East Wind Gallery . Lehrmach . com

愛麗莎和保羅 < Ai Li Sa Heh Bao Luo > | Elisa & Paul

2011-05-18T20:22:00.071-06:00

Calligraphy Title : Elisa & Paul
Frame Size : 17x13-inch
Date : May 2011
Creator : Uwe
Owner : Elisa & Paul @ Houston . Texas . USA

Description :
Chinese calligraphy of Sinicized English names ELISA and PAUL. Sincized ( via Sino prefix for China ), is the reverse process of Romanization ( render of non-English words into phonetic Latin-based alphabets ) by which English words are reconstituted via Chinese character sequence to approximate its phonetic rendering. Calligraphy written in Chinese "Small Seal Script" format, this was standard Chinese character style some 2,200 years ago.

Calligraphy arranged in 2 rows, with sinicized phonetic ELISA on top, the Chinese word for AND along with sinicized phonetic PAUL on bottom. Explanatory text set at frame bottom, with modern day Traditional Chinese characters, its targeted English names, and phonetic / semantic equivalents.

Note that Chinese Small Seal Script characters evolved into Traditional Chinese characters during auspicious of China's HAN Dynasty era, some 2,000 years ago. Its orthography convention has remain consistent to modern era. Thus, anyone who can read Traditional Chinese characters can understand temple inscriptions, classical prose, and historical records written across China - Japan - Korea - Taiwan - Vietnam for these past 2 millennia.

Chinese Small Seal Script characters are written via uniform thickness with gradual arcing lines. Rationale was that China had yet to invent the writing brush ( aka… horse tail hair attached to bamboo shaft ) as we know it in modern era. Main writing instrument 22 centuries ago was bamboo foundation pen ( bamboo shaft holding ink reservoir, which flow out in equal volume ). Thus, characters had slow gradual lines with no sharp arcing turns or quick wrist flicks.

In replicating characters uniform volume consistency, modern brush was discarded in favor of permanent black ink markers with large writing tips. Granted, usage of permanent ink markers are modern inventions, so artistic license was leveraged.

Name calligraphy art gift wrapped for customer delivery, its see-through design accentuated allure of end product before its unveiling.

Sinicized Name Process
Sinicization ( transcribing non-East Asian names into Chinese characters ) can be challenging proposition, for each Chinese character possess both phonetic and semantic qualities. Thus, one has to select characters that sounds "good" but also has good "meaning". Lest, one would encounter same problem Coca Cola had in 1930s during its China market entry when they transcribed product phonetic into Chinese characters "Kuo Ken Dou La" ( Mouth Gnaw Tadpole Wax ), before realizing its terse imagery and selected new title "Keh Kou Keh Leh" ( Suit Taste Suit Happiness ). Although first sinicized phonetic is closer to English title, latter title had better customer understanding, appreciation, and adoption.

Marcom Transcreation : Branding, Communications, Strategy for Asia Market Entry ( PDF 720kb )
http://Lehrmach.com/Research/2007.9-Lehrmach-MarcomTranscreateAsia.pdf

Thus, followed 2 prong strategy for sinicizing ELISA and PAUL personal names : 1) Use Chinese name dictionary, 2) Leverage appropriate "good intention" phonetic characters. By tradition, due to Western missionary activities in China for past 300 years, some English names have already been sinicized for localized Bible publications ( ex. Paul personage in Bible stories ), while other modern names derived from 20th-century Hollywood actor/actress names. Last resort is to recreate name phonetic by taking parts of previous sinicized names to preserve certain gender allusion or dignity nuance that Chinese audiences have come to appreciate throughout the generations.

Chinese name dictionary handbook used ( 1969 Taiwan publication, more or less a family heirloom ) titled " Wan Yong Ying Wen Shou Tze " ( Ten-Thousand Usage English Language Hand Volume ). Note colloquialism, Western society vest term "thousands" with positive attributes, but if used in Asian society term cast lackluster or insufficient attribute. To capture this same cultural nuance, one have to used "ten-thousand" term ( which is also a numeral unit marker ).

Transcribed sinicized English names listed in dictionary include common ones ARNOLD, PAUL, OLIVER for men… and DIANA, PEGGY, VIRGINIA for ladies. It also includes famous western historical and Hollywood names like ABRAHAM, KIRK DOUGLAS, LANA TURNER. Each name has its own nuance for men or ladies personage via character semantics.

ELISA Sinicized Name
Chinese name dictionary did not have ELISA sincized name characters, so one was reconstituted by correlating phonetic approximates.

Dictionary listed 2 sinicized ladies name that was good nuance, namely ELSA and LESLIE. ELSA transcribed as AI SA ( Love Nutgrass ), LESLIE listed as LI SHI LAN ( Beauty Silk Orchid ), took parts from these 2 names to form AI LI SA ( Love Beauty Nutgrass ) for ELISA. By tradition, Chinese lady names usually project nuance of natural ease, floral elegance, cultivated fragrance, etc.

As stated before, random Chinese character selection to merely suit phonetic rendition can produce bizarre results. Thus, potential "1930s Coca Cola" incident can befall upon this process. For example, name option "A" is selected for ELISA transcription. However, other phonetics ( with inflection tone variations ) can be in play such as YI LI SHA option "B" ( easy strength kill ) or option "C" ( one stand muddlehead ). Thus, in Chinese name transcription, caveat is placed less on accurate phonetics and more upon "trim and proper" semantic nuance that approximates phonetic equivalents.

PAUL Sinicized Name
PAUL name transcription was effortless since it has already been sinicized in dictionary as BAO LUO ( protect net ), via localized Chinese Bible publication a few hundred years previous on Apostle Paul personage.

BAO means protect or preserve, while LUO is special type of bird catching net, but has good gentlemen nuance of protecting hearth and home, while having small singing birds in Chinese household infers social cultivation.

Small Seal Script Reference
With personal name sinicization completed, next task was to correlate the Traditional Chinese characters with its ancient Chinese Small Seal Script character equivalents. For this endeavor, relied on book " Chinese Characters : Their origin, etymology, history, classification, and significance ", published by Catholic Mission Press 1965. ISBN : 486-21321-8.

Chinese Characters (Dover Books on Language) [Paperback] 1965 (Amazon.com)

This book was presented as graduation gift by local Milwaukee-Wisconsin high school librarian some decades past. She simply stated I was the only one who ever checked out this book and possessed instinctive understanding. From demographic perspective, Milwaukee locale possesses large ethnic-German and Polish American population, thus not usual place to find such an Asian publication compared to cities like Houston, Los Angeles, San Jose, or Seattle.

This book originally released in 1927 was effort of Western Missionaries to gain comprehensive understanding of Chinese written language ( via Traditional Chinese characters ), form seamless communication insight with potential Chinese Christian adherents or converts. Sample above shows common book page, with modern Traditional Chinese characters on left, and its Small Seal Script character equivalent on left, along with its etymology and orthography.

Note that modern-day China abandoned Traditional Chinese ( TC ) characters in late-1950s, and adopted Chinese Communist Party sanctioned Simplified Chinese ( SC ) character set for past 50 years. Thus socio-political-cultural contentions ensue between TC-vs-SC adherents over cultural & linguistic purity, natural successor to Pan-Sino civilization, and mere ability to read ancient chronicles or literary proses written some 100 to 2,000 years ago.

Debate on traditional and simplified Chinese characters | Wiki

Book 1st version released in 1927 by Western Missionaries, sample above shows Chinese Radical index with its Small Seal Script equivalents. Radicals & Character-based languages is equivalent to Root & Alphabetic-based languages, they are used to search Chinese dictionary based on Radical index and stroke number sequence. Radicals are also pictograph / ideogram, they can be a complete word onto itself, or partial component to complete characters.

Correlate Small Seal Script Characters
With Traditional Chinese characters established for ELISA and PAUL, next step was reverse-engineer the modern day characters into their ancient Small Seal Script character formats, derived from Chinese etymology book above.

Conducted Radical index / Stroke pattern search, wrote characters on notebook for latter layout design. It was rudimentary, but more than sufficient for artistic needs. An linguistic challenge emerged from this reverse transcription, namely SA phonetic in ELISA name of AI LI SA, for the SA ( nutgrass ) character was not listed in the book.

