The name Large River in Chinese / Japanese...

江 means large river in Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja. This generally refers to a river big enough that it's navigable by cargo boats, passenger boats, or small ships.

In Japanese, this can be a surname when pronounced as Minkou or just Kou.

漫瀾 is the Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja for “Having no boundaries or limitations.”

This literally talks of the vastness of an ocean or river.

Character breakdown:
漫 = free; unrestrained; to inundate; overflowing; boundless.
澜 = swelling water; large wave.

川 means river or stream in Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja.

In Japanese, this can be a surname when pronounced as Sakigawa.

揚子江 is the title for the Yangzi or Yangtze River (in China).

Even though it's a Chinese place name, this is also how the title is written in Japanese.

山高水長 is a Chinese idiom that means “high as the mountain and long as the river.”

It figuratively means “noble and far-reaching.”

Not sure this is valid or commonly used in Korean. It probably was borrowed into Korean a few hundred years ago but is obscure now.

川の神 is the title of Kawa no Kami - a River deity of Japanese folklore.

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

不會撐船賴河灣 literally translates as: [One who] cannot steer the boat blames the bends in the river.

Figuratively, this means: One who is incompetent always tries to shift the blame elsewhere.
This is similar to the English idiom, “a poor workman/craftsman blames his tools.”

常在河邊走哪能不濕鞋 is an old Chinese proverb that is sometimes compared to the English saying “Shit Happens.”

It's a reflection that there are risks in life, and you should not be surprised when things don't go your way.

A secondary translation might be, “When walking by a river, often one cannot avoid wet shoes.”

This is a Japanese name that romanizes as Koga.

The meaning of this name is “old river” or “ancient river.”

Note: This is not the only name in Japanese that romanizes as Koga.

連綿 is a Chinese and Japanese Kanji word meaning: continuous; unbroken; uninterrupted; extending forever into the distance (of a mountain range, river, etc.).

This is the Japanese surname Kawa.

This can be the name the Fen river in China.

強大 can mean mighty, powerful, large, formidable, or strong.

This term is often used to describe soldiers/troops/warriors and whole armies.

刻舟求劍 is an originally-Chinese proverb that serves as a warning to people that things are always in a state of change.

Thus, you must consider that and not depend on the old ways or a way that may have worked in the past but is no longer valid.

This idiom/proverb comes from the following story:
A man was traveling in a ferry boat across a river. With him, he carried a treasured sword. Along the way, the man became overwhelmed and intoxicated by the beautiful view and accidentally dropped his prized sword into the river. Thinking quickly, he pulled out a knife and marked on the rail of the boat where exactly he had lost his sword.

When the boat arrived on the other side of the river, the man jumped out of the boat and searched for his sword right under where he'd made the mark. Of course, the boat had moved a great distance since he made the mark, and thus, he could not find the sword.

While this man may seem foolhardy, we must take a great lesson from this parable: Circumstances change, so one should use methods to handle the change. In modern China, this is used in business to mean that one should not depend on old business models for a changing market.

This proverb dates back to the Spring and Autumn period (770–476 BC) of the territory now known as China. It has spread and is somewhat known in Japan and Korea.

ソニー is the name Sony in Japanese (Katakana).

This generally refers to the large electronics and entertainment company Sony of Japan.

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

韆 can be a Chinese surname, Qian.

The meaning of this character can be thousand, a large quantity, or a swing.

大権現 is a Japanese title, Daigongen, which means large or great incarnation.

This is sometimes equated with a great spirit or protective saint.

遍地開花 is a Chinese proverb that means “to blossom everywhere,” “to spring up all over the place,” or “to flourish on a large scale.”

遍地 = everywhere
開花 = opening flowers

あなたがどこへ行くにもあなたの神主が共におられるゆえ恐れてはならないおののいてはならない is a Japanese translation of a large portion of Joshua 1:9.

The Japanese passage includes, “The Lord God is with you wherever you are; Therefore do not fear or be discouraged.”

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

陽朔 is Yangshuo, a famous place not far from Guilin (桂林), Guangxi.

Yangshuo is your destination after a trip down the Li River from Guilin city.

母 is a way to say mother in Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja.

This can also be an honorary title for an elderly female relative.

Sometimes this can refer to the origin or source of something. Examples: A spring might be the mother of a river, or experience could be the mother of success.

猛龍過江 is the title of the 1972 movie, “The Way of the Dragon.”

This means “Fierce dragons crossing the river.”
If you want a title that means “way of the dragon,” please see the more accurate 龍之道 3-character title.

湖 means lake in Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja.

湖 is used in place names (like Lake Huron) and as a descriptive term for any large body of fresh water.

In Japanese, this can also be the female given name Reiku.

If your surname is Lake, this could be a good character for you.

