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Improve in Chinese / Japanese...

Buy an Improve calligraphy wall scroll here!

Personalize your custom “Improve” project by clicking the button next to your favorite “Improve” title below...


  1. Always Try to do Better

  2. Ambitious / To Improve Oneself

  3. Better to be Happy than Rich

  4. Diligent Study Proverb

  5. Goodness / Good Deed

  6. Progress / Ambition

  7. Kai Zen / Kaizen

  8. Seeking Wisdom

  9. Reiki Precepts by Usui Mikao


Always Try to do Better

 sara ni ue o me za su
Always Try to do Better Scroll

This Japanese proverb literally translates as: [After having achieved a fair degree of success,] one should still try to do better.

Others may translate this as “Always try to improve,” or “Always try to be better.”


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


See Also:  Never Give Up

Ambitious / To Improve Oneself

Advance and Progress

 shàng jìn
 jou shin
Ambitious / To Improve Oneself Scroll

上進 is a Chinese and Japanese Kanji word that means to advance, to make progress, to do better, to be ambitious, to improve oneself, or to move forward.

This can refer to a single person, general things (such as a work project), or a whole country.

In Japanese, this is sometimes used as the given name Joushin.

Better to be Happy than Rich

 ān pín lè dào
Better to be Happy than Rich Scroll

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

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.

Goodness / Good Deed

 shàn
 zen
 
Goodness / Good Deed Scroll

善 means goodness, virtue, good deed, charitable, benevolent, well-disposed, nice, pleasant, kind, or simply, “good.”

善 is the kind of good that applies to someone's good character, or a good person in general.

Referring to someone with this word means that they have a well-aimed moral compass, and are charitable, giving, wise, and honest. Basically, this is a blanket statement for every good trait a human can have or all the things that make someone good.

In another context, it can mean to improve or perfect something or refer to someone who is good at something.

Progress / Ambition

 shàng jìn
 joushin
Progress / Ambition Scroll

This Chinese and Japanese word means to make progress, to do better, ambition to improve oneself, to move forward, to advance.

This should be romanized as Joushin but is often romanized as Joshin from Japanese. It can also be a given name in Japanese.

Kai Zen / Kaizen

 gǎi shàn
 kai zen
Kai Zen / Kaizen Scroll

改善 means betterment, improvement, to make better, or to improve - specifically incremental and continuous improvement.

改善 became very important in post-war Japan when Edwards Deming came to Japan to teach concepts of incremental and continuous improvement (for which the big 3 auto-makers did not want to hear about at the time - even kicking Deming out of their offices). The Japanese workforce absorbed this concept when their culture was in flux and primed for change.

This kaizen term is closely associated with the western title “Total Quality Management.” Perhaps dear to my heart since I spent years studying this at university before I moved to China where TQM did not seem to exist. Slowly, this concept has entered China as well (I've actually given lectures on the subject in Beijing).

If you are trying to improve processes at your business or need to remind yourself of your continuous TQM goals, this would be a great wall scroll to hang behind your desk or in your workplace.


See Also:  Kansei

Seeking Wisdom

 chiomigaku
Seeking Wisdom Scroll

智を磨く is an old obscure Japanese phrase that means to refine, cultivate, or improve one's wisdom.

This is the mantra of one who is a seeker of wisdom. They will always want to polish, shine, refine, improve, and expand their knowledge and understanding.


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

Reiki Precepts by Usui Mikao

 shou fuku no hihou man byou no rei yaku kyou da ke wa oko ru na shin pai su na kan sha shi te gyou wo ha ke me hito ni shin setsu ni asayuu gasshou shite kokoro ni nenji kuchi ni tonae yo shin shin kaizen usui rei ki ryou hou cho so usu i mika o
Reiki Precepts by Usui Mikao Scroll

These are the precepts of Reiki that are attributed to Usui Mikao.