Therefore, executed character decomposition by extracting radical & word segments, reverse transcribed these segments into Small Seal Script ( which was listed in the book ), then reconstituted full character together.

Sample demonstrates character SA ( nutgrass ) divided among Water ( Sui ) radical on left, Youth ( Shao ) word on left, and Grass ( Tzao ) radical atop. Small Seal Characters were located for each 3 segments and reconstituted. Note, Water and Grass radicals are condensed short forms, their full radical forms also listed ( which are stand alone words onto themselves ).

This process is similar to analyzing word ADVANCE ( to move forward or elevate ) by dividing between its root AD and stem VANCE. Derived from Old Latin word ABANTE with AB ( forward ) and ANTE ( before ). Etymology is Advance ( modern ), Avauncen ( Middle English ), Avauncer ( Old French ), Abantire ( Latin ), and Abante ( Old Latin ).

Chinese Radical ( Bushou ) | Wiki

Chinese Radical Index | YBC

Writing the Calligraphy
Instead of writing calligraphy onto one sheet, elected to place each character onto its own pre-cut sheet, this would enable more flexible positioning and border demarcation.

6 beige square sheets cut and prepared for art work. Since black permanent marker was used, a paper sheet and plastic cutting board used to prevent ink bleed-through onto dining table cloth.

ELISA first phonetic sequence AI ( Love ) created via Sharpie King Size permanent ink marker. Marker's square writing head enabled uniform ink release and gentle curvature needed for Small Seal Script creation. Rest of character creation followed same procedure.

ELISA and PAUL Small Seal Script characters completed, let dry to prevent permanent ink residue from etching surfaces.

Positioning of ELISA name AI LI SA, followed up PAUL name BAO LUO aligned below. Square inset used for alignment only, since name plates will have black background for emphasis.

--

山浦明雄 < Yama Ura Aka Ou > | Yamaura the Famed

2010-11-02T21:23:00.049-06:00

Calligraphy Title : Yama Ura Aka Ou ( Yamaura the Famed )
Frame Size : 24x36-inch
Date : Sept 2010
Creator : Uwe
Owner : Yamaura @ Okawa-shi . Fukuoka-ken . Kyushu . Japan

Description :
Classical Chinese prose written via hand brush Seal Script format. Prose is anchored on Japanese surname "Yamaura" ( via Japanese Kunyomi phonetics for Mountain Spring ). Latter prose "Aka Ou" ( Bright Male ) is a partial phonetic to calligraphy owner's firstname. Japanese Kanji characters can be divided into 2 groups of pronunciation : 1) Onyomi - sound readings, 2) Kunyomi - book readings.

Kanji - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanji

Onyomi Kanji readings are either approximates or generally based on Chinese phonetics at the time of borrowing into Japanese language. But considering Japan borrowed Chinese charaters ( Kanji ) over a 1,000 year period, about 3 Chinese Dynasty existed within that timeframe, hence Onyomi readings are based on predominate Chinese language or dialects spoken at the Imperial Court of that era. That is reason why a Kanji generally possesses about 2 to 5 different pronunciations due to this long borrowing timeline. Typical Chinese-Japanese examples are Mountain "Shan, San", Water "Shui, Sui", and Big "Da, Dai".

Onyomi - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onyomi#On.27yomi_.28Chinese_reading.29

Kunyomi Kanji readings are intrinsic Japanese pronunciations before introduction of Kanji, but was henceforth assigned to Kanji as supplementary phonetics. Chinese-Japanese examples in this arena are Mountain "Shan, Yama", Water "Shui, Mizu", and High "Gao, Taka".

Kunyomi - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onyomi#Kun.27yomi_.28Japanese_reading.29

Calligraphy written on heavy bonded paper via ink mixed for low viscosity, this ensured a thick paste appearance to prevent any "ink runs" on the canvas. From history with China being the first Asian civilization to possess a written language a few thousand years past, its character set was adopted not only in Japan, but also Korea and Vietnam.

Unique linguistic characteristic was that when Japan - Korea - Vietnam borrowed Chinese characters into respective civilization, they quasi-Sinicized the verbal rendition to conform with constraints within their own spoken language. In essence, they froze and preserve the Chinese characters utterance spoken at that specific historical period.

This provided insights to modern Chinese speakers of what the language verbally sounded like of certain words thousands of years before introduction of Chinese Mandarin language, which is only 500 years old, contrasted with at least 2,000 years of written Chinese history ( some say 5,000 years, but written records were destroyed by 1st Emperor of China.... aka Qin Shi Huang ( Chin Sher Huang ) some 2,200 years ago ).

Qin Shi Huang - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qin_Shi_Huang

Chinese Seal scripts is know for its slow rendering soft edged lines, contrasted with heavy stroked abstract brush calligraphy. Although this Yamaura calligraphy was created via brush for a "scratchy" effect, slow painting motion was used to replicate ink flowing in consistent volume from a bamboo fountain pen.

Concerning Chinese languages, it can be quite contentious. One southern Chinese Cantonese colleague proclaimed Cantonese ethnic group is more "pure form" of Chinese since the Cantonese ( Yue ) dialect is a direct lineage of China's famed TANG Dynasty imperial court. After downing a few Cognac, I told him he was "blowing frank'in chunks !" For Chinese characters by its orthography captures semantics, not phonetics ( all be it phonetically origins can be ascertained in some characters ). There is supposition of what TANG-era Chinese language could have sounded like, but written records do not reveal a direct correlation. However, Chinese ethnic group migrations and evolution of its dialects can provide some ideation or solace to competing parties.

Mandarin Chinese - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandarin_Chinese

Cantonese Chinese - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cantonese_language

Chinese Languages - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_language

TANG Dynasty - http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/prehistory/china/classical_imperial_china/tang.html

Descriptive inset outlining the four Kanji characters in modern Asian serif font typeface. Calligraphy's Mandarin Chinese rendition also listed as "San Pu Ming Shiong", the semantic equivalent to Japanese Kunyomi "Yama Ura Aka Ou", both meaning "Mountain River Bright Grand ( or Male )". Interplay of the last Kanji between "Grand" vs "Male" is based on literary influences.

Schematic showcasing calligraphy constructs, being derived from Japanese personal name "Yama Ura Yuu Ji". Its Kunyomi version is "Yama Ura Aka Ou", while its Onyomi is "San Po Min Yuu", the Japanese phonetic equivalent to Mandarin Chinese "San Pu Ming Shiong". "Aka Ou" portion based on Kanji word "Min Ki" ( Chinese title Ming Chi ) for "bright spirit" or "forthright character".

Calligraphy being air dried right after the writing. From its orthography, one can surmise modern Chinese characters ( be it Traditional, Communist China Simplified, or Japan Reduction characters ) can all trace their origins to these Seal characters. Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, ethnic-Chinese diaspora in Americas - Europe - SE Asia all use Traditional Chinese characters. China & Singapore use Chinese Communist-sanctioned Simplified Characters. Japan use its own simplified Kanji set called "Shin-jitai".

Debate on traditional and simplified Chinese characters - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debate_on_traditional_and_simplified_Chinese_characters

Traditional vs. Simplified Characters - http://themandarinproject.blogspot.com/2007/03/traditional-vs-simplified-characters.html

Japan Shin-jitai ( reduction or simplified ) Kanji - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinjitai

Japan Kyu-jitai ( traditional ) Kanji - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ky%C5%ABjitai

Calligraphy being written, balancing out the 4 Kanji characters onto the sheet. Test case characters previously written in notebook for size and style comparisons, along with multi-lingual translations.

趙兵買馬 < Chao Bing Mai Ma > | Chao Clan Prepares for Battle - Seal Script

2010-10-30T23:52:00.040-06:00

Calligraphy Title : Chao Bing Mai Ma ( Chao Clan Prepares for Battle )
Frame Size : 24x36-inch
Date : Sept 2010
Creator : Uwe
Owner : Chao Clan @ Houston.Texas.USA

Description : Classical Chinese prose written via hand brush Seal Script format. Prose is anchored on Chinese surname "Chao" ( also written Zhao in Chinese romanized Pin-Yin format ), and is a play on words for proverb "Tzao Bing Mai Ma" ( To Find Soldiers and Purchase Horses )... aka for war preparation or revolt.

