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〇 is the famous Enso symbol, which you will see widely used by Japanese Zen Buddhists.
In a twist, I am starting to see Enso used more and more by Chinese Buddhists.
Here is the typical appearance of Enso artwork by Japanese calligrapher Kougetsu.
Enso is not a Japanese Kanji character. It falls more into the category of a symbol. There is some debate, but many consider Enso to be a religious symbol.
Some call this “The Circle of Enlightenment.” Others call it the “Infinity Circle.” If you actually took the meanings of the two Kanji (円相) that make up the word “En-so,” you could read it as “Mutual Circle” or “Circle of Togetherness.” I think the Enso symbol can simply mean different things to different people. Therefore, you should let it have the meaning that you perceive.
The appearance of your Enso will be determined by the artist's personal style, feeling, mood, etc.
禪道 is a title used in certain contexts but is not widely known by the general population of China or Japan.
In Japanese, you will see this title romanized as “zendo,” which is the brand name of a board game, and also a title used by some martial arts studios and karate dojos. Oddly, many translate this as “zen fist,” although there is no “fist” in the title. If you literally translated this title, it would be “meditation way” or “meditation method.”
In Chinese, this would be “chan dao” with the same literal meaning as the Japanese title. It's used in China by just a handful of martial arts styles/studios.
You should only order this title if you really understand the meaning, and it has some personal connection to you (such as practicing a martial art style that uses this title, or if you love the board game Zendo). Many who see your wall scroll will not be familiar with this title, and you'll have some explaining to do.
The first character can also be written in a more complex traditional way as shown to the right. Let us know in the special instructions for your calligraphy project if you want this style.
If you order this from the Japanese master calligrapher, the first character will automatically be written with an extra dot on top. This is the variant form of the original Chinese character which is commonly used in modern Japan Kanji. See sample to the right.
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Below are some entries from our dictionary that may match your zen art search...
Characters If shown, 2nd row is Simp. Chinese |
Pronunciation Romanization |
Simple Dictionary Definition |
和尚 see styles |
hé shang he2 shang5 ho shang wajou / wajo わじょう |
Buddhist monk (1) (honorific or respectful language) preceptor or high priest (in Shingon, Hosso, Ritsu or Shin Buddhism); (2) second highest priestly rank in Buddhism; (3) master (of one's art, trade, etc.); (1) (honorific or respectful language) preceptor or high priest (in Tendai or Kegon Buddhism); (2) second highest priestly rank in Buddhism; (3) monk (esp. the head monk of a temple); (4) master (of one's art, trade, etc.); (1) (honorific or respectful language) preceptor or high priest (esp. in Zen or Pure Land Buddhism); (2) second highest priestly rank in Buddhism; (3) monk (esp. the head monk of a temple); (4) master (of one's art, trade, etc.); (personal name) Wajō A general term for a monk. It is said to be derived from Khotan in the form of 和闍 or 和社 (or 烏社) which might be a translit. of vandya (Tibetan and Khotani ban-de), 'reverend.' Later it took the form of 和尚 or 和上. The 律宗 use 和上, others generally 和尚. The Sanskrit term used in its interpretation is 鳥波陀耶 upādhyāya, a 'sub-teacher' of the Vedas, inferior to an ācārya; this is intp. as 力生 strong in producing (knowledge), or in begetting strength in his disciples; also by 知有罪知無罪 a discerner of sin from not-sin, or the sinful from the not-sinful. It has been used as a synonym for 法師 a teacher of doctrine, in distinction from 律師 a teacher of the vinaya, also from 禪師 a teacher of the Intuitive school. |
衣鉢 衣钵 see styles |
yī bō yi1 bo1 i po ihatsu; ehatsu; ehachi いはつ; えはつ; えはち |
(1) mysteries of one's master's art; (2) {Buddh} (original meaning) robes and a bowl (monk's key possessions auctioned off at his funeral); transmission of the dharma from master to disciple (in Zen) Cassock and almsbowl. |
筆禅道 see styles |
hitsuzendou / hitsuzendo ひつぜんどう |
Art of the Brush (esp. school of Japanese Zen calligraphy) |
Variations: |
oshou(和尚)(p); kashou; wajou / osho(和尚)(p); kasho; wajo おしょう(和尚)(P); かしょう; わじょう |
(1) (honorific or respectful language) {Buddh} (trad. pronounced おしょう in Zen and Pure Land, かしょう in Tendai and Kegon, わじょう in Shingon, Hosso, Ritsu and Shin Buddhism) priestly teacher; preceptor; (2) (おしょう, かしょう only) {Buddh} monk (esp. the head monk of a temple); priest; head priest; (3) {Buddh} (See 法眼・2) second highest priestly rank in Buddhism; (4) master (of one's art, trade, etc.) |
The following table may be helpful for those studying Chinese or Japanese...
Title | Characters | Romaji (Romanized Japanese) | Various forms of Romanized Chinese | |
Enso - Japanese Zen Circle | 〇 | en sou / ensou / en so | ||
Zendo The Zen Way | 禅道 / 禪道 禅道 | zen dou / zendou / zen do | chán dào / chan2 dao4 / chan dao / chandao | ch`an tao / chantao / chan tao |
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.
Some people may refer to this entry as Zen Art Kanji, Zen Art Characters, Zen Art in Mandarin Chinese, Zen Art Characters, Zen Art in Chinese Writing, Zen Art in Japanese Writing, Zen Art in Asian Writing, Zen Art Ideograms, Chinese Zen Art symbols, Zen Art Hieroglyphics, Zen Art Glyphs, Zen Art in Chinese Letters, Zen Art Hanzi, Zen Art in Japanese Kanji, Zen Art Pictograms, Zen Art in the Chinese Written-Language, or Zen Art in the Japanese Written-Language.
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