Chinese characters – spiritual gifts from the heart…:-)
a beloved member of my family whose nickname is ‘Indy Jones'(or Edo-san!) speaks and writes both Chinese and Japanese; he’s offered me a booklet with a few Chinese characters among which, I’ve chosen 7(my favourite digit!): peace, eternity, gentleness, love, harmony, happiness, destiny – key words in all languages! 🙂 in Chinese culture, writing is a sacred art form and it takes years to practice it and to get to express it in a personal style… Master Yang said:’words are the voice of the heart; calligraphy is its painting.’ – ’cause each written character has always had spiritual significance in Chinese thoughts…
the act of writing is seen as parallel to the universal process of creation and an embodiment of the principles that govern LIFE: our spirit alone and its energy can create ART… everything in the Universe is supposed to be linked together by a shared origin, spirit and energy, with a tendency toward harmony: well, this is Lady Nature’s way… 🙂 According to the Confucians, we can reach harmony via certain essential qualities that are innate in ourselves: compassion and benevolence, righteousness and wisdom, which could be ‘translated’ by:’do unto others as you’d have done unto yourself…’ – thus, we’ll gradually perceive the very essence of the Universe, we improve ourselves, and also our environment… 🙂
Calligraphy is a picture language formed by ‘pictograms’ denoting concrete ideas: sun and moon, plants and animals, man-woman-child, etc, a matter of letting the true spirit inside flow FREE, with no hindrance from the nature’s actions… any character depicting a word or a concept is connected with our spirit… human and natural worlds mirror each other and they ‘translate’ their meaning(s) via analogy with nature – above all with water that is radical for life… a ‘word’ has its own way of being formed, known as its ‘stroke order’; there are 7 kinds of horizontal and vertical ‘strokes’, usually called ‘7 mysteries’ and the person who has mastered them is able to write ‘eternity’ whose 7 ‘strokes’ represent each of the 7 mysteries… 🙂
Posted on 28 October 2014, in melanie. Bookmark the permalink. 68 Comments.
my virtual playground 
Reblogged this on my virtual playground and commented:
my favourite pictogram is “LOVE”… ❤ it comes from the heart with a graceful movement and a kind of inspiration, as we can’t breathe without this highly spiritual emotion, 'cause it’s LIFE itself; as for ‘happiness’, we can get to it whenever all our energies are balanced and in full harmony – only if our inner self is provided with true contentment… 🙂
Wonderful post. It does more than inform, your post provides a true glimpse at the spirituality of this ancient art form. I have long been fascinated with the spirituality of Asian art, literature, music, and caligraphy. My children are very good at it and identify strongly with their Asian heritage of which the Chinese were the greatest influence.
merci/thanx/xié-xié, Randstein! 🙂 I do believe that our roots and origins are extremely important to our own identity… btw, we’re an international family and vive la différence! 🙂
I agree! My life has been enriched by the mix of cultures and the ease of connecting across the oceans and borders brings us all together in a common bond – humanity.
exactly, thanx for your true and common sense statement!
mahalo-thanx, Rammy gal… ❤ I've never practiced Chinese calligraphy as I do know my limits… 😉 Indy started to learn Chinese at 16 and after one year at UofHouston, went to study @ Chengchi University of Taipei, Taiwan: he graduated from international trade(commerce) and relations in CHINESE! Then, he easily learnt Japanese:"not a big deal as it derives from Chinese and it's much simpler!" – he said. 🙂
I am going to learn Mandarin in the upcoming semester, what a perfect time to read this post. Thanks for sharing 🙂
🙂 really glad… may I ask you what’s your 1st language, please?… 😉
It’s Hindi, I was born and raised up in India and I have come to Taiwan for PhD.
🙂 merci-thanx! I’m not that surprised ’cause most Indians are smart, they speak & write perfect English… 🙂 good luck in all your present and future endeavours! 🙂
Thanks a lot for your wishes, means a lot to me. Literature has always been my strength, be it English or Hindi. I express it better when I write in English. 🙂
🙂 you’re welcome, young adult! well, I do believe you and I do understand you about expressing your thoughts in English as it’s such an easy language… 🙂
Every language is easy, one just need a way to play around with the words. However, I have my weaknesses and I am consistently looking to improve by interacting with people like you 🙂
@”Every language is easy…” – yeah, especially Chinese and Icelandic! 😉
Someone has just caught me on the wrong foot 😉
no problem, “stuff”(LOL!) happens, so you may switch and use your right foot! 🙂
The language which one knows, is always easy 😉
your statement does make sense – in theory, but concrete reality shows that it’s not always, not perforce, not necessarily true… 🙂
I second that, I become a good listener when a wise person talks 😉
guess what: I’m sociable and communicative, but a patient, reserved and discreet listener, too… last but not least: no criticism, no judgment, no condemnation!
The same goes for me as well. Sometimes I feel that I have become over-practical in life and this does not go down too well with the people around me. Happiness or gloom, nothing impacts me and I just go about my business 🙂
The writings and pictures are really lovely and can be looked at again and again with the same joy and awe each time. 🙂
Reblogged this on A CHAQUE JOUR SA PROPRE BEAUTÉ and commented:
J’aime bien les caractères chinois, très joli. Merci à Mélanie’s playground…
Of course I must love this… and I agree that the character for love is quite beautiful in what it means (and how it is created). Well done!
xié-xié, Dalo! btw, do you speak and write Chinese?… 🙂
Yes, Mandarin Chinese… although briefly I studied Cantonese in HK but it was tooooooo difficult! 🙂
aha, like our son who graduated from Chengchi University of Taipei, Taiwan – department of international trade & relations… 🙂
I love this post as I can total relate to it! Love is my favorite character as well! I actually had it painted by a local artist using a combination of different colors of paint with several animals incorporated in the design (like fish, birds, and butterflies) It hangs as art in my house!