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Chinese_proverbs

With emphasis on Chinese surname "Chao", it was given largest calligraphy real estate on left, remaining phrases written on right.

http://www.yutopian.com/names/14/14zhao7.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhao_%28surname%29

http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Chinese_surname

Prose idea came from Chinese proverb "Chao(3) Bing Mai Ma", the number "3" is an inflection tone indicator for the 4 general syllable tones assigned to each Chinese character. In this instance, "3" marker indicates the tone to be pronounced in a flat verbal trajectory. Note that not all Chinese syllables have the maximum 4 tones.

End product shown below, with Chinese word "Chao(3)" ( to find ), replaced by Chinese surname "Chao(1)", number "1" inflection tone indicator states character to be pronounced in an upper rising / short trajectory.

http://www.omniglot.com/writing/chinese.htm

http://www.omniglot.com/writing/chinese_horse.htm#rads

Character explanatory inset placed on right, Chinese characters here are written in modern Traditional Chinese character format. This provides a correlation between the 2,000-year old Seal Scripts used during China's 1st Empire... the Chin Dynasty ( also written as Qin ). The succeeding China's Han Dynasty standardized the orthographic set to Traditional Chinese characters as we known it today.

http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/prehistory/china/early_imperial_china/chin.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qin_Dynasty

Also note, despite China's modern 21st-century socio-economic prowess, the nation uses Simplified Chinese characters invented by China's Communist Party in 1958. This has created schisms between Traditional versus Simplified Chinese character adherents over purity and legacy of China's language, literature, literacy, culture, history, etc. China and Singapore are official users of Simplified Chinese characters. All rest of Chinese / ethnic-Chinese diaspora... Taiwan, Hong Kong, SE Asia, Australia, Europe, Americas.... vast majority still promote sole use of Traditional Chinese characters.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debate_on_traditional_and_simplified_Chinese_characters

http://www.chinese-outpost.com/language/characters/traditional-vs-simplified-chinese-characters.asp

http://www.economist.com/node/13528023?story_id=13528023

Close-up of inset description, Chinese characters written in NJstar application, copied into MS-Powerpoint, resized accordingly. English text created and resized. Border and shadow created via Powerpoint graphic toolsets.

Main characteristic of ancient Seal Scripts are its gentle flowing lines and curvatures. This was necessary since the ink brush was yet to be invented 2,000 years ago at that era, hence main writing tool was a bamboo fountain pen which released ink in uniform volume, thus required a slow methodical orthographic approach. But this calligraphy had some flexibility since ink brush was used, thus enabled to create a scratchy brush pattern effect.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Writing_instrument

http://inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aa100197.htm

Hot off the press, Chao calligraphy prose completed and let dried. One can make out images of hands, 4-legged animals, enclosures in the ancient orthography.

丹心誠意 < Dan Shin Cheng Yi > Loyalty Sincerity | Cursive Script

2010-10-27T00:43:00.099-06:00

Calligraphy Title : Dan Shin Cheng Yi ( Loyalty Sincerity )
Frame Size : 27x40-inch
Date : June 2010
Creator : Uwe
Owner : Timothy @ Austin.Texas.USA

Description :
Classical Chinese proverb ( colloquially called Cheng Yu : Sincere Language ) with 4-character prose "Dan Shin" ( Loyal Heart ) "Cheng Yi" ( Sincere Intent ). These condensed classical prose usually comes in one, two, four characters. All be it, complete proverbial sentences also exist. Note, legacy "Harvard" Chinese romanization method is used rather than current "Yale" Pin-Yin method since it can be more readily pronounced in American English. For example, Chinese word "Heart" is romanized as "Shin" in Harvard, and "Xin" in Yale. Given Germanic language influences in American English, most prefer Shin over Xin since "X" is seldom used in American lexicon.

BTW, this linguistic tendency can be witnessed in American politics, for no US President has ever been elected to office with a silent consonant in his last name ( thereby negating candidates with French or Slavic heritages ), for example Washington, Roosevelt, Eisenhower, Reagan, Bush... all have solid consonants. In fact, in 1992 when Dallas-based businessman Ross Perot was running for office, I told my gung-ho Texas pals that if they really wanted him to be President, they must stop pronouncing his name as "Per-row" ( which projected ethnic French affinity ), and render it as "Per-rot" for a solid Germanic ending consonant.

Classical prose is written left-right, top-bottom format. Left side reads "Dan Shin" ( Loyal Heart ), right side is "Cheng Yi" ( Sincere Intention ).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_Chinese

Embedding familial affinity in this prose, its constructs based on Timothy's mother first name in Traditional Chinese characters. Example above shows calligraphy prose "Dan Shin Cheng Yi" ( Loyal Heart Sincere Intent ), derived from 4-character prose "Dan Shin Dan Yi" ( Loyal Heart Loyal Intent ). The "Dan Yi" portion in turn is derived from Timothy's mother first name "Dan Yih" ( Loyal Ceremony ). Thus firstname "Dan Yih" is a play-on-phonetics for "Dan Yi" ( Loyal Intent ), which in turn is used for final construct "Cheng Yi" ( Sincere Intent ).

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Chinese_proverbs

Calligraphy written in Chinese cursive style, or more accurately described as "Running Script" or "Semi-Cursive Script" ( Chinese called it Shing Shu, or literally Travel Book Script, but colloquially Running Hand Script ) which is a free-flow format. Via this style, all of the character's stroke patterns need not be replicated since its primary showcase is the momentum, flow, or energy projected by its creator. Majority of character strokes are retained, thereby allowing the viewer to ascertain and read the characters accordingly.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semi-cursive_script

There is another Chinese cursive style called "Grass Script" or colloquially called "Tzao Shieh" ( Grass Writing ). Basically, this is Chinese short-hand, its flow and abstraction can be quite indicative to such an extent as being unintelligible to common populace. Hence, only the most classical literate personage can view its overall constructs and derive its correct characters. For those who can't read this abstraction, the often remark is "Tai Tzao Leh" ( Too Grassy ).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cursive_script_%28East_Asia%29

Free-flow cursive style Chinese writing was only possible some 2,000 years ago with the invention of the bamboo writing brush ( attaching horse tail hair to end of a bamboo for ink writing ). Before this invention, Chinese used either metal scribes to carve characters ( much like Germanic Runic symbols ), or use a bamboo fountain pen which relegated ink flow in uniform fashion, thus enforcing a slow methodical writing technique which created think gentle curved Chinese characters.

http://www.omniglot.com/writing/chinese_evolution.htm

It should also be noted that other Chinese character styles were in concurrent usage with Traditional Chinese Characters, such as the 16th-century Tangut script. But these were regional, ethnic, or gender specific usages outside of mainstream written communication.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tangut_script

Close-up of prose inset outlining its multiple pronunciations across various Asian languages. Chinese characters are linguistically based on pictographs and ideograms. Pictograph are abstract symbols which represent the objects they represent, such as the Chinese characters for Mountain ( San ) and Water ( Sui ). Ideograms are symbolic indicators of action or intent, such as Chinese characters for Up ( Shang )or Concave ( Ao ).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pictograph

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ideogram

Thus character rather than alphabetic-based, the character can be orthographically consistently in one format, but pronounced in multiple different formats, yet its semantic quality remains unchanged.

