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A Japanese martial arts title/concept
The first Kanji alone means to wash, bathe, primness, cleanse or purify.
The second Kanji means heart, mind, soul, or essence.
Together, these two Kanji create a word defined as “purified spirit” or “enlightened attitude” within Japanese martial arts.
洗心 is one of the five spirits of the warrior (budo) and is often used as a Japanese martial arts tenet. Under that context, it's often defined as a spirit that protects and harmonizes the universe. Senshin is a spirit of compassion that embraces and serves all humanity and whose function is to reconcile discord in the world. It holds all life to be sacred. It is the Buddha mind.
This title will only be familiar to Japanese who practice certain martial arts. Others may not recognize this word at all.
洗心 does not show up as a word in too many Chinese dictionaries, but it can be read and has the same meaning in Chinese.
There is an issue with the first character. The original, and probably most correct version is shown above. However, many dojo documents and other sources have used a more simple first character. Arguments ensue about which version is correct. If you want to be correct in the Japanese language, use the "Select and Customize" button above. If you want to match the Kanji used by your dojo, click the Kanji shown to the right. There is a slightly different meaning with this first character which means before, ahead, previous, future, precedence.
專心 makes a word that means “paying attention with your heart.”
It's often translated as “dedication,” as in “be absorbed in” or “concentrate one's efforts.” It's also used to mean “with the single mind,” “whole-heartedly,” “paying attention,” “undivided attention,” “concentration (-ed),” “engrossed,” “devotionally (listening/watching),” and/or “attentive.”
The first character means “for a particular person, occasion, or purpose,” “focused on one single thing,” “concentrated,” and sometimes, “special.”
The second character means “heart” or “mind” by itself.
My favorite translation, which comes from the Oxford Advanced Chinese/English Dictionary, is, “wholehearted devotion.”
If it seems like the meaning of this word is quite open, you are correct. The context in which the word is used matters a lot. It can mean different things depending on how you use it. This makes it kind of nice as you can decide what this means to you (within some limits). This is always positive in meaning, so even if a Chinese person reads it differently than you, it will still have a good meaning.
In Japanese, they tend to use a variation of the second character which has one less stroke. If you want your calligraphy written this Japanese form, please click on the Kanji shown to the right instead of the button above. Note: Japanese and Chinese people will recognize either form.
Below are some entries from our dictionary that may match your senshin search...
Characters If shown, 2nd row is Simp. Chinese |
Pronunciation Romanization |
Simple Dictionary Definition |
先秦 see styles |
xiān qín xian1 qin2 hsien ch`in hsien chin senshin せんしん |
pre-Qin, Chinese history up to the foundation of the Qin imperial dynasty in 221 BC (hist) (See 秦) pre-Qin period (of China) |
先進 先进 see styles |
xiān jìn xian1 jin4 hsien chin senshin せんしん |
sophisticated; advanced (technology etc); meritorious; exemplary (deeds etc) (adj-no,n) (1) advanced; developed; (2) (ant: 後進・1) seniority; senior; superior; elder 先輩 Of earlier, or senior rank or achievement. |
専心 see styles |
senshin せんしん |
(n,vs,vi) undivided attention; concentration |
專心 专心 see styles |
zhuān xīn zhuan1 xin1 chuan hsin senshin |
to focus one's attention; to concentrate on (doing something) With single mind; whole-heartedly. |
泉心 see styles |
senshin せんしん |
(female given name) Senshin |
洗心 see styles |
senshin せんしん |
More info & calligraphy: Purified Spirit / Enlightened Attitude |
淺深 浅深 see styles |
qiǎn shēn qian3 shen1 ch`ien shen chien shen senshin |
depth (archaic) shallow and deep |
潛心 潜心 see styles |
qián xīn qian2 xin1 ch`ien hsin chien hsin senshin せんしん |
to concentrate fully on something; single-minded (out-dated kanji) meditation |
潜心 see styles |
senshin せんしん |
meditation |
線審 see styles |
senshin せんしん |
{sports} line judge; linesman |
Variations: |
senshin せんしん |
(noun, transitive verb) compiling and presenting poems, texts, etc. to the emperor |
如是二心先心難 如是二心先心难 see styles |
rú shì èr xīn xiān xīn nán ru2 shi4 er4 xin1 xian1 xin1 nan2 ju shih erh hsin hsien hsin nan nyoze nishin senshin nan |
it is difficult to tell which of these mental states comes first |
Variations: |
senshin せんしん |
meditation |
The following table may be helpful for those studying Chinese or Japanese...
Title | Characters | Romaji (Romanized Japanese) | Various forms of Romanized Chinese | |
Purified Spirit Enlightened Attitude | 洗心 先心 | sen shin / senshin | xǐ xīn / xi3 xin1 / xi xin / xixin | hsi hsin / hsihsin |
Devotion Dedication Attentive Focused | 專心 / 専心 / 耑心 专心 | sen shin / senshin | zhuān xīn zhuan1 xin1 zhuan xin zhuanxin | chuan hsin chuanhsin |
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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