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1. Wood
3. Wood Rat
4. Wood Ox/Bull
5. Wood Dog
7. Wood Monkey
8. Wood Rooster
9. Wood Horse
10. Wood Goat/Sheep
11. Wood Dragon
12. Wood Snake
13. Wood Tiger
14. Wood Rabbit
15. Put out a burning wood cart with a cup of water
16. Bamboo
17. Five Elements
(One of the five elements)
木 is the symbol for wood in Japanese, Korean and Chinese.
This can sometimes mean “tree” depending on context. In fact, the character comes from a pictogram that is supposed to resemble a tree.
Wood is one of the five elements that ancient Chinese believed all things were composed of. These elements are also part of the cycle of Chinese astrology. Every person has both an animal sign, and one of the five elements according to the date of their birth. See also Five Elements and Chinese 12 Animals / Zodiac.
Before enlightenment or after, chores remain.
頓悟之前砍柴挑水; 頓悟之後砍柴挑水 means “Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water; After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water.
This is a Chinese proverb that is attributed to 吴力 (Wú Lì) who lived between 1632 and 1718 - living part of his life as a devout Buddhist, and many years as a Catholic Jesuit Priest in China - what an interesting life!
This has been explained many times in many ways. I am a Buddhist, and here is my brief take on this proverb...
Before enlightenment, one may find daily chores mundane, tedious, and boring. However, upon reaching enlightenment one is not relieved of the details of daily life. An enlightened person will, however, see such chores as a joy, and do them mindfully.
There is another version floating around, which is 在你領悟之前砍柴、運水。在你領悟之後,砍柴、運水。
If you want this other version, just contact me. The meaning is the same, just different phrasing.
The Year of the Wood Rat
木鼠 is Wood Rat in Chinese.
In the Chinese zodiac and sexagenary (60-year) cycle, this combination occurs in years that include 1864, 1924, 1984, and 2044.
In the sexagenary cycle, this year is represented by 甲子.
See Also: Rat
The Year of the Wood Ox/Bull
木牛 is Wood Ox/Bull in Chinese.
In the Chinese zodiac and sexagenary (60-year) cycle, this combination occurs in years that include 1865, 1925, 1985, and 2045.
In the sexagenary cycle, this year is represented by 乙丑.
See Also: Ox/Bull
The Year of the Wood Dog
木狗 is Wood Dog in Chinese.
In the Chinese zodiac and sexagenary (60-year) cycle, this combination occurs in years that include 1874, 1934, 1994, and 2054.
In the sexagenary cycle, this year is represented by 甲戌.
See Also: Dog
The Year of the Wood Pig/Boar
木豬 is Wood Pig/Boar in Chinese.
In the Chinese zodiac and sexagenary (60-year) cycle, this combination occurs in years that include 1875, 1935, 1995, and 2055.
In the sexagenary cycle, this year is represented by 乙亥.
See Also: Pig/Boar
The Year of the Wood Monkey
木猴 is Wood Monkey in Chinese.
In the Chinese zodiac and sexagenary (60-year) cycle, this combination occurs in years that include 1884, 1944, 2004, and 2064.
In the sexagenary cycle, this year is represented by 甲申.
See Also: Monkey
The Year of the Wood Rooster
木雞 is Wood Rooster in Chinese.
In the Chinese zodiac and sexagenary (60-year) cycle, this combination occurs in years that include 1885, 1945, 2005, and 2065.
In the sexagenary cycle, this year is represented by 乙酉.
See Also: Rooster
The Year of the Wood Horse
The Year of the Wood Goat/Sheep
木羊 is Wood Goat/Sheep in Chinese.
In the Chinese zodiac and sexagenary (60-year) cycle, this combination occurs in years that include 1895, 1955, 2015, and 2075.
In the sexagenary cycle, this year is represented by 乙未.
See Also: Goat/Sheep
The Year of the Wood Dragon
木龍 is Wood Dragon in Chinese.
In the Chinese zodiac and sexagenary (60-year) cycle, this combination occurs in years that include 1904, 1964, 2024, and 2084.
In the sexagenary cycle, this year is represented by 甲辰.
See Also: Dragon
The Year of the Wood Snake
木蛇 is Wood Snake in Chinese.
In the Chinese zodiac and sexagenary (60-year) cycle, this combination occurs in years that include 1905, 1965, 2025, and 2085.
In the sexagenary cycle, this year is represented by 乙巳.
See Also: Snake
The Year of the Wood Tiger
木虎 is Wood Tiger in Chinese.
In the Chinese zodiac and sexagenary (60-year) cycle, this combination occurs in years that include 1914, 1974, 2034, and 2094.
In the sexagenary cycle, this year is represented by 甲寅.
See Also: Tiger
The Year of the Wood Rabbit
木兔 is Wood Rabbit in Chinese.
In the Chinese zodiac and sexagenary (60-year) cycle, this combination occurs in years that include 1915, 1975, 2035, and 2095.
In the sexagenary cycle, this year is represented by 乙卯.
See Also: Rabbit
An utterly inadequate measure
杯水車薪 is a warning against a futile effort.
This proverb literally refers to one who is “trying to put out a burning cart of wood with a cup of water,” or “throw a cup of water on a cartload of wood.” The lesson to be learned is about using the right measure or tool for the job and not wasting your effort if you are inadequately equipped for the task at hand - in other words the postscript should be “go get a bucket or a fire hose.”