Inset details, Classical Chinese prose pronounced in 5 different languages : 1) Chinese Mandarin ( Kuo Yu ), 2) Chinese Cantonese ( Yue Yu ), 3) Sino-Japanese ( Kanbun ), 4) Sino-Korean ( Han Mum), 5) Sino-Vietnamese ( Chu Nho ). For Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese.... prose based on verbal rendition within each nation's phonetic constructs, and also on historical era when certain Chinese characters were incorporated. For example, Japan incorporated Chinese characters ( Kanji ) over a 1,000 year period, by which at least 3 major Chinese dynasties existed with different verbal renditions of some Chinese characters. To start with, Chinese-Mandarin "Dan Shin Cheng Yi" is rendered as "Daan Sam Sihng Yi" in Chinese-Cantonese.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandarin_Chinese

BTW, Chinese Cantonese is considered a regional dialect. However, by default it is really a regional language since Chinese Mandarin and Cantonese are mutually unintelligible.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cantonese_%28Yue%29

A joke heard from childhood was that Dr. Sun Yat-Sen ( founder of Chinese Republic in 1911 ) had attempted for decades to reform the corrupt and archaic Ching Dynasty of China before he initiated rebellion and revolution. In early 1900s when he travelled to Beijing to petition China's imperial court to adopt his American-inspired "Jeffersonian" political reforms, he was snickered by imperial officials which belittled him for being only able to speak Cantonese, and not Mandarin. Thus, openly insulted and humiliated, he decided on revolution instead of mere reform. Noted that Sun Yat-Sen is a Cantonese romanized name, via Chinese Mandarin he is known as Sung Chung-San.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Yet-Sen

Inset plate being prepared for mounting, item printed out on laser printer, glued to black hard-card, cut to size and mounted to lower left frame corner.

Sino-Japanese prose is based on Kanbun ( Chinese Literature in Japanese ), it is rendered as "Tan Shin Sei I". The "I" in romanized Japanese is rendered as "Yi". Note than Japanese phonetics have a strong vowel tendency in its constructs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanbun

Sino-Korean prose based on Hanmum ( Chinese Literature in Korean ), it is rendered as "Tan Shim Song Iuh". The "Iuh" in romanized Korean is rendered as "Yee-Uh". Note that Korean phonetics have a strong consonant tendency in its constructs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanmun

Sino-Vietnamese prose based on Chu Nho ( Script Confucian in Vietnamese ), it is romanized as "Dan Tam Thanh Y". The "Y" is rendered as "Yee". Note Vietnam is the only Asian nation which solely use romanized Latin alphabets as written communication medium, this was introduced by colonial French authorities when they ruled Vietnam for about 100 years. But Vietnam had almost 1,500 years of close cultural liaison with China, thus adopted lion-share of Chinese characters. In fact, Vietnam's history for first 1,000 years is all recorded in Classical Chinese prose. Originally, Vietnamese defined "Chu Nho" as Chinese characters borrowed directly from China, and "Chu Nom" ( Script Indigenous in Vietnamese ) as quasi-Chinese characters invented by Vietnamese Confucian scholars. Nowadays, "Chu Nom" refers to both Chinese-borrowed and Vietnamese-created characters.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chu_nho

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chu_nom

Close-up of Running Script, author circular name stamp on lower left corner. There is no correct manner of writing cursive Chinese characters, it all depends on one's persona, flair, energy, style, momentum. My personal preference is for Running Script ( Shing Shu ) rather than Grassy Script ( Tzao Shieh ), since it captures majority of orthographic nuance.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Written_Chinese

Close-up of Uwe's personal stamp, about to imprint author name onto calligraphy. Stamp is carved from wood, there is a rabbit figure atop of the stamp, signifying author's birth during Year of the Rabbit in Asian Zodiac. This zodiac circulates 12 animals across celestial years. But note each year one of 5 earth elements assume dominance status ( fire, water, wood, soil, metal ), hence combines with the dominant animal sign. Thus instead of the 12 animal year cycle, we actually have 12x5 = 60 animal cycles.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Zodiac

BTW, Vietnamese still use the previous Asian zodiac before the 13th-century, hence the Rabbit year sign is replaced with a Cat. Thus, they have 2 cats in their zodiac, Rabbit year and Tiger year.

Author stamp afixed, ready for frame assembly.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Chinese

Classical prose written on 4 separate sheets, thus enabled defacto boundary for calligraphy writing. Large single sheets was not readily available, so relied upon heavy bonded paper sheets from local hobby supply store.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_script_styles

Cutting the Classical prose to consistent size proportionate to embedded characters still required a large frame, had a spare 27x40-inch frame on-hand for this effort.

Given frame large size, there was not a single hard-card poster than can cover its entire backend. Thus, cut 3 large hard-card stripes and placed them equal distance among each other.

Hard-card stripes in place, ready for final frame mounting.

Classical prose framed, mounted, and delivered.... awaiting personal curiosity and discovery on Timothy's behalf.

雙胞胎 < Shuang Bao Tai > Twin Siblings | Sinicization

2010-08-15T16:02:00.099-06:00

Calligraphy Title : Shuang Bao Tai ( Twin Siblings )
Frame Size : 11x13-inch
Date : May 2010
Creator : Uwe
Owner : Karelbund @ Austin.Texas.USA

Description :
Sinicized ( Chinese character rendering ) versions of Swiss-German personal names. Shuang Bao Tai ( Mandarin Chinese for Twins ) referred to twin sons of Karel clan . Wooden framed artwork created via Asian Arial font typeface, Japanese digital stock patterns, all assembled in Powerpoint application.

Sinicized names is the reverse of Romanized names. In Romanization, English phonetics via Latin alphabets are used to approximate non-European/American Latin alphabetic words, such as Chinese "Kung Fu, Tofu, Feng Shui", Indian Hindi terms "Shampoo, Pajama, Thug", Eastern European Cyrillic words "Kaytusha" ( little Kate ), Arabic term Algebra from "Al Jabr" ( restoration ), and Japanese terms "Origami, Sushi, Harakiri". BTW Harakiri ( belly splitting ) example is often mangled via colloquial English term Harry-Kerry, all be it Japanese prefer more noble term Seppuku ( self disembowelment ).

Romanization - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanization

Seppuku - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seppuku

Framed nameplates gift-wrapped, ready for delivery and presentation. Sinicization uses Chinese character verbal renditions to approximate non-Chinese words such as "Han Bao" (hamburger), "Lei Geng" (Reagan), "Fa Lan Shi" (France). But with 5 major Chinese regional languages and some 200 minor dialects, the official Mandarin Chinese verbal rendition is used to approximate English names. BTW, both China and Taiwan use the same Mandarin Chinese regional language as official government language.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandarin_Chinese

Chinese language itself is a myriad of combinations .... some are close approximates ( like Spanish and Italian ), while others are mutually unintelligible ( like German and Russian ). Major languages are divided as follows : 1) Mandarin, 2) Min of SE China & Taiwan, 3) Wu of Eastern China / Shanghai area, 4) Yue ( also called Cantonese ) of southern China / Hong Kong area, 5) Hakka (also called Khe-jia) of southern China and parts of Taiwan, 6) Gan of south-central China.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spoken_Chinese

Since China civil war era, Nationalist Chinese in 1930s called Mandarin "Kuo Yu" (national language), while the Communist Chinese called it "Pu Tong Hua" (common speech) in 1950s. By late-1990s, Communist Chinese recognize negative cultural nuance of "Pu Tong Hua" title in projecting masses of illiterate peasant folks, thus they now changed the title to "Han Yu" (Han Language, or Language of the Han Chinese people... which makes up 96% of 1.3 billion folks in China). BTW, a proliferation of romanized titles exist, as Kuo Yu, Kuo Yue, Guo Yu, Gwo Yue..... all pronounced exactly the same as "national language" regardless of spelling format.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuo-yue

Close-up of Timothy nameplate, created via following 7-step process : 1) Transliterate Swiss name into Chinese characters via English-Chinese name dictionary or phonetic equivalent, 2) Create Chinese characters via NJstar Chinese word processor, 3) Copy Chinese characters into MS-Powerpoint, 4) Type in English text, 5) Resize Chinese / English title to size, 6) Create solid white background behind the text, 7) Insert and resize Japanese motif design behind both text and white background.

http://www.njstar.com/cms/njstar-chinese-word-processor

Note when Chinese characters were copied from NJstar application into MS-Powerpoint, it auto-converted into rasterized graphics, making it seamlessly easily to resize. English text resized based on font size.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rasterize

Screen-capture of Timothy nameplate being created via MS-Powerpoint. Its name divided as follows :

1) Timothy -> Ti Mo Sai ( promote rub competition )

2) ReVox -> Li Bo ( advantage broadcast )

3) Karel - Ka Lei Li ( block thunder reason )

Timothy was previously transliterated from Chinese-English name dictionary book. ReVox and Karel names were manually transliterated via phonetic research and equivalents.

