The name Central Africa in Chinese / Japanese...

This is Central Africa written in Japanese.

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

非洲 is the Chinese name for the continent of Africa.

This is the Chinese name for the country of the Central African Republic.

See Also:  Africa

This is the Chinese name for the country of South Africa.

See Also:  Africa

阿非利加 is the transliteration to Mandarin Chinese for the Latin / Spanish name África.

This is South Africa in Japanese.

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

This is the Chinese name for the country of Egypt.

Note: Egypt rests partially in Asia and Africa.

See Also:  Africa | Asia

This is the Chinese name for the country of Benin.

See Also:  Africa

This is the Chinese name for the country of Chad.

See Also:  Africa

This is the Chinese name for the country of Gabon.

See Also:  Africa

This is the Chinese name for the country of Ghana.

See Also:  Africa

This is the Chinese name for the country of Guinea.

See Also:  Africa

馬里 is the Chinese name for the country of Mali (Republic of Mali).

See Also:  Africa

This is the Chinese name for the country of Sudan.

See Also:  Africa

This is the Chinese name for the country of Togo.

See Also:  Africa

This is the Chinese name for the country of Angola.

See Also:  Africa

This is the Chinese name for the country of Burundi.

See Also:  Africa

This is the Chinese name for the country of Cameroon.

See Also:  Africa

This is the Chinese name for the country of Comoros.

See Also:  Africa

This is the Chinese name for the country of Djibouti.

See Also:  Africa

This is the Chinese name for the country of Gambia.

See Also:  Africa

This is the Chinese name for the country of Kenya.

See Also:  Africa

This is the Chinese name for the country of Lesotho.

See Also:  Africa

This is the Chinese name for the country of Malawi.

See Also:  Africa

This is the Chinese name for the country of Morocco.

See Also:  Africa

This is the Chinese name for the country of Niger.

See Also:  Africa

This is the Chinese name for the country of Rwanda.

See Also:  Africa

This is the Chinese name for the country of Somalia.

See Also:  Africa

This is the Chinese name for the country of Uganda.

See Also:  Africa

This is the Chinese name for the country of Zambia.

See Also:  Africa

This is the Chinese name for Anguilla (overseas territory of the United Kingdom).

See Also:  Africa

This is the Chinese name for the country of Botswana.

See Also:  Africa

This is the Chinese name for the country of Liberia.

See Also:  Africa

This is the Chinese name for the country of Mauritius.

See Also:  Africa

This is the Chinese name for the country of Mozambique.

See Also:  Africa

This is the Chinese name for the country of Namibia.

See Also:  Africa

This is the Chinese name for the country of Nigeria.

See Also:  Africa

This is the Chinese name for the country of Senegal.

See Also:  Africa

This is the Chinese name for the country of Sierra Leone.

See Also:  Africa

This is the Chinese name for the country of Swaziland.

See Also:  Africa

This is the Chinese name for the country of Tanzania.

See Also:  Africa

This is the Chinese name for the country of Zimbabwe.

See Also:  Africa

阿爾及利亞 is the Chinese name for the country of Algeria.

See Also:  Africa

This is the Chinese name for the country of Ethiopia.

See Also:  Africa

This is the Chinese name for the country of Madagascar.

See Also:  Africa

This is the Chinese name for the country of Mauritania.

See Also:  Africa

This is the Chinese name for the country of Seychelles.

See Also:  Africa

This is the Chinese name for the Falkland Islands (overseas territory of the United Kingdom).

See Also:  Great Britain | United Kingdom | Africa

中央情報局 is a Japanese and Chinese title for the US Central Intelligence Agency or CIA.

麒麟 is the title of a mythical beast of Asia.

The animal is thought to be related to the giraffe, and in some ways, it is a giraffe. However, it is often depicted with the horns of a dragon or deer and sometimes with the body like a horse, but many variations exist.

In Japanese, it is pronounced “Kirin” as in “Kirin Ichiban” beer.


Notes:

1. This is sometimes spelled as “kylin.”

2. In Japanese, this is the only Kanji word for giraffe. Therefore in Japan, this word needs context to know whether you are talking about the mythical creature or the long-necked giraffe of Africa.

3. Apparently, this was the first word used for regular giraffes in China (some were brought from Africa to China during the Ming Dynasty - probably around the year 1400). Though the mythical creature may have existed before, the name “qilin” was given to the “new giraffe.” This is because, more than 600 years ago, giraffes somewhat matched the mythical creature's description when Chinese people saw them for the first time. Later, to avoid such an ambiguous title, a three-character word was devised to mean a “giraffe of Africa.” The characters for “qilin” shown here are only for the mythological version in modern Chinese.

4. More information about the qilin / kirin from Wikipedia.

5. This creature is sometimes translated as the “Chinese Unicorn,” although it is generally portrayed with two horns. I think this is done more for the fantasy aspect of the unicorn and because most westerners don't know what a qilin or kirin is (this avoids a long explanation by the translator).