泰山 is Tarzan (a fictional character reared by apes in the jungle) in Mandarin Chinese.

The meaning of 泰山 is large mountain.

泰山 can also represent Taishan township in New Taipei City, Taiwan.

This can also be Mt. Taishan (or Tai Shan) in Shandong, the eastern sacred mountain of China.

In Japanese, this can be the surname Yasuyama or that same Mt. Taishan in China.

兵在精而不在多將在謀而不在勇 is a proverb that informs how it is better to have warriors of quality, rather than just a large quantity of warriors in your army/force.

This literally means: [Just as] warriors [are valued for their] quality and not [just] for quantity, [so] generals [are valued] for their tactics, not [just] for [their] bravery.

See Also:  兵在精而不在多

興隆 is a kind of prosperity that applies to a business. Something great to hang behind your desk if you are a small or large business owner. Doing so says that you either are a booming business or you wish success and prosperity for your business.

Can also be translated as thriving, flourishing, brisk business, and other words related to prosperity in business.

A good meaning in China but is a little antiquated in Japanese.

See Also:  Prosperity

鼇 means “legendary turtle” in Chinese. 鼇 is a great mythological turtle that travels the seas. The creature is comparable to the dragon of China, however, it so happens that dragons became a bit more famous as history progressed. In modern Chinese, this character can just refer to a large sea turtle.

Note: 鼇 can be pronounced in Korean but this is a very rare Korean Hanja form - it hasn't been used in Korea for at least a few hundred years (even before they switched to Hangul characters).

最偉大的愛 means “the greatest love” in Chinese.

Keeping in mind that Chinese is different than English, the first character is like “-est” or adding “the most” as a modifier to the next word.
The 2nd and 3rd characters mean great, mighty, and/or large.
The 4th is a possessive article.
The last is the character for love.

When you put it all together, you get a phrase that means the greatest love, enormous love, or the mightiest love.

五大 is the Japanese title for the five elements.

In Japan, the five elements differ slightly from the original Chinese. Therefore, in Japanese philosophy, you have earth, water, fire, wind, and void (space).

The meaning of the first character is 5, but the second character means great or large. Some translate this as the five majors. 大 is only understood as “elements” when you have 五 in front of it.

In Buddhism, this can be short for 五大明王, or the five great and wise kings.

天狗 is the Japanese title for Tengu, which roughly translates as “heavenly dog.”

Tengu is a type of legendary creature found in Japanese folk religion and is also considered a type of Shinto god (kami) or yōkai (supernatural being).

The origin is Chinese, though this term is seldom used in Chinese anymore. It was a dog-like Chinese demon (Tiangou)

Although the title contains the word “dog,” the tengu are often depicted with human and bird-like characteristics. Sometimes they have large noses or beaks like birds.

一言九鼎 is an ancient Chinese proverb used in modern times to talk of profound or powerful words.

The literal meaning is “one word [worth] nine [sacred] tripods.” The tripod is a highly-prized three-legged (sometimes four-legged) metal pot or kettle of ancient China. They are often made of bronze, and the Emperor would have large ones gilded in gold. See the image to the right for an example.

聖經 is how to write Bible in Chinese.

The first character means Holy, sacred, saint, or sage.
The second character means sacred book or scripture.

Each Sunday morning, if you are near a Catholic or Protestant Church, you will see plenty of Chinese people carrying their Bibles. Virtually every large or medium city in China has at least one Christian church. Beijing has about 14 Christian churches of Catholic and various Protestant denominations. That number doubles if you count all the church services that are for foreigners only and doubles again if you count all of the underground Christian Churches. Many Embassies (Canadian, Italian, French, etc.) offer Protestant and Catholic services. However, the U.S. Embassy is the most unfriendly in all of China, offering no such religious services, regularly denying entry, and kicking out Americans and others, whether or not they have official business.

See Also:  Christian | Disciple

This text is the chant or poem of Wing Chun.

I call it a “chant” because it was meant to be a somewhat rhythmic poem to help practitioners memorize many aspects of Wing Chun.

You will see this referred to as “Wing Chun Kuem Kuit.” This Cantonese romanization is popular in the west (and there is no official way to romanize Cantonese, so many variations exist). In Mandarin, it would be, “Yong Chun Quan Jue.” The last character (kuit or kyut from Cantonese, jue or chüeh from Mandarin) kind of means “secrets of the art.” It's a short way to write 口訣, meaning “mnemonic chant” or “rhyme for remembering.”

In the west (especially in the military), we often use acronyms to remember things. There are no initials to make acronyms in Chinese, so in ancient times, chants like this are used to remember vast amounts of information. I will presume you already know the meaning of the 10 maxims, so I will skip that to keep this calligraphy entry from getting too large.

