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1. Gung Ho
2. Si Gung
3. Star Lotus
4. Fong / Fang
7. Five Families / Tsoi Li Hoi Fut Hung
9. Nichiren
Working Together
工合 is one of those Asian words that is used more in English than in the original Chinese.
Gung Ho was originally used to speak of Carlson's Raiders, a group of “Gung Ho” U.S. Marines who went on an island-hopping campaign of death during WWII.
A movie called Gung Ho came out in the mid-1940s and was later re-released in the 1950s depicting the 2nd Marine Raider Battalion, and brought this word to the mainstream.
It is still sometimes used today within the U.S. Marine Corps brotherhood to refer to a unit or group that works well together or is otherwise efficient and motivated (has good morals).
In 1986, there was a movie called Gung Ho about a Japanese company taking over an American automotive factory. They completely ignored the fact that this was a Chinese title.
It should be noted that this title actually means a condition, state, manner, or the health of something in Japanese.
Language and pronunciation notes:
Like many Asian words absorbed into common use in English, this one is drastically mispronounced. The official Romanization is “gong he” but that doesn't tell you enough. The vowel sound on the first character is like the English word “own,” now just add the g-sounds to the beginning and end. The second character is misleading, as you might think it is like the English word “he.” In reality, the vowel sound is more like the “u” in “up.”
It should also be noted that the current generation in China no longer uses or recognizes this as a common word or slogan.
Note: This can be pronounced and is a word in Japanese, though seldom used. Japanese will use a variation of "具合" instead. But still, not common.
星蓮花 is the title Star Lotus in Chinese.
For star lotus, some may write 星荷 instead - especially in Taiwan for reasons I am not sure of. 星荷 is sometimes romanized as “sing he” or “sing ho” though it would be “xīng hé” in mainland pinyin romanization. If you need a particular version or more info, please get in touch with me.
This is the most common version of a Chinese surname that romanizes as Fong from Taiwan or Fang from mainland China.
The meaning of this character is square, upright, honest, fair and square, direction, place, or side. Sometimes 方 can refer to a method, prescription, or way of doing things.
In Japanese, this can be the given names Michi, Masani, Masashi,Tamotsu, Tadashi. It can also be Japanese surnames Hon, Hou, Ho, Fuon, Pan, Ban, Tokukata, or Kata.
蔡李何佛雄 is the five families associated with San Soo Kung Fu.
The characters are always the same, but there are several ways these are romanized from Cantonese, Mandarin, and other dialects. Some common ones include Tsoi Li Hoi Fut Hung and Choi Li Ho Fut Hung.
If you are using a different romanization, that does not mean it's wrong. It might just be that your school is using a different dialect or romanization scheme.
功夫散手 is a martial arts title.
Oddly, there are multiple ways two spell/romanize this in English, but in Chinese, it's written exactly the same.
Technically, the Mandarin romanizes as “gong fu san shou,” for which you'll sometimes see it written “kung fu san shou” (k'ung is an old romanization for a word that sounds like gong with a vowel sound like “oh”).
There is another martial arts style that spells this “Kung Fu San Soo.” I guess this was supposed to approximate Cantonese pronunciation for which the scholarly romanization is generally agreed to be “gung fu saan sau.”
日蓮 is the title Nichiren.
This title refers to a Buddhist priest who lived from 1222 to 1282. He is the founder of the Nichiren sect of Buddhism.
According to historical documents, the Nichiren sect was established in 1252. Adding the character 宗 for sect, this would be 日蓮宗 (Nichiren sect), which is also known as the 法華宗 or Lotus sect.
According to Soothill-Hodous...
Nichiren's chief tenets are the three great mysteries 三大祕法, representing the trikāya:
1. 本尊 or chief object of worship, being the great maṇḍala of the worlds of the ten directions, or universe, i.e., the body or nirmāṇakāya of Buddha.
2. 題目 the title of the Lotus Sutra 妙法蓮華經 Myo-ho-ren-ge-kyo, preceded by Namo, or “Adoration to the scripture of the lotus of the wonderful law,” for it is Buddha's spiritual body.
3. 戒壇 the altar of the law, which is also the title of the Lotus as above; the believer, wherever he is, dwells in the Pure-land of calm light 寂光淨土, the saṃbhogakāya.
The following table may be helpful for those studying Chinese or Japanese...
| Title | Characters | Romaji (Romanized Japanese) | Various forms of Romanized Chinese | |
| Gung Ho | 工合 | guai | gōng hé / gong1 he2 / gong he / gonghe | kung ho / kungho |
| Si Gung | 師公 师公 | shi kou / shikou / shi ko | shī gōng / shi1 gong1 / shi gong / shigong | shih kung / shihkung |
| Star Lotus | 星蓮花 星莲花 | xīng lián huā xing1 lian2 hua1 xing lian hua xinglianhua | hsing lien hua hsinglienhua |
|
| Fong Fang | 方 | hou / ho | fāng / fang1 / fang | |
| Lau Gar Kung Fu | 劉家功夫 刘家功夫 | liú jiā gōng fu liu2 jia1 gong1 fu liu jia gong fu liujiagongfu | liu chia kung fu liuchiakungfu |
|
| Tai Chi Wing Chun Kung Fu | 太極詠春功夫 太极咏春功夫 | tài jí yǒng chūn gōng fu tai4 ji2 yong3 chun1 gong1 fu tai ji yong chun gong fu taijiyongchungongfu | t`ai chi yung ch`un kung fu taichiyungchunkungfu tai chi yung chun kung fu |
|
| Five Families Tsoi Li Hoi Fut Hung | 蔡李何佛雄 | cài lǐ hé fú xióng cai4 li3 he2 fu2 xiong2 cai li he fu xiong cailihefuxiong | ts`ai li ho fu hsiung tsailihofuhsiung tsai li ho fu hsiung |
|
| Kung Fu San Soo San Shou | 功夫散手 | gōng fu sǎn shǒu gong1 fu san3 shou3 gong fu san shou gongfusanshou | kung fu san shou kungfusanshou |
|
| Nichiren | 日蓮 日莲 | nichi ren / nichiren | rì lián / ri4 lian2 / ri lian / rilian | jih lien / jihlien |
| 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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