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3. Just as Liquor Turns a Face Red, Gold Turns a Heart Black
4. Red Dragon
5. Red Dragon / Vermillion Dragon
6. Red Envelope
9. Red Color
10. Red Demon
12. Red Maple Tree
16. Red Flower
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.
怡紅院 is from “The Story of the Stone” by Cao Xueqin.
For some reason, this phrase was translated as “House of Green Delights” when the novel was published in English. The translator took some liberties and believed that “green” had a more positive feel than red to a western audience. Therefore, the phrase shown to the right is “House of Red Delights” (which is the most original and correct way).
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.
朱龍 is a sophisticated or scholarly way to say “Red Dragon.” 朱龍 is the title you'd expect in ancient Chinese literature.
The first character means red, cinnabar, or vermillion.
The second character means dragon.
It is said that the Vermillion Dragon represents kings that bestow blessings on lakes or bodies of water. This makes more sense in an ancient Chinese context.
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.
Thread of Lover's Destiny / Fate
This literally translates as “the red string” or “the red thread” in Japanese, but the real meaning is much deeper...
In Japanese culture, it's believed that fate, destiny, or karma joins lovers by an unseen string, tied around one little finger of each. 赤い糸 is how soul mates find and are drawn to each other.
The Japanese concept of the red thread of fate, by most estimations, comes from Chinese folklore, where it's known as 姻緣紅線. The only difference is that in China, the celestial red thread is tied around the ankles of the lovers (versus what is usually represented as the pinky finger in Japan).
紅 is a single character that means red in Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja.
The perceived meaning of this character can be ambiguous. Most will see it as the color red but it can also mean Communist (just like it can in English). In Japanese, it can be a female given name “Rena,” or refer to red silk lining. In Chinese, red is a good luck color, and can refer to a bonus or revolutionary.
姻緣紅線 is the legendary red string of destiny that binds all soul mates or lovers together.
In ancient Chinese culture, a mythological matchmaker named 月老 (Yuè Lǎo) was the controller of the fate that led lovers to meet. He did this by tying a celestial red string to the ankle of each person. Sometime during their life, they will meet and marry as fate dictates.
While the origin of the red string comes from China, it has spread to other parts of Asia (such as Japan, where it's known as 赤い糸).
赤 can represent the color scarlet, red, or crimson.
In some special contexts, it can also mean naked, whole, total, perfect, obvious, or the Japanese surname, Sekizaki.
This in-stock artwork might be what you are looking for, and ships right away...
Gallery Price: $106.00
Your Price: $58.88
Gallery Price: $106.00
Your Price: $58.88
The following table may be helpful for those studying Chinese or Japanese...
Title | Characters | Romaji (Romanized Japanese) | Various forms of Romanized Chinese | |
Five Red Bats | 紅五蝠 红五蝠 | hóng wǔ fú hong2 wu3 fu2 hong wu fu hongwufu | hung wu fu hungwufu |
|
House of Red Delights | 怡紅院 怡红院 | yí hóng yuàn yi2 hong2 yuan4 yi hong yuan yihongyuan | i hung yüan ihungyüan |
|
Just as Liquor Turns a Face Red, Gold Turns a Heart Black | 白酒紅人面黃金黑世心 白酒红人面黄金黑世心 | bái jiǔ hóng rén miàn huáng jīn hēi shì xīn bai2 jiu3 hong2 ren2 mian4 huang2 jin1 hei1 shi4 xin1 bai jiu hong ren mian huang jin hei shi xin | pai chiu hung jen mien huang chin hei shih hsin | |
Red Dragon | 赤龍 赤龙 | chì lóng / chi4 long2 / chi long / chilong | ch`ih lung / chihlung / chih lung | |
Red Dragon Vermillion Dragon | 朱龍 朱龙 | zhū lóng / zhu1 long2 / zhu long / zhulong | chu lung / chulung | |
Red Envelope | 紅包 红包 | hóng bāo / hong2 bao1 / hong bao / hongbao | hung pao / hungpao | |
Red Panda Firefox | 紅熊貓 红熊猫 | hóng xióng māo hong2 xiong2 mao1 hong xiong mao hongxiongmao | hung hsiung mao hunghsiungmao |
|
The Red String | 赤い糸 | akai ito / akaiito | ||
Red Color | 紅 红 | beni | hóng / hong2 / hong | hung |
Red Demon | 赤鬼 | akaoni | chì guǐ / chi4 gui3 / chi gui / chigui | ch`ih kuei / chihkuei / chih kuei |
Red Leaves of Autumn | 紅葉 红叶 | moyo | hóng yè / hong2 ye4 / hong ye / hongye | hung yeh / hungyeh |
Red Maple Tree | 花の木 | hananoki | ||
The Red Thread of Fate | 姻緣紅線 姻缘红线 | yīn yuán hóng xiàn yin1 yuan2 hong2 xian4 yin yuan hong xian yinyuanhongxian | yin yüan hung hsien yinyüanhunghsien |
|
Scarlet Red Crimson | 赤 | aka | chì / chi4 / chi | ch`ih / chih |
Scarlet Bright Red | 鮮紅 鲜红 | sen kou / senkou / sen ko | xiān hóng xian1 hong2 xian hong xianhong | hsien hung hsienhung |
Red Flower | 丹花 | tan ga / tanga | ||
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. |
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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.
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.
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