Sample Japanese black-gold wave motif used for Timothy background. No fancy insertion technique used, just drop JPG graphic onto web browser, copy content of web browser into MS-Powerpoint, resized & rescaled to fit frame. These motif designs came from publication "Pattern Sourcrebook : Japanese Style - 250 Patterns for Projects and Designs"

http://www.amazon.com/Pattern-Sourcebook-Japanese-Patterns-Projects

Main challenge in transliterating western European names into Chinese character equivalents is both historical legacy and phonetics. By tradition, some western names are expected to assume specific Chinese character forms since it was established hundreds of years beforehand when European nations began its socio-political-economic interaction with East Asia. For other names, one would have to select not only the appropriate Chinese character phonetics, but also "good & proper nuance" of Chinese character intrinsic meaning.

4 main reference books were use to correlate English-Chinese phonetic names : 1) Mathew's Chinese-English Dictionary 1963, 2). New Practical Chinese-English Dictionary 1963, 3) Modern Chinese-English Handbook 1958, 4) Far-East Chinese English Dictionary 1991. All books were published in Taipei-Taiwan, uses "Harvard" Chinese romanization method and Traditional Chinese characters. Although current "Yale" Chinese Pin-Yin romanization method is more linguistically accurate (ex. Beijing vs Peking), vast majority of Americans have difficulty correlating obscure phonetic sequences, such as Xia for Shia, Xu for Hsu, and Qu for Chu.

For a real quick name transliteration, one could use Yahoo's BabelFish web application, all be it a limited set of English names can be converted in this manner to phonetic Chinese names, such as Beverly, John, Mary. However, these machine transliterated names may not conform with historical legacy names already in usage ( if not culturally expected ) among Chinese populace at large. For example, "Sean" is historically translated as "Hsu An" ( Permit Tranquility ), but machine Babelfish machine translation produces "Shia En" ( Summer Kindness ).

http://babelfish.yahoo.com/

1958-publication Modern Chinese-English Handbook was the most useful since it had a chapter devoted exclusively to transliterated English names from the Bible, world history, and other famed persona of 1950s such as Eisenhower, Bob Hope, Marilyn Monroe, etc.

Screen-capture of Sean nameplate in MS-Powerpoint. Its name divided as follows :

1) Sean -> Hsu An ( praise peaceful )

2) Cyrus -> Sai Ru Shi ( competition like teacher )

3) Karel -> Ka Lei Li ( block thunder reason )

Sean and Cyrus previously transliterated from Chinese-English name dictionary book. Karel manually transliterated via research of phonetic equivalents. Some names came from transliterated Chinese Bible, such as Cyrus name from the Old Testament of Persia's Cyrus the Great.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Cyrus

Sample Japanese multi-color Japanese wave motif used for Sean background, pattern came from same Japanese motif book.

Sreen-cap of NJstar Chinese word processor used to transliterate and create Chinese character phonetic based English / Swiss-German names. Application also had built-in feature sets to create Chinese characters from radical / stroke patterns, romanization equivalents, and dictionary to cross-reference Chinese character semantic meanings. The latter is of utmost importance since one needs to select a name that is both phonetic approximate, yet also promote wholesome semantic nuance.

For example, English name "Ben" ( short form for Benjamin ) can be rendered as "Beng" ( main ) or "Bian" ( change ), the 2nd version is never used since it can form the Chinese word Bian-Shuo ( Restroom.... or literally Change Room, as in body changes... taking a leak or making a dump ). In fact, transliteration norm is that a Chinese character will not be selected for a name even if it is the best phonetic candidate since its semantic nuance is not conducive, thus compelling selection of a less accurate phonetic character candidate.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanization_of_Chinese

One final recommendation is that one need not follow transliteration norms to form your own Chinese character names. One could by-pass phonetic equivalents and go straight for semantic equivalents, or do a mix-n-match. For example, German name "Hans Jungkunz". German surname Jungkunz.... Jung is Upper German dialect for Jugend ( Youth ), while Kunz is variation of Kuenzel ( council, advisor ). Thus, "Youth Advisor" can be semantically transliterated into Chinese as "Shao Guan Shi" ( youthful advise expert ). German first name can be romanized phonetically as "Han Zhi" ( Chinese person ). Thus one can have a truly unique Chinese name via "Shao Guan Shi, Han Zhi" ( Youthful Advisor Chinese Personage ) can be immediately appreciated and understood by populace using Chinese characters, such as China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Vietnam ( to a limited degree ), and ethnic diaspora worldwide.

LAKSMI Tibetan Prosperity | Ume

2010-07-25T11:08:00.048-06:00

Calligraphy Title : LAKSMI Tibet Prosperity
Style : Stylized Tibet Lensa Character via Ume script calligraphy
Frame Size : 24x36-inch
Date : March 2010
Creator : Uwe
Owner : Kyle.M @ Austin.Texas.USA

Description :
Tibet calligraphy "Laksmi" character, written in brush style. Symbol of Tibet Goddess of Prosperity derived from Hindu pantheon. In Hinduism, Laksmi ( also written Lakshmi ) depicted as lady sitting on lotus gold coins ( allusion to Goddess of Wealth ), extending out her hands of blessing. She is also the consort to Vishnu : God of Sustenance.

Hindu deities - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindu_deities

Hindu Pantheon - http://rksanka.tripod.com/religion/deities.html

Laksmi represents wealth, prosperity ( both material and spiritual ),
light, wisdom, fortune, fertility, generosity and courage. Deity embodies female characteristics of beauty, grace, and charm.

Lakshmi - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lakshmi

Stylized Tibet LENSA character written via Ume-script calligraphy brush. Lensa is an abugida ( segmental writing system ) derived from Brahmic language family of South Asia. Ume script is the free-flow writing style of Tibetan calligraphy.

Tibetan script - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tibetan_script

Brahmic family of scripts - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brahmic_family_of_scripts

Inset caption : Laksmi character in traditional ink pen-scribed Uchen format on left. Item was scanned and imported into MS-Powerpoint, remaining characters & border created in same application. Uchen format is the upright block style of Tibetan script.

Uchen - http://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Uchen

Ume - http://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Ume

Calligraphy sheet made of 2 separate light bond paper, demarcation line can be seen after Ume character had dried, thus contracting the sheet.

Uchen literally means "with a head", while "Ume" means "without a head". Distinction derived from its orthography that Uchen has a "flat cap" ( aka head ) and is used for formal writing (ex. Buddhist sutras, royal correspondences ), while Ume being an non-cristated script is used for hand-writing of daily correspondences.

Tibetan writing styles - http://www.tibettravel.info/tibetan-language/writing.html

Inset caption place on top right to balance Laksmi character length. Used thick black ink paste to create a "scratchy" effect to showcase writing force and direction.

Tibet Characters - http://www.omniglot.com/writing/tibetan.htm

Dual Sino-Tibet good-luck scroll, with Tibetan Uchen-script Laksmi ( prosperity, wealth ) character on top, Chinese character "Fu Shou" ( fortune longevity ) at bottom. This Laksmi character was used as scanned graphic for inset caption.

Tibetan Scripts - http://www.inkessential.com/scripts.html

Note, Chinese "Fu Shou" proverb is read in traditional format from right to left. Characters are also written in Traditional Chinese characters standardized 2,000 years ago as Clerical Script during China's Han Dynasty era, and not the current Simplified Chinese characters created by China's Communist Party in 1957.

Evolution of Chinese characters - http://www.omniglot.com/writing/chinese_evolution.htm

Historical tidbit : Tibet region is known in history as gateway conveying Buddhist teachings between Indian subcontinent and East Asia ( China, Korea, Japan ). However, until advent of 7th-century when China's TANG Dynasty conquered that region to secure trade route between Rome - Persia - China ( aka Silk Road ), Tibetans were notorious as highway robbers, brigands, murder and mayhem. It was only after their conquest did Buddhism flow into this outlawed region, thus gaining converts to more pacifist & civilized livelihood.