Here is a breakdown of the characters and a rough translation:
招福の秘法, 萬病の霊薬。
Invite blessings of [the] secret method, 10,000 illnesses of spiritual medicine.
今日丈けは: 怒るな, 心配すな, 感謝して, 業をはげめ, 人に親切に。
At least for today: Do not be angry, do not worry, be grateful, work with diligence, and be kind to people.
朝夕合掌して, 心に念じ, 口に唱へよ, 心身改善。
Morning [and] evening perform gassho (join hands), [with your] heart/mind in silent prayer, [with your] mouth chant, [thusly] mind [and] body [will] reform/improve.
臼井靈氣療法! -肇祖, 臼井甕男。
Usui Reiki Ryōhō! -Founder, Usui Mikao.

The middle portion of this is often titled, “The Five Principles of Reiki” and makes a nice calligraphy selection by itself. The Japanese text presented here can be considered the more verbose version.


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




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These search terms might be related to Improve:

1. Right Understanding / Right Perspective / Right View / Perfect View

2. Right Resolve / Right Thought / Right Intention / Perfect Resolve

3. Right Speech / Right Talk / Perfect Speech

4. Right Action / Perfect Conduct

5. Right Living / Right Livelihood / Perfect Livelihood

6. Right Effort / Right Endeavor / Perfect Effort

7. Right Mindfulness / Right Memory / Perfect Mindfulness

8. Right Concentration / Perfect Concentration

A Deliberate Inaction is Better Than a Blind Action

Advance Bravely / Indomitable Spirit

Always Try to Do Better

Beautiful Life / Life in Perfect Harmony

Better Late Than Never

Better to Be Happy Than Rich

Better to Choose Nothing, Rather Than Make a Poor Choice

Better to Sacrifice Your Life Than Your Principles

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

Example is Better Than Precept

Inner Strength is Better Than Outward Appearance

It is Better to Be a Warrior in a Garden Than a Gardener in a War

No One Knows a Son Better Than the Father

Perfect Harmony

Progress / Ambition

Progress Day by Day

Rally

Ten Perfect Mahayana Rules

Uniform / Complete / Perfect / Order

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

Title CharactersRomaji (Romanized Japanese)Various forms of Romanized Chinese
Always Try to do Better更に上を目指すsara ni ue o me za su
saraniueomezasu
Ambitious
To Improve Oneself
上進
上进
jou shin / joushin / jo shinshàng jìn
shang4 jin4
shang jin
shangjin
shang chin
shangchin
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
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
Goodness
Good Deed
zenshàn / shan4 / shan
Progress
Ambition
上進
上进
joushin / joshinshàng jìn
shang4 jin4
shang jin
shangjin
shang chin
shangchin
Kai Zen
Kaizen
改善kai zen / kaizengǎi shàn / gai3 shan4 / gai shan / gaishankai shan / kaishan
Seeking Wisdom智を磨くchiomigaku
Reiki Precepts by Usui Mikao招福の秘法萬病の霊薬今日丈けは怒るな心配すな感謝して業をはげめ人に親切に朝夕合掌して心に念じ口に唱へよ心身改善臼井靈氣療法肇祖臼井甕男shou fuku no hihou man byou no rei yaku kyou da ke wa oko ru na shin pai su na kan sha shi te gyou wo ha ke me hito ni shin setsu ni asayuu gasshou shite kokoro ni nenji kuchi ni tonae yo shin shin kaizen usui rei ki ryou hou cho so usu i mika o
sho fuku no hiho man byo no rei yaku kyo da ke wa oko ru na shin pai su na kan sha shi te gyo wo ha ke me hito ni shin setsu ni asayu gasho shite kokoro ni nenji kuchi ni tonae yo shin shin kaizen usui rei ki ryo ho cho so usu i mika o
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 Improve in my Japanese & Chinese Dictionary


Successful Chinese Character and Japanese Kanji calligraphy searches within the last few hours...

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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.


Check out my lists of Japanese Kanji Calligraphy Wall Scrolls and Old Korean Hanja Calligraphy Wall Scrolls.

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