❤ xié-xié, Constance and welcome to my virtual playground! 🙂
beautiful descriptions about Calligraphy and beautiful photos!
merci, Belle-Lune! ❤
ein sehr interessanter Bericht. Leider weiss ich über die chinesischen Schriftzeichen gar nichts. Ich war 1969 längere Zeit in Indien und Nepal und weiss, dass unser westliche Welt die östliche Kultur nicht oder falsch versteht. Liebe Grüsse. Ernst
merci, Ernst! eh oui, notre monde occidental ne comprend pas grand-chose au monde oriental… dommage, mais ainsi va la vie, ici et ailleurs… 🙂
Ça, c’est comme il est… Je te souhaite beaucoup plaisir et une bon Week-end. 🙂 Ernst
My first husband is an artist, a buddhist and studied calligraphy – I still have some of his work and it is astoundingly beautiful – the relationship between mind and hand is something that we often miss in the west in many ways – the beauty of being mindful in any task is well illustrated by the Eastern calligrapher.
mille merci for your interesting comment, glad and honored by your visit… we do miss a lot of positive and common sense “stuff” in our wild West! 🙂 btw, you may know Matthieu Ricard, I presume: 🙂
https://myvirtualplayground.wordpress.com/2014/07/22/rainbow-flowers-of-my-village-invite-us-to-meditate-on-life/
I didn’t know Matthieu Ricard… I should have, now I will spend the morning exploring. Mille merci et namaste! 🙂
Just lovely as usual! Thanks fur sharing!😺
🙂 avec plaisir et mille merci, Mademoiselle Crevette! ❤
❤ ((purrs)) ❤
Beautiful Melanie, and Calligraphy is an artform, that can only be mastered when one has the Spiritual meaning within themselves. Calligraphy is beautiful and relaxing to the mind, it does bring a sense of peace into the Heart. Ian
thanx, Ian! you’re totally right about calligraphy… my admiration and respect go to all the people who can speak, read and write Chinese and Japanese, like our Edo-san… 🙂
hi Mélanie, it’s so fascinating the meaning of writing into oriental cultures… wow, i envy so much Edo-san, he’s so skilled!
absolutely, Cris! I’m fascinated by Japan and Taiwan… as for Edo-san, he simply ‘juggles’ with Chinese and Japanese, he can switch easily from one to another, we’re really impressed and proud of him! 🙂
This is so lovely — to take in, to think about, and to see. Thanks.
you’re welcome, Miss Mona! glad you’ve liked ‘this’… 🙂
J’adore ces pictogrammes et le symbolisme qu’il y a dans chaque chose… Je comprends la spiritualité sans laquelle nous sommes de pauvres choses. Tu as ton “Indy Jones” et moi, quelques gentilles personnes me surnomment “Corto Maltese”… Comme tout ceci va bien ensemble… Belle découverte! Hervé
oui, je sais pour Corto Maltese… 😉 ah, ce n’est plus “mon” Indy Jones, il a sa compagne “made in Taiwan” depuis 10 ans… 🙂 bonne soirée et à+!
From the list “peace” is my favorite, just because its simplicity and balance. In wordpress the funny equivalents would be Love 😀 and 😛
o scriu pe românește, pentru a fi sigură de nuanțe: eu le spun ”finețuri (asiatice)”
chiar te rog sa postezi în limba-ti preferata… 🙂 da, ai dreptate:”finețuri (asiatice)”… un rafinament unic si tipic! 🙂
Amazing! You know so much about Chinese characters! 🙂 Great post, Melanie!
🙂 xié-xié, Amy, but dunno much about Chinese… as I’ve mentioned in my post: our son speaks and writes both Chinese and Japanese… 🙂
Ladysighs, you jest about the good doctors, I am sure! A beautiful, beautiful book. Is that a photo of Edo-san?
🙂 a nice booklet, indeed… yes, ma’am, I do confirm @ Edo-san(son!)… 🙂
Wow! A lovely young man.
mille merci, Lady-G! ❤ he's smart and intelligent, too: still can't figure out and realize he speaks and writes both Chinese & Japanese! 🙂 French, English, Spanish and Romanian – no big deal!(he said!)
Both Chinese and Japanese are difficult languages, I think Japanese is very complicated… Your son is bright!!!
🙂 shee-shee-nee, Amy! to me, Japanese sounds and seems much easier than Chinese… 🙂
Incroyable!
🙂 oui, Madame! guess what: speakin’ English for decades has ‘killed’ us yet! 😀 😉
I also love “love”! 😉 Thanks Melanie! ❤
you’re welcome, LL = lovely lady… 🙂
Beautiful ideas and an art form to cherish in our modern era of touch screens and e-mail! Thank you for sharing, Melanie!
I absolutely and totally agree with you, Jane… glad and honored by your kind visit!
These are just beautiful. The meanings of the writing are of course lovely too. But it is the care and artistry of the calligraphy that make the meaning even better. I wish I could do that. And yes, we all could if we took the time and effort! Handwriting has taken a back seat in schools. With the computer, etc who needs it?! 😦
It seems doctors are the only ones who use good handwriting any more. 😀
you’re right and I see your point about handwriting these past 20 years… btw, mine is still readable, but I do have “an excuse”: I’m a teacher… 🙂
speakin’ of doctors, I have 2 friends whose handwritings are terribly illegible… I’m serious! go figure! 😀
I have the same excuse or I did have. Been retired from teaching for 20 years.