Custom Brevity - Fewer Words are Better Chinese & Japanese Calligraphy Wall Scroll

We have many options to create artwork with Brevity - Fewer Words are Better characters on a wall scroll or portrait.
If you want to create an Brevity - Fewer Words are Better Asian character tattoo, just email us and we'll help you select from many forms of ancient Asian symbols that express the idea of Brevity - Fewer Words are Better.


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  1. Brevity: Fewer Words are Best

  2. Brief and to the Point

  3. Brevity / Concise

  4. Morning Dew

  5. Strength and Love in Unity

  6. Simplicity


Brevity: Fewer Words are Best

 shǎo shuō wéi jiā
Brevity: Fewer Words are Best Scroll

Getting to the point quickly with the fewest words possible is the suggestion of this 少說為佳 Chinese proverb.

But taking it more profound, there is a warning that using too many words may act to “tip your hat” or “show your hand” (to use two American idioms).

It can also be said that using many words does not make the message have more value.

This is really about the art of brevity.

My only hope is that I did not use too many words to explain this proverb.

Brief and to the Point

Speak simply, while expressing your idea completely

 yán jiǎn yì gāi
Brief and to the Point Scroll

言簡意賅 is a Chinese proverb that suggests it is better to be brief and use fewer words while still expressing your main point or idea.

In another way to explain this, one should not use 100 words when 50 will do, or being more concise with your speech.

This can also be translated as concise, compendious, “brief in form but comprehensive in scope” or succinct.

This is a bit more positive than our other proverb for brevity.

Brevity / Concise

 jiǎn yuē
 kanyaku
Brevity / Concise Scroll

簡約 means concise; abbreviated, conciseness, brevity, or simple in Chinese and Japanese.

The meaning can be a little ambiguous until you add context, but that makes the meaning flexible for your personal meaning.

 zhāo lù
 asatsuyu
Morning Dew Scroll

朝露 means morning dew in Chinese and Japanese.

In the Buddhist context, it figuratively represents the precarious brevity of human life, how ephemeral our life and possessions are, or how one should see human life as transient.

Strength and Love in Unity

 riki ai fu ni
Strength and Love in Unity Scroll

力愛不二 is a proverb that literally means:
“Strength [and] Love [are] Not Two [separate ideas/concepts/things].”

You'll find this proverb translated from Japanese to English as:
Love and strength are not separate.
Power and love are indivisible.
Strength and love in harmony.
Strength and love stand together.

Old Japanese grammar is quite different than English, and so this proverb says a lot within the brevity of just 4 characters. If you just read these characters directly as “Strength Love Not Two,” you'd probably miss the real meaning.


According to the Swedish Shorinji Kempo Federation, this is the second characteristic of Shorinji Kempo.

This post really explains the concept best in my opinion: Bushido by MS: Riki Ai Fu Ni, which states: "Riki Ai Funi" is the philosophy that power (Riki) and love (Ai) are indivisible. More concretely, a person, who is powerful but does not have love, cannot control and misuse his/her power; on the other hand, a person, who has loved ones but is not powerful enough, cannot protect himself/herself nor loved ones.

 jiǎn
 kan
 
Simplicity Scroll

簡 expresses the idea of something simple or the essence of simplicity in life in Chinese.

This can also refer to a simple slip of bamboo for taking notes or writing a letter (especially in Korean Hanja).

Technically this is a word meaning simplicity and brevity in Japanese but it's rarely used in modern Japanese. Therefore, you should probably only select this character if your audience is Chinese.


The following table may be helpful for those studying Chinese or Japanese...

Title CharactersRomaji (Romanized Japanese)Various forms of Romanized Chinese
Brevity: Fewer Words are Best少說為佳
少说为佳
shǎo shuō wéi jiā
shao3 shuo1 wei2 jia1
shao shuo wei jia
shaoshuoweijia
shao shuo wei chia
shaoshuoweichia
Brief and to the Point言簡意賅
言简意赅
yán jiǎn yì gāi
yan2 jian3 yi4 gai1
yan jian yi gai
yanjianyigai
yen chien i kai
yenchienikai
Brevity
Concise
簡約
简约
kanyakujiǎn yuē / jian3 yue1 / jian yue / jianyuechien yüeh / chienyüeh
Morning Dew朝露asatsuyuzhāo lù / zhao1 lu4 / zhao lu / zhaoluchao lu / chaolu
Strength and Love in Unity力愛不二
力爱不二
riki ai fu ni
rikiaifuni
Simplicity
kanjiǎn / jian3 / jianchien
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.


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.


A nice Chinese calligraphy wall scroll

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.

A professional Chinese Calligrapher

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.

Trying to learn Chinese calligrapher - a futile effort

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.

A high-ranked Chinese master calligrapher that I met in Zhongwei

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.