6. In Korean, this can mean kirin or simply giraffe (usually, the mythological creature is what they would think of when seeing these characters alone on a wall scroll).

In short, 節制 or temperance is knowing when to say “when.”

Temperance is the practice of moderation and restraint (in fact, this Asian word is often translated as moderation or restraint).

It was one of the five tenets held to be vital to society in Hellenic culture. It is also one of the Four Cardinal Virtues considered central to Christian behavior by the Catholic Church.

Note: Also considered to be one of the Seven Heavenly Virtues.

A customer asked me to split these Wing Chun maxims into two parts, so he could order a couplet. I thought this was a good idea, so it's been added here.

A couplet is a set of two wall scrolls that start and finish one phrase or idea. Often, couplets are hung with the first wall scroll on the right side, and the second on the left side of a doorway or entrance. The order in Chinese is right-to-left, so that's why the first wall scroll goes on the right as you face the door.

Of course, couplets can also be hung together on a wall. Often they can be hung to flank an altar, or table with incense, or even flanking a larger central wall scroll. See an example here from the home of Confucius

Be sure to order both parts 1 and 2 together. One without the other is like Eve without Adam.

The dictionary definition is:
Relations/relationship, to concern, to affect, to have to do with, or connection.

But there's more to it...

In China, the relationship that you have with certain people can open doors for you. Having guanxi with someone also means they would never defraud you but are honor-bound to treat you fairly (of course, this goes both ways). Sometimes it is suggested that guanxi is the exchange of favors. 關繫 / 関繫 / 關係 is more about having a relationship that allows you to ask for and expect favors without shame.

There is no concept in western culture that exactly matches guanxi, but perhaps having a social or professional network is similar.

Note that there are some variations common within Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and Korean Hanja for this word...

Japanese tend to use a Chinese alternate form as shown to the right for
the first character.

There's also another alternate form of that first character (currently used as the official Simplified form in mainland China) which looks like the character shown to the right. It's basically the central radical of the alternate version shown above but without the “door radical” around it. In more free-flowing calligraphy styles, this version would be the likely choice for a calligrapher.

In Modern Japanese, they use the character shown to the right.
They also tend to use this same form in Korean Hanja (I've only checked this word in my Korean dictionary, but it has not been confirmed by a translator's review).

If that was not confusing enough, there is another alternate form of that second character. See right.

An Asian calligrapher of any nationality may use these forms at their discretion. However, They would tend to stick to the most common form used in their respective languages.

If you have any preference on any of these issues, please give us a special note with your order, and we'll make sure it's done the way you want.

This poem was written almost 1200 years ago during the Tang dynasty.

It depicts traveling up a place known as Cold Mountain, where some hearty people have built their homes. The traveler is overwhelmed by the beauty of the turning leaves of the maple forest that surrounds him just as night overtakes the day, and darkness prevails. His heart implores him to stop, and take in all of the beauty around him.

First, before you get to the full translation, I must tell you that Chinese poetry is a lot different than what we have in the west. Chinese words simply don't rhyme in the same way that English or other western languages do. Chinese poetry depends on rhythm and a certain beat of repeated numbers of characters.

I have done my best to translate this poem keeping a certain feel of the original poet. But some of the original beauty of the poem in its original Chinese will be lost in translation.

Far away on Cold Mountain, a stone path leads upwards.
Among white clouds, people's homes reside.
Stopping my carriage I must, as to admire the maple forest at nights fall.
In awe of autumn leaves showing more red than even flowers of early spring.

Hopefully, this poem will remind you to stop, and “take it all in” as you travel through life.
The poet's name is “Du Mu” in Chinese that is: .
The title of the poem, “Mountain Travels” is:
You can have the title, poet's name, and even “Tang Dynasty” written as an inscription on your custom wall scroll if you like.

More about the poet:

Dumu lived from 803-852 AD and was a leading Chinese poet during the later part of the Tang dynasty.
He was born in Chang'an, a city in central China and the former capital of the ancient Chinese empire in 221-206 BC. In present-day China, his birthplace is currently known as Xi'an, the home of the Terracotta Soldiers.

He was awarded his Jinshi degree (an exam administered by the emperor's court which leads to becoming an official of the court) at the age of 25 and went on to hold many official positions over the years. However, he never achieved a high rank, apparently because of some disputes between various factions, and his family's criticism of the government. His last post in the court was his appointment to the office of Secretariat Drafter.

During his life, he wrote scores of narrative poems, as well as a commentary on the Art of War and many letters of advice to high officials.

His poems were often very realistic and often depicted everyday life. He wrote poems about everything, from drinking beer in a tavern to weepy poems about lost love.

The thing that strikes you most is the fact even after 1200 years, not much has changed about the beauty of nature, toils, and troubles of love and beer drinking.