a special Asian guest book for your wedding

 xǐ
 
Double Happiness Guest Book Scroll

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”).

How many signatures fit

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.

Diligent Study Proverb

Drill a hole in the wall to get light to read by.

 záo bì tōu guāng
Diligent Study Proverb Scroll

鑿壁偷光 is a Chinese proverb that means “Bore a hole in the wall to make use of the neighbor's light to study.”

This is a nice gift for a very studious person.

Kuang Heng was born during the Western Han period. He has been very fond of reading ever since he was young. However, he could not attend school since his family was poor, and he had to borrow books from people to learn.

To borrow these books, he normally did chores for people who had them. When he became older, he had to work in the field from sunrise to sunset since his family's financial situation did not improve. Thus, he tried to study at night, but he had no lamp.

One day, he noticed the light from the neighbor's house coming through a crack in the wall. This made him very happy, so he dug a larger hole from the crack and read in the light that shone through. This diligent study eventually made him an accomplished person.

Learning is Eternal

 xué wú zhǐ jìng
Learning is Eternal Scroll

This Chinese philosophy tells of how we continue to learn throughout our lives.

This proverb can be translated in a few ways such as “Study has no end,” “Knowledge is infinite,” “No end to learning,” “There's always something new to study,” or “You live and learn.”

The deeper meaning: Even when we finish school we are still students of the world gaining more knowledge from our surroundings with each passing day.


See Also:  An Open Book Benefits Your Mind | Wisdom | Learn From Wisdom

Good Good Study, Day Day Up

 hǎo hǎo xué xí tiān tiān xiàng shàng
Good Good Study, Day Day Up Scroll

好好學習天天向上 is a famous proverb by Chairman Mao Zedong that sounds really strange when directly translated into English.

I include it in our database of phrases to illustrate how different the construction and grammar can be between Chinese and English. The direct translation is “Good Good Study, Day Day Up.” In Chinese, a repeated character/word can often serve to reinforce the idea (like saying “very” or suggesting “a lot of”). So “good good” really means “a lot of good.” While “day day” can be better translated as “day in day out.” The idea of “up” has a meaning in China of “rising above” or “improving.”

After understanding all of this, we come up with a slightly better translation of “With a lot of good study, day in and day out, we raise above.”

The more natural translation of this proverb would be something like, “study hard, and keep improving.”

The Book of Five Rings

 go rin sho
The Book of Five Rings Scroll

五輪書 is the Japanese title for “The Book of Five Rings.”

五輪書 is a martial arts treatise by Miyamoto Musashi written around 1643.

Technically, these three characters are “Go Rin Sho” but an unwritten “の” or “no” which is a possessive article like the English “of” is verbally added by most Japanese. Therefore, many write this in Romaji as “Go Rin No Sho.”

Book of Hosea

 hé xī ā shū
Book of Hosea Scroll

何西阿書 is how to write the book of Hosea from the Bible in Mandarin Chinese.

Book of Hosea

 hosea sho
Book of Hosea Scroll

ホセア書 is how to write Hosea (as a book of the Bible) in Japanese.


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

The Book of Changes / I Ching

 yì jīng
The Book of Changes / I Ching Scroll

易經 is the Chinese title for “The Book of Changes,” also known as “I Ching” or “Yi Jing.”

Learn from Wisdom

(When you see a wise person, try to be like them)

 jiàn xián sī qí
Learn from Wisdom Scroll

When you meet a wise person, you should learn from them and be inspired to become as wise as they are.

見賢思齊 is a pretty long proverb in English, but in Chinese, it's only four characters.
However, in Chinese, the deeper meaning often surpasses the dictionary definition of each character.

In this case, you should seek wise people to learn from throughout your life...
Always try to learn enough to become equal to them. It also suggests that learning and seeking wisdom is a non-ending cycle.


See Also:  Knowledge

 niàn
 nen
 
Mindfulness Scroll

念 is the simplest way to write “mindfulness” in Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja.

