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剱 is the modern Japanese way to write sword.
This Kanji character comes from original Chinese. This form would also be understood in Chinese (there are often several ways to write the same character) but I suggest this one only if your audience is Japanese (because they've settled on a slightly different form as the standard in China).
In Japanese, this character also means saber/sabre, blade, bayonet, stinger, and clock hand (clock hands are the “swords” of the clock).
See Also: Katana
劍 is pronounced “jian” in Chinese. When you say it, imagine that you are making the sound of a sword as it clashes with a metal shield. This might get you closer to the correct pronunciation in Chinese.
I actually wonder if this word came from the metallic ringing sounds of a sword in battle - but such knowledge is lost in history.
The sword is a symbol of a warrior. The one thing that a soldier in ancient China lived and died by. A warrior with his skills and sword proves himself of great value. A warrior who losses his sword instantly becomes worthless.
劍 is an excellent scroll for someone in the military (especially officers of all services - as well as enlisted NCO Marines since they still carry swords even if mainly for ceremonial purposes). Or perhaps someone who practices variations of kung fu or tai chi that involve weapons.
Please note that while this character is understood with the sword meaning in Japanese, you might be looking for the word “katana” which also means sword in Japanese but means “knife” in Chinese.
There are other ways to write sword, and here are a few...
If you are particular about the version you receive, please let me know when you place your order (Note: Special styles are only available from one of our master calligraphers).
Below are some entries from our dictionary that may match your sabre search...
Characters If shown, 2nd row is Simp. Chinese |
Pronunciation Romanization |
Simple Dictionary Definition |
剣 see styles |
jiàn jian4 chien mayaka まやか |
More info & calligraphy: Swordsword (originally esp. a doubled-edged sword); sabre; saber; blade; (1) sword (originally esp. a doubled-edged sword); sabre; saber; blade; (2) bayonet; (3) swordsmanship; (4) stinger; ovipositor; dart; (female given name) Mayaka |
劍 剑 see styles |
jiàn jian4 chien ken つるぎ |
More info & calligraphy: Sword(out-dated kanji) sword (originally esp. a doubled-edged sword); sabre; saber; blade; (out-dated kanji) (1) sword (originally esp. a doubled-edged sword); sabre; saber; blade; (2) bayonet; (3) swordsmanship; (4) stinger; ovipositor; dart A sword, a two-edged sword.; A sword, two-edged sword. |
劒 剑 see styles |
jiàn jian4 chien tsurugi つるぎ |
variant of 劍|剑[jian4] (out-dated kanji) sword (originally esp. a doubled-edged sword); sabre; saber; blade; (out-dated kanji) (1) sword (originally esp. a doubled-edged sword); sabre; saber; blade; (2) bayonet; (3) swordsmanship; (4) stinger; ovipositor; dart; (surname) Tsurugi |
洋刀 see styles |
youtou / yoto ようとう |
(See サーベル) sabre; saber |
洋剣 see styles |
youken / yoken ようけん |
(See 洋刀・ようとう) Western sword (esp. sabre) |
軍刀 军刀 see styles |
jun dāo jun1 dao1 chün tao guntou / gunto ぐんとう |
military knife; saber military sword; saber; sabre |
剣の舞 see styles |
tsuruginomai つるぎのまい |
(work) Sabre Dance; (wk) Sabre Dance |
剣歯虎 see styles |
kenshiko けんしこ |
(rare) (See サーベルタイガー) saber-toothed tiger (sabre) |
サーブル see styles |
saaburu / saburu サーブル |
(See サーベル) sabre (fencing) (fre:); saber; (personal name) Sable |
サーベル see styles |
saaberu / saberu サーベル |
(See サーブル) saber (cavalry sword) (dut: sabel); sabre |
セーバー see styles |
seebaa / seeba セーバー |
sabre (fre:, dut: sabel); saber |
セイバー see styles |
seibaa / seba セイバー |
(1) (product) Saber (Honda sedan); (2) (product) Sabre (jet fighter); (product name) Saber (Honda sedan); (product name) Sabre (jet fighter) |
偽黒筋銀宝 see styles |
nisekurosujiginpo; nisekurosujiginpo にせくろすじぎんぽ; ニセクロスジギンポ |
(kana only) sabre-toothed blenny (Aspidontus taeniatus) |
回し引き鋸 see styles |
mawashibikinokogiri まわしびきのこぎり |
bracket saw; sabre saw; saber saw |
サーベルタイガー see styles |
saaberutaigaa / saberutaiga サーベルタイガー |
(abbreviation) sabre-toothed tiger (prehistoric feline, esp. the species Smilodon fatalis) (wasei: sabre tiger); saber-toothed tiger |
回し引きのこぎり see styles |
mawashibikinokogiri まわしびきのこぎり |
bracket saw; sabre saw; saber saw |
サーベル・タイガー see styles |
saaberu taigaa / saberu taiga サーベル・タイガー |
(abbreviation) sabre-toothed tiger (prehistoric feline, esp. the species Smilodon fatalis) (wasei: sabre tiger); saber-toothed tiger |
ニセクロスジギンポ see styles |
nisekurosujiginpo ニセクロスジギンポ |
(kana only) sabre-toothed blenny (Aspidontus taeniatus) |
Variations: |
mawashibikinokogiri まわしびきのこぎり |
bracket saw; sabre saw; saber saw |
Variations: |
tachi たち |
(1) long sword (as opposed to the shorter katana); (2) (太刀 only) (hist) tachi; sabre-like sword worn on the hip with the blade facing down |
Variations: |
saaberutaigaa; saaberu taigaa / saberutaiga; saberu taiga サーベルタイガー; サーベル・タイガー |
(abbreviation) sabre-toothed tiger (prehistoric feline, esp. the species Smilodon fatalis) (wasei: sabre tiger); saber-toothed tiger |
The following table may be helpful for those studying Chinese or Japanese...
Title | Characters | Romaji (Romanized Japanese) | Various forms of Romanized Chinese | |
Sword | 剱 剣 | ken | jiàn / jian4 / jian | chien |
Sword | 劍 剑 | ken / tsurugi | jiàn / jian4 / jian | chien |
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. |
Successful Chinese Character and Japanese Kanji calligraphy searches within the last few hours...
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.
Some people may refer to this entry as Sabre Kanji, Sabre Characters, Sabre in Mandarin Chinese, Sabre Characters, Sabre in Chinese Writing, Sabre in Japanese Writing, Sabre in Asian Writing, Sabre Ideograms, Chinese Sabre symbols, Sabre Hieroglyphics, Sabre Glyphs, Sabre in Chinese Letters, Sabre Hanzi, Sabre in Japanese Kanji, Sabre Pictograms, Sabre in the Chinese Written-Language, or Sabre in the Japanese Written-Language.
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