Tang Dynasty - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tang_Dynasty

Tibet during the Tang Dynasty - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tibet_during_the_Tang_Dynasty

Silk Road - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silk_Road

Full view of Laksmi Ume-script calligraphy. Item placed in black soft-edged plastic frame.

Tibetan script was created after its envoy was dispatched to India to study constructs of a written language, and used Indic ( Brahmic ) script as development base for new language. To this day, linguistics not in agreement over which specific Brahmic script inspired Tibetan Uchen alphabet creation.

There were 3 main orthographic standards used since the 7th-century, most important standard reserved for official translation of Buddhist scriptures. Another interesting aspect is that as Tibet spoken language evolved throughout the centuries ( as with all spoken languages ), it lost various pronunciation of complex consonant clusters, but the written aspect of Tibetan script remain consistent throughout these centuries ( akin to Traditional Chinese characters and its lineage ).

Brahmic script - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Br%C4%81hm%C4%AB_script

Hot off the press, Laksmi character immediately after its writing. Large scratchy stroke patterns denote force and direction. Once ink had dried, paper contracted to showcase surface rippled effect.

Calligraphy sheet in preparation for writing, small Japanese cone-shape rice bowl used to mix black ink ( very little water was added since one desired thick viscosity ). 3 ladies rouge brushes taped together into one large single brush to cover large swop of sheet during painting.

BAKU the Co-existence | Siddham

2010-06-14T09:53:00.009-06:00

Calligraphy Title : "Baku" the Co-existence
Style : Stylized Siddham Script
Frame Size : 12x30-inch
Date : Jan 2010
Creator : Uwe
Owner : Uwe @ Austin.Texas.USA

Art Collectible : $150 USD ( artwork + frame )
Ship Cost : $25 UPS domestic parcel flat rate ( tracking + customer signature )
Payment : via Paypal

Description :
Siddham character "BAKU", divine Buddhist symbol of self religious awakening, a convergence of thought - action - form - interaction in co-existing realm. BAKU is the romanized Japanese Kana rendition, its Hindi rendition is BHAH. Symbol also represents Sakyamuni Tathagata, a person borned circa 6th BC in northern India, who renounced worldly comfort & pleasures to practice severest austerities to reach full enlightenment and Dharma.

Indian Siddham - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siddham

Dharma - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dharma

Traditional Siddham calligraphy is written top to bottom. However, I elected on a left to write approach to "stretch" out the calligraphy via wide brush patterns and flairs. This is the second Siddham character I written since beginning my Hindi-Buddhist calligraphy practice. As noted, calligraphy represents Buddha Sakyamuni Tathagata (which is romanized Japanese Kana title of his name). Romanized Hindi title is Samyaksambuddha.

Samyaksambuddha - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samyaksambuddha

Left to Right painting enabled series of ending swirls as calligraphy tapered off its end, 2 outlaying swirls replaced the traditional diamond-shape icons. These circular patterns also enhanced a holistic quality to such theology, that the physical world and divine realm are actually one, or 2 sides of the same coin. One realm cannot exist without the other, otherwise humanity will never achieve any moral compass. On the flip side, divine realm must be worshiped or feared by adherents, or else these divine beings fades into distant human memory, and after a few generations forgotten outright.

This insight is extolled in 2 reference points : 1) Bible Book of Revelation stating unification of Religion and Science upon 2nd coming of Christ ( hence Religion and Science unified as 2 sides of the same coin ), 2) 1967 Star Trek sci-fi TV episode "Who Mourns for Adonais (Apollo) ?", for if mankind ceases to worship or fear a deity, that divine being would relinquish relevance in humanity's moral evolution and disappeared for our divine ethos (for example, when was the last time you feared Olympian God Zeus releasing the giant sea monster Kraken since you did not make sacrificial offerings at your local Roman altar ?)

Bible Book of Revelation - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Revelation

Who Mourns for Adonais ? - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who_Mourns_for_Adonais%3F

Star Trek #31 - Who Mourns for Adonais Part 1 | YouTube.com

Star Trek #31 - Who Mourns for Adonais Part 2 | YouTube.com

Star Trek #31 - Who Mourns for Adonais Part 3 | YouTube.com

Inset caption explaining Siddham traditional form, meaning, and deity reference.

Calligraphy written in 5 brush strokes, each stroke dipped into ink bowl for full paint reservoir. 1st stroke with center top-down stroke, 2nd stroke is from center to left swirl, 3rd is wavy center to right swirl, 4th and 5th are swirls on upper right. Samyaksambuddha, represented by this Siddham, refers to individual who achieves Nirvana by one's own efforts without a teacher, and then teaches others to attain their enlightenment.

Other Buddha types are Paccekabuddha and Savakabuddha. Paccekabuddha also attains Nirvana by one's own efforts, but do not teach others to reach enlightenment, hence forms no disciplines. Savakabuddha is a disciple of a Sammasambuddha, thus receives direct teachings in reaching Nirvana. Nirvana is a central religious thought among Indian religions, a state of freedom from mortal suffering (ex. ignorance, greed, hatred, delusion). Word itself literally means "Blowing Out", to blow out the fires of amoral contempt.

Types of Buddha - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Types_of_Buddha

Nirvana - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nirvana

Siddham preparing to be framed, inset caption preparing to be set. Canvass spliced from 2 beige color medium bond artist painting paper.

Inspiration for Indian Siddham calligraphy traced to my old pal "Kazuma" (Brad) who introduced me in 1995 to Japanese Sci-Fi movie "Zeiram". In "Zeiram 2" (or Zeiramu in Japanese), Iria the bounty hunter battles various alien mutations in a Buddhism temple of which various Buddhist Sutras were written via Siddham calligraphy.... capturing my attention and interest... the rest is history.

Zeiram 2 | Amazon.com

愛出福來 < Ai Chu Fu Lai > Chinese Judeo-Christian Proverb | Seal Script

2010-06-05T18:30:00.027-06:00

Calligraphy Title : Ai Chu Fu Lai | Love Departs Fortune Arrives
Style : Chinese Seal Script
Frame Size : 16x18-inch
Date : May 2010
Creator : Uwe
Owner : ZZ&Grace @ Austin.Texas.USA

Description :
Chinese Judeo-Christian proverb written in Seal Script character format. Phrase read from top to bottom states "Love Departs, Fortune Arrives", or colloquially as "Compassion for All of Humanity, Fortune will be bestowed on Thee".

Same phrase rendered in modern Traditional Chinese font typography, one can view the evolution of the characters between its Seal Script style and today's modern style. Major difference in orthography was the invention of the ink brush made from bamboo shaft and hair tail hair, while Seal Scripts were written via a ink bamboo fountain pen (hence its uniform ink flow rate and character thickness). Note : There are different Seal Script orthography for the same Chinese character, but there is no such category as Simplified Chinese Seal Script characters.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seal_script

http://www.omniglot.com/writing/chinese_evolution.htm

Judeo-Christian Chinese phrase ordered from left to right, the order by which it is actually read.

Inset reference caption created for back of character frame, indicating character format, meaning, and origin of Seal Scripts.

Hot off the Press, Seal Script characters created only a few seconds beforehand as one waits the black ink to dry. Used HobbyLobby's art & craft black acrylic paint in a squeeze bottle, paint mixed with dash of water in Japanese conical rice bowl (green bowl to the left) for viscosity.

Seal script air dried for one day before placed into wooden frame

In painting the Seal Scripts, placed a character template underneath the canvass and traced over its contours. Character templated showed above, it was taped directly behind the canvass and was transparent enough for this art work.

Originally, to created and control an uniformed orthographic thickness to the Seal Scripts, used a black permanent marker for this art work. The marker enabled precise contour and control, but did not vest the character in-depth color desired. Hence, this was used as painting template for the final ink brush & acrylic ink paste version.

Layout for character top-down side-by-side reading format based Chinese word for "Matrimony" (Shi) as shown above. This word composed of compound Chinese word "Happy Event, Like, Joy" (Shi). Hence 2 "Shi" characters form "Matrimony". Used same arrangement for the "Ai Chu Fu Lai" characters.