念 can be defined these ways: To read; to study (a degree course); to read aloud; to miss somebody (keeping them in your mind); idea; remembrance; sense; thought; feeling; desire; concern; attention; recollection; memory; to think on/about; reflect; repeat, intone; a moment.

Obviously, the context in which the character is used determines which definition or meaning is perceived. As a single character, it's open and perhaps ambiguous. Thus, it can be read with any or all of these meanings.

念 is used in a Buddhist context (often written as 正念 or “right mindfulness”) with similar meanings of thought and contemplation.

In Japanese, this character is sometimes used as the name “Nen.”


See Also:  Buddhism | Enlightenment

There is No Royal Road to Learning

 qiú xué wú tǎn tú
There is No Royal Road to Learning Scroll

求學無坦途 is a Chinese proverb that translates as “There is no royal road to learning.”

This suggests that the path of learning can never be smooth, there will be difficulties and troubles along the way.


See Also:  Learning is Eternal

The Sea of Knowledge Has No Limits

 xué hǎi wú yá
The Sea of Knowledge Has No Limits Scroll

學海無涯 is a Chinese proverb that reads, “sea of learning, no horizon.”

Colloquially, it means there are no limits to what one still has left to learn.

This would be the Chinese equivalent to the quote from Hippocrates, “ars longa, vita brevis,” meaning “it takes a long time to acquire and perfect one's expertise.”


See Also:  Learning is Eternal

Open the Minds of the Next Generation To Stimulate Thinking

 qǐ dí
Open the Minds of the Next Generation To Stimulate Thinking Scroll

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

An Open Book Benefits Your Mind

 kāi juàn yǒu yì
An Open Book Benefits Your Mind Scroll

There are several ways to translate this ancient proverb. Translated literally and directly, it says, “Open roll has/yields benefit.”

To understand that, you must know a few things...

First, Chinese characters and language have deeper meanings that often are not spoken but are understood - especially with ancient texts like this. Example: It's understood that the “benefit” referred to in this proverb is to the reader's mind. Just the last character expresses that whole idea.

Second, Chinese proverbs are supposed to make you think and leave a bit of mystery to figure out.

Third, for this proverb, it should be noted that roll = book. When this proverb came about (about two thousand years ago), books were rolls of bamboo slips strung together. The first bound books like the ones we use today did not come about until about a thousand years after this proverb when they invented paper in China.

開卷有益 is a great gift for a bookworm who loves to read and increase their knowledge. Or for any friend that is or wants to be well-read.

Some other translations of this phrase:
Opening a book is profitable
The benefits of education.

 yuè
 
Read Scroll

閱 is a Chinese character that means to read. It can also refer to observing (the world, and learning from it), or gaining life experiences. 閱 is a good character to relay the idea of being “well-read,” which can include reading books, studying, and learning through experience.

The dictionary definition also includes: to inspect; to review; to peruse; to go through; to experience.

Technically, this is also a Japanese Kanji but only some Japanese Buddhists use it (most of the population will not recognize it).

In Chinese and Japanese Buddhism, this means examining, inspecting, and/or looking over.

Read / Study

 dú
 doku
 
Read / Study Scroll

讀 is a Chinese character that means “to read out loud,” or “to study books.”

Very seldom used in Japanese anymore (except occasionally in Buddhism).

Read / Reading

 yuè dú
Read / Reading Scroll

閱讀 is a Chinese word that refers to the act of reading or a suggestion to read (presumably books but could refer to any reading materials or text).

 lǐ dé
Read Scroll

里德 is the name Read in Chinese (Mandarin).

Read 10,000 Books, Travel 10,000 Miles

 dú wàn juǎn shū, xíng wàn lǐ lù
Read 10,000 Books, Travel 10,000 Miles Scroll

讀萬卷書行萬里路 is a lifelong suggestion for expanding your horizons by gaining knowledge, experience, and seeing the world.

Of course, this was written long ago when it was hard to travel 10,000 miles (at least 1000 years before the invention of the airplane).
With air travel and the business I'm in, I often achieve that lifetime goal on a monthly basis.
However, I am a little behind in the book count.

