We're heading to Korea and China to seek out some new artists along with our first vacation since 2023.
Orders for in-stock items will shipped on July 25th. No delay for custom calligraphy.
Use coupon code "VACATION" for 10% off if you're willing to order now and wait a little for delivery.
Buy a Fu Lu Shou calligraphy wall scroll here!
Personalize your custom “Fu Lu Shou” project by clicking the button next to your favorite “Fu Lu Shou” title below...
These are the short titles for Sanxing or 三星 (Three Stars).
福祿壽 are the gods of Jupiter, Ursa Major, and Sirius. Fu, Lu, and Shou represent fortune (福), presiding over the planet Jupiter, prosperity (祿), presiding over Ursa Major, and longevity (壽), presiding over Sirius.
In old Chinese folk religion, they are often represented as three old bearded wise men.
功夫散手 is a martial arts title.
Oddly, there are multiple ways two spell/romanize this in English, but in Chinese, it's written exactly the same.
Technically, the Mandarin romanizes as “gong fu san shou,” for which you'll sometimes see it written “kung fu san shou” (k'ung is an old romanization for a word that sounds like gong with a vowel sound like “oh”).
There is another martial arts style that spells this “Kung Fu San Soo.” I guess this was supposed to approximate Cantonese pronunciation for which the scholarly romanization is generally agreed to be “gung fu saan sau.”
散手 is a martial arts title sometimes spelled in English as “San Soo” or “San Shou.”
The Mandarin version romanizes as “San Shou.” Mandarin Chinese is the most common dialect in China (literally 99% of Chinese people speak standard Mandarin along with their local dialect).
There is another martial arts style that spells this “San Soo.” I guess this was supposed to approximate Cantonese pronunciation for which the scholarly romanization is generally agreed to be “Saan Sau.”
Short version
妙手仁心悬壶济世 is a phrase that celebrates the benevolence, skill, and service to his/her patients.
Here's a breakdown of the characters:
妙手 miào shǒu admirable skill in curing disease (when used in reference to doctors).
仁心 rén xīn kindheartedness, charity, benevolent heart.
悬壶济世 xuán hú jì shì practice medicine or pharmacy to help the people or the public.
The first character means “wood glue” or can be understood as “sticky” or “sticking.”
The second character means “hand” (or “hands”).
This term can be romanized as “Chi Sau,” “Chi Sao,” or from Mandarin, “Chi Shou.”
黐手 is a concept that comes from the Wing Chun (AKA: Ving Tsun, Wing Tsun, or Yong Chun) style of martial arts. If you are looking for this term, chances are, you already know the meaning within the context of Wing Chun.
The one who has achieved rank in martial arts
有段者 is a Japanese term for someone who holds rank in karate, judo, etc.
This term theoretically applies to anyone with rank (above a white belt). However, some schools or dojos may reserve this title for a holder of a black belt.
I'd suggest that you only order this phrase if you have honestly reached this level.
This title does kind of make sense in Chinese but only to those Chinese who practice “kong shou dao” (karate) or when used in the context of martial arts.
推手 is the martial arts title “Pushing Hands.”
推手 is the title for two-person training routines practiced in internal Chinese martial arts such as Baguazhang, Xingyiquan, Tai Chi Chuan (Taijiquan), Liuhebafa, Chuan Fa, and Yiquan.
The first character means “pushing.”
The second character means “hand” (or “hands”).
This term can be romanized as “Tui Sau,” “Tui Sao,” or from Mandarin, “Tui Shou.”
If you are looking for this term, chances are, you already know the meaning within the context of Tai Chi and other martial arts.
鬆濤館空手道 art the Japanese Kanji that make up the title for Shotokan Karate.
This should be considered a Japanese-only title. It does make sense and is pronounceable in Chinese and Korean but only as a title for a building (perhaps a martial arts hall) surrounded by pine trees - followed by the characters for “The empty hand method” (kong shou dao / Karate-do). Also, the first two characters were simplified in both Japanese and Chinese. The third character was simplified in Chinese but not Japanese.
Upon request, we can offer the fully traditional Chinese version but be sure you know what you are asking for.
Note: This would be understood in Chinese and Korean Hanja by a person from those cultures familiar with martial arts and various schools of Japanese karate.
The following table may be helpful for those studying Chinese or Japanese...
Title | Characters | Romaji (Romanized Japanese) | Various forms of Romanized Chinese | |
Fu Lu Shou | 福祿壽 | fú lù shòu fu2 lu4 shou4 fu lu shou fulushou | ||
Kung Fu San Soo San Shou | 功夫散手 | gōng fu sǎn shǒu gong1 fu san3 shou3 gong fu san shou gongfusanshou | kung fu san shou kungfusanshou |
|
San Soo San Shou | 散手 | sǎn shǒu / san3 shou3 / san shou / sanshou | ||
Benevolent and Skilled Doctor | 妙手仁心 | miào shǒu rén xīn miao4 shou3 ren2 xin1 miao shou ren xin miaoshourenxin | miao shou jen hsin miaoshoujenhsin |
|
Benevolent and Skilled Doctor | 妙手仁心懸壺濟世 妙手仁心悬壶济世 | miào shǒu rén xīn xuán hú jì shì miao4 shou3 ren2 xin1 xuan2 hu2 ji4 shi4 miao shou ren xin xuan hu ji shi | miao shou jen hsin hsüan hu chi shih | |
Sticky Hands Chi Sau | 黐手 | chī shǒu / chi1 shou3 / chi shou / chishou | ch`ih shou / chihshou / chih shou | |
Rank Holder | 有段者 | yuu dan sha yuudansha yu dan sha | yǒu duàn zhě you3 duan4 zhe3 you duan zhe youduanzhe | yu tuan che yutuanche |
Pushing Hands Tui Sau | 推手 | tuī shǒu / tui1 shou3 / tui shou / tuishou | t`ui shou / tuishou / tui shou | |
Shotokan Karate-Do | 鬆濤館空手道 松涛館空手道 | shou tou kan kara te dou shoutoukankaratedou sho to kan kara te do | sōng tāo guǎn kōng shǒu dào song1 tao1 guan3 kong1 shou3 dao4 song tao guan kong shou dao songtaoguankongshoudao | sung t`ao kuan k`ung shou tao sungtaokuankungshoutao sung tao kuan kung shou 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.
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