Fortune Longevite | Seal Script

2010-05-20T22:07:00.008-06:00

Calligraphy Title : Fortune Longévité
Style : Small Seal Script
Date : May 2009
Creator : Uwe
Owner : Roch.A @ Lyon.France

Description :
Chinese proverbial prose via Small Seal Script characters FORTUNE LONGEVITY. Calligraphy created for French national patron, hence used French equivalent as its main title.

Chinese characters are ideograms / pictographs, hence its pronunciation differs by East Asian civilizations which adopted its usage, for example in Chinese-Mandarin it is rendered FU SHOU, in Japanese Onyomi it is FUKU SOO.

Explanatory plaque behind calligraphy frame, indicating modern-day Traditional Chinese character equivalents and linguistic lineage.

Writing the Seal Scripts FORTUNE LONGEVITY. Since an uniform ink pen was needed, none of the calligraphy brushes were able to readily replicate the uniform pattern. Thus, used Walmart sponge paint brushes, their porous head produced the needed uniform soft-edged orthography.

More Info :

Chinese Seal Script
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seal_script

Lyon, France
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyon

Sample Sponge Paint Brush
http://factorydirectcraft.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=5093

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SA the Awakening | Siddham

2010-03-26T22:47:00.028-06:00

Calligraphy Title : "Sa" the Awakening
Style : Stylized Siddham Script
Frame Size : 12x30-inch
Date : Jan 2010
Creator : Uwe
Owner : Uwe @ Austin.Texas.USA

Description :
Siddham character "SA", a symbol of constant change, yet of stoic continuity. A changling of time and space, with power to morph into any pious shape, form, or element. This is the second Siddham character I painted, testing out various brush sizes and paint viscosity. Although somewhat metaphysical in explanation, this character emerged from one's consciousness when strict mental constraints is relaxed, thus allowing one's true nature to meld with divinity.

http://www.visiblemantra.org/siddham.html

SA siddham also represents Buddhist diety Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, who renounced Nirvana entry to serve as divine guide to other mortal beings. Diety is known by many different titles throughout Asia. In China, he is called Guan Shi Yin or Guan Yin. In Japan, Kanzeon or Kannon. Vietnam as Quan The Am. Thailand as Avalokitesuarn. Korea as Gwan See Um Bosal. Statues of this diety can be represented in either male or female forms.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avalokite%C5%9Bvara

For this calligraphy, used a single lady rouge brush and thick paint viscosity. A series of 180 and 360-degrees turns were initiated to capture the power and essence of natural forces upon humanity (be it staunch devotion and piety, to outright lust and greed), yet at the same instant mankind's instinctive desire for moral and social order.

http://www.indianetzone.com/39/siddham_script.htm

Deliberately painted beyond canvass limits at bottom as literary allusion that humanity cannot be forced to adopt pious conduct, such devotion must come willingly from within one's own moral constructs. Part of it is influence from one social surroundings and being a good witness to one's religion. But another part is simply one's moral suasion, or propensity for doing good or ill upon society, or willingness to change one's moral character when divine enlightenment is bestowed.

http://lotus.nichirenshu.org/lotus/lectures/lotus_25.htm

http://www.wildmind.org/mantras/figures/avalokitesvara

Inset placard showcasing SA character's meanings and religious connotations.

http://web.singnet.com.sg/~alankhoo/Avalokitesvara.htm

Calligraphy placed into 12x36 frame, its rectangular layout projected an elongated appearance to the painting.

Calligraphy in place, ready for its backing. Decided not to used a hardcard backing to flatten the painting. Wanted to retain the hand-brushed look and feel of contracted paper and clustered dried paint paste.

Almight "A" Siddham - Origin of Creativity & Existence

2010-03-21T20:00:00.031-06:00

Calligraphy Title : Almighty "A" (Ah) Siddham Character
Style : Stylized Siddham Script
Frame Size : 28 x 40-inch
Date : Mar 2010
Creator : Uwe
Owner : Rich @ Austin.Texas.USA

Description :
All conceptions - ideas - existence have a point of origin, be it creativity - theology - politics - etc. In Buddhism, the Siddham character "A" (Ah) is such an origin, all thoughts - creativity - universal being flow from its utterance. Hence this character is upheld as "Almighty" nature, for there can be no beginning with its existence.

Contrasted with Chinese characters by which its orthography and semantic attributes take precedence over its verbal rendition (be it Mandarin, Cantonese, Taiwanese, or any 20+ major dialects). In Hindi-Buddhism, its Siddham verbal nuance takes precedence over its orthography rendition... namely the character is simply a physical representation of the divine sound.

"A" Siddham calligraphy matted onto large 28x40-in frame, its canvass spliced together from 2 calligraphy sheets via masking tape.

Calligraphy written in scratchy-brush stroke pattern, achieved by mixing proper paint viscosity (basically 4/5 paint paste and 1/5 water dilution). Did tested viscosity with other combination, mixing more water enabled paint to flow furthest on canvass, its visual nuance faded with water dilution (aka... ability for painting to immediately capture audience attention)

Siddham written in 3 stroke patterns, top canopy represent divine inspiration, bottom stroke is imparting such inspiration onto mortal realm, right stroke is the constant cycle of divine - mortal realm interaction to evolve mankind creativity. It has been stated that the "Ah" Siddham is the source of all vowels and consonants (aka every sound produced by mankind).

Its religious overtones is its mere utterance with each breath, the Moon (a divine realm) is visualized in one's mind, drawing it onto one's Heart (devotion), expanding it until its brilliance permeates across the universe. In Hindi-Buddhism, Moon is the essence of Mahavairocana (the Sun Buddha which serves as spiritual anchor to the 5 Wisdom Kings).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahavairocana

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Wisdom_Buddhas

Explanatory inset plate for Siddham calligraphy, items assembled in MS-Powerpoint and laser-printed, backend is black hardcard poster.

Theological side-bar : One observation noted is that Religion and Science are 2 sides of the same coin, too much of one negates the other. Blind devotion to Science relegates its as Religion (inability to appreciate other avenue of explanation). Blind devotion to Religion negates one's rationality and succumbs to superstition.

Given large sheet to write this character, decided to test out various stroke patterns on small test paper to gauge ink flow, orthographic thickness, and artistic style. Points on artistic contention were :

1) Thick vs. thinned viscosity.. former gave a brush-scratchy look-feel, latter allowed optimal ink flow (elected to use thick viscosity to capture imparted energy of written character)

2) Proportion of 3 stroked segments in balancing flow of creativity between divine and mortal realms (via arc stroke pattern of segments)

3) Thickness of character segments to optimally occupy canvass space (taped together 2 brushes for optimal coverage)

Canvass spliced together from 2 sheets, backend tape together with masking tape. Used medium paper bond to showcase contraction as black ink dried, this to impart visual effect that character was hand written

Paint brush are 2 ladies facial cosmetic brushes taped together, Japanese rice bowl served as ink mixing holder

Almighty Siddham "A" immediately after being written, ink allowed to dry for a day to allow paper contraction

Use a 28x40-inch photo frame to showcase calligraphy, frame edging was spray painted in dapple flat black + matt finish, calligraphy sheet set in center

滿萬福 < Man Wan Fu > Fortunes Galore | Seal Script

2010-02-16T21:46:00.057-06:00

Calligraphy Title : Man Wan Fu | Fortunes Galore
Style : Chinese Seal Script
Date : Feb 2010
Creator : Uwe
Owner : Debbie OCA @ Houston.Texas.USA

Description :
Variations of Chinese character "Fu" (Fortune) written in Chinese Seal Script format of 2,200 years past during China's Qin Dynasty. Rationale for this diverse orthography lineage due to fact that each educated region and/or Chinese Kingdom of that era projected its own unique character pattern via local gentry class. Chinese title "Man Wan Fu" ( Full Ten-Thousand Fortune ) is poetic allusion to its Seal Script variations, colloquial English equivalent is "Fortunes Galore".