Note: An ancient Chinese mile (里 or lǐ) referred to in this proverb is about a third of a British/American mile. However, at that time, this was a great distance to travel.

River of Literacy, Sea of Learning

 wén jiāng xué hǎi
River of Literacy, Sea of Learning Scroll

文江學海 is a Chinese proverb that reads, “river of literacy, a sea of learning”

This suggests that there is a lot to learn in the world, with an eternal amount of reading and things to study.

文江學海 is one way to translate the quote from Hippocrates, “ars longa, vita brevis,” meaning “it takes a long time to acquire and perfect one's expertise.”


See Also:  Learning is Eternal

Study / Learn / School

 xué
 gaku
 
Study / Learn / School Scroll

學 is “study” or “learn” in Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja.

學 is a very broad character that can mean a lot of things related to scholarship. It can refer to a school (in fact, if you put the character for “big” in front of this, you have “college” or “university,” if you put the word for “middle,” you have “middle school.” This can also mean science; the process of acquiring knowledge; learning; scholarship; erudition; knowledge. It can also add the Chinese or Japanese version of “-ology” (the study of) too many words.


学There is a very common simplified version of this character. You will see this form in modern Japan and mainland China, Singapore, and other places. If you want this simplified version, please click on the character shown to the right instead of the "select and customize" button above.

Better to Travel 10,000 Miles than Read 10,000 Books

 xíng wàn lǐ lù shèng dú wàn juǎn shū
Better to Travel 10,000 Miles than Read 10,000 Books Scroll

行万里路胜读万卷书 translates a few ways:
To travel ten thousand miles beats reading ten-thousand books.
Better to travel ten thousand li than to read ten thousand books. (a “li” is an ancient Chinese mile)
Traveling thousands of miles is better than reading thousands of books.

No matter how you slice it, this Chinese proverb is claiming that experience is more profound and meaningful than what you can get from a book. Go do it! Don't just read about it.

Wisdom / Intelligence

 huì
 e / kei
 
Wisdom / Intelligence Scroll

慧 is a single character that can be translated as wisdom but it has more of an “intelligent” flavor. This can also mean cleverness or wit.

Japanese note: 慧 is understood in Japanese but seldom seen as a lone Kanji.


See Also:  Knowledge | Learning




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The following table may be helpful for those studying Chinese or Japanese...