Some think 练拳者必记 is the title but that just says, “(When) training (the) fist, people should remember:.” Therefore, I've not included that in the calligraphy. However, you can put a note in the special instructions if you want it added.

Note: On a traditional calligraphy wall scroll, the characters will be written in vertical columns, starting from the right, and proceeding left.

Note: This is an except and variation from a huge 口訣. These 10 maxims are used extensively in Wing Chun training, and you’ll find them all over the internet. Just know there is a much longer version out there, along with several variations and excepts like this one. If you know of, or want a different version, just contact me, and I will add it for you.

愛是恆久忍耐又有恩慈愛是不嫉妒愛是不自誇不張狂 is 1st Corinthians 13:4 in Chinese.

With large “love” character added.

In English, this reads:

1st Corinthians 13:4 (KJV) Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up...

1st Corinthians 13:4 (NIV) Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

1st Corinthians 13:4 (Basic English) Love is never tired of waiting; love is kind; love has no envy; love has no high opinion of itself, love has no pride.

The Chinese translation follows the love meaning, rather than the King James' use of “charity.” I was a little confused when writing this description with the significant differences between the NIV vs. KJV translations. After speaking to a Greek scholar about this, it would seem that the KJV has an almost errant translation with the use of “charity” in place of “love.”

We used the most popular Christian Chinese Bible, which is the Chinese Union Version (CUV). The CUV was first published in 1919. We use this so that the Chinese translation would be as accurate and standard as possible. Any Chinese Christian worth their salt will easily be able to identify this verse when they see these characters.

If you want a big “love” character written above the verse on your artwork, just make a note in the “special instructions” tab when you are customizing your artwork. There is no extra charge for that service on this special verse.

Long ago in what is now China, there were many kingdoms throughout the land. This time period is known as “The Warring States Period” by historians because these kingdoms often did not get along with each other.

Sometime around 279 B.C. the Kingdom of Chu was a large but not particularly powerful kingdom. Part of the reason it lacked power was the fact that the King was surrounded by “yes men” who told him only what he wanted to hear. Many of the King's court officials were corrupt and incompetent which did not help the situation.

The King was not blameless himself, as he started spending much of his time being entertained by his many concubines.

One of the King's ministers, Zhuang Xin, saw problems on the horizon for the Kingdom, and warned the King, “Your Majesty, you are surrounded by people who tell you what you want to hear. They tell you things to make you happy and cause you to ignore important state affairs. If this is allowed to continue, the Kingdom of Chu will surely perish, and fall into ruins.”

This enraged the King who scolded Zhuang Xin for insulting the country and accused him of trying to create resentment among the people. Zhuang Xin explained, “I dare not curse the Kingdom of Chu but I feel that we face great danger in the future because of the current situation.” The King was simply not impressed with Zhuang Xin's words.
Seeing the King's displeasure with him and the King's fondness for his court of corrupt officials, Zhuang Xin asked permission from the King that he may take leave of the Kingdom of Chu, and travel to the State of Zhao to live. The King agreed, and Zhuang Xin left the Kingdom of Chu, perhaps forever.

Five months later, troops from the neighboring Kingdom of Qin invaded Chu, taking a huge tract of land. The King of Chu went into exile, and it appeared that soon, the Kingdom of Chu would no longer exist.

The King of Chu remembered the words of Zhuang Xin and sent some of his men to find him. Immediately, Zhuang Xin returned to meet the King. The first question asked by the King was “What can I do now?”

Zhuang Xin told the King this story:

A shepherd woke one morning to find a sheep missing. Looking at the pen saw a hole in the fence where a wolf had come through to steal one of his sheep. His friends told him that he had best fix the hole at once. But the Shepherd thought since the sheep is already gone, there is no use fixing the hole.
The next morning, another sheep was missing. And the Shepherd realized that he must mend the fence at once. Zhuang Xin then went on to make suggestions about what could be done to reclaim the land lost to the Kingdom of Qin, and reclaim the former glory and integrity of the Kingdom of Chu.

The Chinese idiom shown above came from this reply from Zhuang Xin to the King of Chu almost 2,300 years ago.
It translates roughly into English as...
“Even if you have lost some sheep, it's never too late to mend the fence.”

This proverb, 亡羊补牢犹未为晚, is often used in modern China when suggesting in a hopeful way that someone change their ways, or fix something in their life. It might be used to suggest fixing a marriage, quitting smoking, or getting back on track after taking an unfortunate path in life among other things one might fix in their life.

I suppose in the same way that we might say, “Today is the first day of the rest of your life” in our western cultures to suggest that you can always start anew.

Note: This does have Korean pronunciation but is not a well-known proverb in Korean (only Koreans familiar with ancient Chinese history would know it). Best if your audience is Chinese.