竹 is the character that means bamboo in Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja.
In Asian cultures, bamboo is often seen as a symbol of a noble gentleman (tall, straight, and honest).
There are also some multi-character bamboo words that regard individual bamboo plants, species of bamboo, bamboo as lumber, and edible bamboo shoots. However, this single character seems most appropriate for a wall scroll and covers the whole category of Asian bamboo.
五行 is the title of the five elements: wood, fire, water, earth, and metal.
The first character means five, and the second character is simply element(s).
According to ancient Chinese science, all matter in the world is comprised of these elements. One idea presented with the five elements is that when energy is added, the matter is believed to expand. When energy is removed, matter contracts. Oddly, this concept is not far from Einstein's theories and modern science. Just a few thousand years before Einstein.
More info: Wikipedia - Five Elements (Wu Xing).
See Also: Wood | Fire | Water | Earth | Metal | Five Elements
金木水火土 is a list of the Chinese characters for the five elements in a comfortable order (meaning that they “feel right” to a Chinese person who views this arrangement).
The order is metal, wood, water, fire, and earth.
Note that sometimes the metal element is translated as gold. And earth refers to soil versus the whole planet earth.
This in-stock artwork might be what you are looking for, and ships right away...
Gallery Price: $72.00
Your Price: $39.88
The following table may be helpful for those studying Chinese or Japanese...
Title | Characters | Romaji (Romanized Japanese) | Various forms of Romanized Chinese | |
Wood | 伍德 | wǔ dé / wu3 de2 / wu de / wude | wu te / wute | |
Wood | 木 | ki | mù / mu4 / mu | |
Wood | ウーッド | wuuddo / wuddo | ||
Chop Wood, Carry Water | 頓悟之前砍柴挑水頓悟之后砍柴挑水 顿悟之前砍柴挑水顿悟之后砍柴挑水 | dùn wù zhī qián kǎn chái tiāo shuǐ dùn wù zhī hòu kǎn chái tiāo shuǐ dun4 wu4 zhi1 qian2 kan3 chai2 tiao1 shui3 dun4 wu4 zhi1 hou4 kan3 chai2 tiao1 shui3 dun wu zhi qian kan chai tiao shui dun wu zhi hou kan chai tiao shui | tun wu chih ch`ien k`an ch`ai t`iao shui tun wu chih hou k`an ch`ai t`iao shui tun wu chih chien kan chai tiao shui tun wu chih hou kan chai tiao shui |
|
Wood Rat | 木鼠 | mù shǔ / mu4 shu3 / mu shu / mushu | ||
Wood Ox/Bull | 木牛 | mù niú / mu4 niu2 / mu niu / muniu | ||
Wood Dog | 木狗 | mù gǒu / mu4 gou3 / mu gou / mugou | mu kou / mukou | |
Wood Pig/Boar | 木豬 木猪 | mù zhū / mu4 zhu1 / mu zhu / muzhu | mu chu / muchu | |
Wood Monkey | 木猴 | mù hóu / mu4 hou2 / mu hou / muhou | ||
Wood Rooster | 木雞 木鸡 | mù jī / mu4 ji1 / mu ji / muji | mu chi / muchi | |
Wood Horse | 木馬 木马 | mù mǎ / mu4 ma3 / mu ma / muma | ||
Wood Goat/Sheep | 木羊 | mù yáng / mu4 yang2 / mu yang / muyang | ||
Wood Dragon | 木龍 木龙 | mù lóng / mu4 long2 / mu long / mulong | mu lung / mulung | |
Wood Snake | 木蛇 | mù shé / mu4 she2 / mu she / mushe | ||
Wood Tiger | 木虎 | mù hǔ / mu4 hu3 / mu hu / muhu | ||
Wood Rabbit | 木兔 | mù tù / mu4 tu4 / mu tu / mutu | mu t`u / mutu / mu tu | |
Put out a burning wood cart with a cup of water | 杯水車薪 杯水车薪 | bēi shuǐ chē xīn bei1 shui3 che1 xin1 bei shui che xin beishuichexin | pei shui ch`e hsin peishuichehsin pei shui che hsin |
|
Bamboo | 竹 | take | zhú / zhu2 / zhu | chu |
Five Elements | 五行 | gogyou / gogyo | wǔ xíng / wu3 xing2 / wu xing / wuxing | wu hsing / wuhsing |
Five Elements | 金木水火土 | jīn mù shuǐ huǒ tǔ jin1 mu4 shui3 huo3 tu3 jin mu shui huo tu jinmushuihuotu | chin mu shui huo t`u chinmushuihuotu chin mu shui huo tu |
|
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.
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.
Some people may refer to this entry as Wood Kanji, Wood Characters, Wood in Mandarin Chinese, Wood Characters, Wood in Chinese Writing, Wood in Japanese Writing, Wood in Asian Writing, Wood Ideograms, Chinese Wood symbols, Wood Hieroglyphics, Wood Glyphs, Wood in Chinese Letters, Wood Hanzi, Wood in Japanese Kanji, Wood Pictograms, Wood in the Chinese Written-Language, or Wood in the Japanese Written-Language.