China Qin (Chin) Dynasty - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qin_Dynasty

Unification of Chinese kingdoms under 1st Chinese Emperor Qin Shi Hang eliminated rival Chinese orthographic sets and established singular written lineage, which became Traditional Chinese characters ( this character style is still standard communication/marcom/literary medium in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Korea, Vietnam, and ethnic Asian diaspora regions in SE Asia, Australia, Americas, Europe ).

Qin Shi Huang - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qin_Shi_Huang

Traditional Chinese Characters - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traditional_Chinese_characters

Seal Characters possessed uniform thickness and gentle grades since over 2,000 yrs ago the ink brush ( horse tail hairs mounted onto hand-held bamboo shaft ) has yet to be invented. Thus main writing instrument was bamboo fountain pen by which ink flowed out in uniform progression, requiring calligrapher to write in gradual methodical form.

To replicate this form, "Fu" characters written with permanent ink marker on color construction paper. Photo of 1st set shown above. One can ascertain common features for most characters, all be it a few characters has no orthographic affinity with one another.

Chinese Seal Script - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seal_script

Photo of 2nd set shown above. Although Chinese characters are not related European alphabetic-based words, it can be broken down into similar linguistic constructs. For example, English words can be divided into "Root" groups, Chinese characters can divided into its "Radical" groups. English words can be formed via Stems (ex. Meatball via Meat + Ball), Chinese characters operate in same manner (ex. Good -Hao- is composed of 2 characters Female -Nu- and Child -Zi-)

Chinese Radical - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radical_%28Chinese_character%29

Root (Lingual) - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Root_%28linguistics%29

Stem (Lingual) - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stem_%28linguistics%29

Seal Scripts do not have a "Traditional" versus "Simplified" component (as with current Chinese characters), the character possesses same semantics, but different glyphs. Once ink brush was invented and Traditional Chinese Characters consolidated as primary written medium by China's Han Dynasty era, Simplified characters began to emerge as cursive or regional cultural flairs of Traditional Chinese characters. However, these Simplified Character sets from thousands of years past were considered informal / artistic renditions, not part of formal written communication.

Traditional vs Simplified Chinese Character Debate - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debate_on_traditional_and_simplified_Chinese_characters

Note that in some Seal Script "Fu" characters above, ancient "Sun Wheel" is included to represent good fortunes and luminary brightness ( aka literary allusion for virtuous intent ). This Sun Wheel is called Hakenkreuz (hook cross) in German and Svastika in Indian Sanskrit. Svastika was anglicized by British into "Swatiska" and adopted into English vernacular.

Swastika - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swastika

Although English is a Germanic language, with a heavy dose of French (aka Latin) vocabulary influence from 11th-century Norman Conquest of British Isles. The 300-year British colonial domination of India subcontinent meant that Indian Hindi language has had the most profound influence on modern English language with incorporation of words like as Swastika, Pajama, Lather, etc.

English Language - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_language

Norman Conquest Language - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_conquest_of_England#Language

Hindi Language - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindi_Language

VAM Tree of Life | Siddham

2010-01-31T01:16:00.027-06:00

Calligraphy Title : VAM Tree of Life
Style : Siddham Brush Calligraphy
Date : Jan 2010
Creator : Uwe
Owner : dotNutt @ Austin.Texas.USA

Description :
Stylized calligraphy of Siddham character VAM (also rendered as HAM). Cosmic character representing the universe essence of Ether - Wind - Fire - Water - Earth, the 5 crucial earth elements. Calligraphy written in brush stroke.

Earth (classical element)| en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_element

Art set in 24x36-inch frame, with explanatory text of VAM Siddham character placed inset on lower-left corner

As with all Siddham characters, its cosmic significance imparted by its Sound rather than its Written component. The written character is merely a physical manifestation of its sound. VAM is also the symbol letter of Acalanatha (or Acala), a major diety within Esoteric Buddhism.

Acala is one of 5 Wisdom Kings within Vajrayana Buddhism, he is destroyer of delusion and immoveable against carnal vices, hence his Chinese name is "Bu Dong Ming Wang", Japanese name is "Fu Dou Myou Ou", both means "Not Moving Bright King"

Acalanatha | en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acalanatha

5 Wisdom Kings | en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Wisdom_Kings

Nichiren Shonin Gohonzon Shu | nichirenscoffeehouse.net/GohonzonShu/004.html

Siddham explanatory inset text, showcasing its stroke significance. Character itself written in Chinese-style brush stroke pattern, calligraphy style emphasized on "scratchy" ink flow 360-degree turns and twists ( to reflect vitality of intersection between cosmic and temporal orders )

Vajrayana Buddhism | en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vajrayana

Close-up of VAM inset explanatory text for Vajrayana Buddhism. Item created in MS Powerpoint, printed out, pasted onto black hardcard backing, cut to size, installed into calligraphy frame

Vajrayana Buddhism | en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vajrayana

To fill large frame, 2 sections of calligraphy paper taped together, VAM character itself written in 5 stroke patterns ( each pattern required brush re-dipped to pick up additional ink )

Paper, ink, brush prepared, paper edges taped to prevent movement during heavy stroked brush writting, ink from art supply store acrylic black paint. For these projects, ink type work just as well compared to traditional East Asian calligraphy ink.

With requirements for large brush, decided to go "Asian Low-Tech" approach by taping 3 lady's facial rouge brushes together via masking tape. Its fine bristles worked well for this project, and with use of acrylic paints can be readily cleaned with hot soapy water

VAM character immediately after its completion, surface warp due to ink contracting paper tension as it dries

Surface warp settles within a day, effect can be mitigated if a heavier bonded paper is used. Heavier paper offers flat resilient-look, lesser bonded paper captures stroke pattern energy of its calligraphy creator

Cosmic KAN | Siddham

2009-06-03T22:26:00.047-06:00

Calligraphy Title : Cosmic KAN
Style : Siddham Brush Calligraphy
Date : May 2009
Creator : Uwe
Owner : Uwe @ Austin.Texas.USA

Description :
Stylized calligraphy of Siddham character KAN. It is also the pronounced HAM, seed syllable of Acala diety from India's Vajrayana Buddhism. Siddham characters are clustered top to bottom, but given horizontal frame layout, decided to expand character components left and right. Orthographic swirls represent cosmic flames as Acala consumes evil, self deceit, and carnal passions. Diety also protects worshipers and impart divine knowledge on reaching Nirvana.

This Siddham was written in cursive format, brush used was lady's facial power brush, ink from children's finger painting stock.

Cursive format made Siddham look like a East Asian dragon chasing the Moon (according to legend, if the dragon can consume the moon, it will gain immense powers and immortality). Right inset shows Siddham KAN in regular scribe format with related explanatory commentary.

Character top section written on left, its bottom section extended to right in cursive format. Brush momentum and religious nuance is replicated by the sharp turning angles.

Character during its composition, intended the bottom curve section to go off the paper edge, thus projecting impression of rising KAN (ham) out of the earthly realm. Also looks like a dragon emerging from horizon in chasing the moon.

More Info :

Siddham Script
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siddham

Sanskrit
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanskrit

Acala | one of 5 Wisdom Kings
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acala

Vajrayana Buddhism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vajrayana

Brahmic family of scripts
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brahmic_family_of_scripts

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Toku Michi Kanbun | Seal Script

2009-06-03T21:07:00.019-06:00

Calligraphy Title : TOKU MICHI
Style : Small Seal Script
Date : Dec 2008
Creator : Uwe
Owner : Shinichi.T @ San Antonio.Texas.USA

Description :
Chinese characters VIRTUE PRINCIPLE, written in Small Seal Script characters. Pronounced in Japanese Kunyomi format as TOKU MICHI. Note the characters can also be pronounced in Japanese Onyomi as TOKU DOO, their semantic meanings remain unchanged.

When Seal Script characters were in standard use some 2,200 years ago, Chinese only had bamboo fountain pen as main writing instrument, for the calligraphy brush was yet to be invented. Hence, solid uniform lines (as the ink flowed steadily from the bamboo) with gentle curves were characteristic of this calligraphy style.

More Info :

Chinese Seal Script
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seal_script

Japanese Kanbun
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanbun

Japanese Kanji Kunyomi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kunyomi#Kun.27yomi_.28Japanese_reading.29

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