Title CharactersRomaji (Romanized Japanese)Various forms of Romanized Chinese
Always with a Book in Hand手不釋卷
手不释卷
shǒu bù shì juàn
shou3 bu4 shi4 juan4
shou bu shi juan
shoubushijuan
shou pu shih chüan
shoupushihchüan
Book
shoshū / shu1 / shu
Booker布克bù kè / bu4 ke4 / bu ke / bukepu k`o / puko / pu ko
Bookerブッカーbukkaa / buka
Learning leads to Knowledge, Study leads to Benevolence, Shame leads to Courage好學近乎知力行近乎仁知恥近乎勇
好学近乎知力行近乎仁知耻近乎勇
hào xué jìn hū zhī lì xíng jìn hū rén zhī chǐ jìn hū yǒng
hao4 xue2 jin4 hu1 zhi1 li4 xing2 jin4 hu1 ren2 zhi1 chi3 jin4 hu1 yong3
hao xue jin hu zhi li xing jin hu ren zhi chi jin hu yong
hao hsüeh chin hu chih li hsing chin hu jen chih ch`ih chin hu yung
hao hsüeh chin hu chih li hsing chin hu jen chih chih chin hu yung
Double Happiness Guest Book
喜喜
xǐ / xi3 / xihsi
Diligent Study Proverb鑿壁偷光
凿壁偷光
záo bì tōu guāng
zao2 bi4 tou1 guang1
zao bi tou guang
zaobitouguang
tsao pi t`ou kuang
tsaopitoukuang
tsao pi tou kuang
Learning is Eternal學無止境
学无止境
xué wú zhǐ jìng
xue2 wu2 zhi3 jing4
xue wu zhi jing
xuewuzhijing
hsüeh wu chih ching
hsüehwuchihching
Good Good Study, Day Day Up好好學習天天向上
好好学习天天向上
hǎo hǎo xué xí tiān tiān xiàng shàng
hao3 hao3 xue2 xi2 tian1 tian1 xiang4 shang4
hao hao xue xi tian tian xiang shang
hao hao hsüeh hsi t`ien t`ien hsiang shang
hao hao hsüeh hsi tien tien hsiang shang
The Book of Five Rings五輪書go rin sho / gorinsho
Book of Hosea何西阿書
何西阿书
hé xī ā shū
he2 xi1 a1 shu1
he xi a shu
hexiashu
ho hsi a shu
hohsiashu
Book of Hoseaホセア書hosea sho / hoseasho
The Book of Changes
I Ching
易經
易经
yì jīng / yi4 jing1 / yi jing / yijingi ching / iching
Learn from Wisdom見賢思齊
见贤思齐
jiàn xián sī qí
jian4 xian2 si1 qi2
jian xian si qi
jianxiansiqi
chien hsien ssu ch`i
chienhsienssuchi
chien hsien ssu chi
Mindfulnessnenniàn / nian4 / niannien
There is No Royal Road to Learning求學無坦途
求学无坦途
qiú xué wú tǎn tú
qiu2 xue2 wu2 tan3 tu2
qiu xue wu tan tu
qiuxuewutantu
ch`iu hsüeh wu t`an t`u
chiuhsüehwutantu
chiu hsüeh wu tan tu
The Sea of Knowledge Has No Limits學海無涯
学海无涯
xué hǎi wú yá
xue2 hai3 wu2 ya2
xue hai wu ya
xuehaiwuya
hsüeh hai wu ya
hsüehhaiwuya
Open the Minds of the Next Generation To Stimulate Thinking啟迪
启迪
qǐ dí / qi3 di2 / qi di / qidich`i ti / chiti / chi ti
An Open Book Benefits Your Mind開卷有益
开卷有益
kāi juàn yǒu yì
kai1 juan4 you3 yi4
kai juan you yi
kaijuanyouyi
k`ai chüan yu i
kaichüanyui
kai chüan yu i
Read
yuè / yue4 / yueyüeh
Read
Study

dokudú / du2 / dutu
Read
Reading
閱讀
阅读
yuè dú / yue4 du2 / yue du / yueduyüeh tu / yüehtu
Read里德lǐ dé / li3 de2 / li de / lideli te / lite
Read 10,000 Books, Travel 10,000 Miles讀萬卷書行萬里路
读万卷书行万里路
dú wàn juǎn shū, xíng wàn lǐ lù
du2 wan4 juan3 shu1 xing2 wan4 li3 lu4
du wan juan shu xing wan li lu
duwanjuanshuxingwanlilu
tu wan chüan shu hsing wan li lu
River of Literacy, Sea of Learning文江學海
文江学海
wén jiāng xué hǎi
wen2 jiang1 xue2 hai3
wen jiang xue hai
wenjiangxuehai
wen chiang hsüeh hai
wenchianghsüehhai
Study
Learn
School

gakuxué / xue2 / xuehsüeh
Better to Travel 10,000 Miles than Read 10,000 Books行萬里路勝讀萬捲書
行万里路胜读万卷书
xíng wàn lǐ lù shèng dú wàn juǎn shū
xing2 wan4 li3 lu4 sheng4 du2 wan4 juan3 shu1
xing wan li lu sheng du wan juan shu
hsing wan li lu sheng tu wan chüan shu
Wisdom
Intelligence
e / keihuì / hui4 / hui
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.


Dictionary

Lookup in my Japanese & Chinese Dictionary

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.


A nice Chinese calligraphy wall scroll

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.

A professional Chinese Calligrapher

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.

Trying to learn Chinese calligrapher - a futile effort

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.

A high-ranked Chinese master calligrapher that I met in Zhongwei

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.