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Personalize your custom “鳥” project by clicking the button next to your favorite “鳥” title below...
1. Bird
2. Flying Ace / Aviator / Bird Man
3. Kingfisher
6. Bad Experience, Caution Lingers
7. Men Die for Wealth, Birds Die for Food
8. Faith is the bird that feels the light when the dawn is still dark
鳥 is simply the word for bird in Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja.
鳥 can also mean fowl, poultry, cock, or chicken.
白鳥 is the Japanese Kanji and old Korean Hanja title for white swan (Cygnus Bechstein).
The title literally means white-feathered bird. This title can also be used to refer to a white crane.
This can also be the Japanese surname, Hakuchou.
Ka-Chou-Fuu-Getsu
花鳥風月 is the Japanese Kanji proverb for “Beauties of Nature.”
The dictionary definition is “the traditional themes of natural beauty in Japanese aesthetics.”
The Kanji each represents an element of nature that constitutes beauty in traditional Japanese art and culture.
The Kanji breakdown:
花 = ka = flower (also pronounced “hana”)
鳥 = chou = bird (also pronounced “tori”).
風 = fuu = wind (also pronounced “kaze”).
月 = getsu = moon (also pronounced “tsuki”)
A bird wounded by an arrow
傷弓之鳥 means “bird wounded by an arrow.”
Figuratively, this refers to a wounded or damaged person. It's very similar to the western proverb, “a person once bitten is twice shy.” To explain further, this is about someone who has become overly cautious due to a bad experience.
This phrase is used in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.
人為財死鳥為食亡 is a Chinese proverb that literally states that human beings will die for riches, just as birds will for food.
Figuratively it means that man will do anything in his means to become rich. Personally, I think dying for food is a more noble cause.
Often translated as “Men die in pursuit of wealth, birds die in pursuit of food. The 人 in this proverb just means human, so “men” is a placeholder for human with that translation - an English language problem that we have no easy gender-neutral nouns.
This proverb is meant to serve as a warning about the follies of greed.
信唸是在黎明前的黑闇中能感到光明的鳥 is a philosophical poem/quote from Indian Poet and Philosopher, Rabindranath Tagore.
Rabindranath Tagore, 1915
This quote is not sourced, and therefore several variations exist in English. Some suggest the original was in the Bengali language.
This, of course, is the Chinese translation that has the meaning of, “Faith is the bird that feels the light and sings when the dawn is still dark.”
More about Rabindranath Tagore
Below are some entries from our dictionary that may match your 鳥 search...
Characters If shown, 2nd row is Simp. Chinese |
Pronunciation Romanization |
Simple Dictionary Definition |
鳥 鸟 see styles |
niǎo niao3 niao yanadori やなどり |
More info & calligraphy: Bird(1) bird; (2) bird meat (esp. chicken meat); fowl; poultry; (surname) Yanadori A bird. |
白鳥 see styles |
hakuchou(p); shiratori; shirotori; hakuchou / hakucho(p); shiratori; shirotori; hakucho はくちょう(P); しらとり; しろとり; ハクチョウ |
More info & calligraphy: Swan / White Crane |
翠鳥 翠鸟 see styles |
cuì niǎo cui4 niao3 ts`ui niao tsui niao |
More info & calligraphy: Kingfisher |
鳥人 鸟人 see styles |
diǎo rén diao3 ren2 tiao jen choujin / chojin ちょうじん |
More info & calligraphy: Flying Ace / Aviator / Bird Manaviator; flying ace; birdman |
鳥居 鸟居 see styles |
niǎo jū niao3 ju1 niao chü torii / tori とりい |
torii (gateway of a Shinto shrine) (orthographic borrowing from Japanese 鳥居 "torii") torii (Shinto shrine archway); (surname) Torigoi |
傷弓之鳥 伤弓之鸟 see styles |
shāng gōng zhī niǎo shang1 gong1 zhi1 niao3 shang kung chih niao shoukyuunotori / shokyunotori しょうきゅうのとり |
More info & calligraphy: Bad Experience, Caution Lingers(exp,n) (idiom) (yoji) (person who is) once bitten twice shy; someone who has become overly cautious due to a bad experience |
花鳥風月 see styles |
kachoufuugetsu / kachofugetsu かちょうふうげつ |
More info & calligraphy: Beauty of Nature |
七鳥 see styles |
nanatori ななとり |
(place-name) Nanatori |
万鳥 see styles |
madori まどり |
(female given name) Madori |
三鳥 see styles |
sanchou / sancho さんちょう |
(1) {food} chicken, goose and pheasant; (2) (archaism) (orig. meaning) cuckoo, Japanese bush warbler and wagtail |
下鳥 see styles |
shimodori しもどり |
(surname) Shimodori |
中鳥 see styles |
nakatori なかとり |
(surname) Nakatori |
久鳥 see styles |
kudori くどり |
(place-name) Kudori |
乙鳥 see styles |
occhou / occho おっちょう |
(given name) Occhō |
二鳥 二鸟 see styles |
èr niǎo er4 niao3 erh niao nichou / nicho にちょう |
(female given name) Nichō The drake and the hen of the mandarin duck who are always together, typifying various contrasted theories and ideas, e.g. permanence and impermanence, joy and sorrow, emptiness and non-emptiness, etc. |
井鳥 see styles |
itori いとり |
(surname) Itori |
亜鳥 see styles |
atori あとり |
(female given name) Atori |
人鳥 see styles |
jinchou; jinchou / jincho; jincho じんちょう; ジンチョウ |
(rare) (See ペンギン) penguin |
仁鳥 see styles |
nitori にとり |
(place-name) Nitori |
似鳥 see styles |
nidori にどり |
(personal name) Nidori |
佐鳥 see styles |
satori さとり |
(surname) Satori |
保鳥 see styles |
hotori ほとり |
(female given name) Hotori |
候鳥 候鸟 see styles |
hòu niǎo hou4 niao3 hou niao kouchou / kocho こうちょう |
migratory bird bird of passage; migratory bird |
優鳥 see styles |
yutori ゆとり |
(female given name) Yutori |
光鳥 see styles |
midori みどり |
(female given name) Midori |
免鳥 see styles |
mendori めんどり |
(place-name, surname) Mendori |
入鳥 see styles |
nio にお |
(personal name) Nio |
八鳥 see styles |
hatori はとり |
(personal name) Hatori |
冬鳥 see styles |
fuyudori ふゆどり |
winter bird (resident); (female given name) Fuyudori |
凡鳥 see styles |
bonchou / boncho ぼんちょう |
(given name) Bonchō |
The following table may be helpful for those studying Chinese or Japanese...
Title | Characters | Romaji (Romanized Japanese) | Various forms of Romanized Chinese | |
Bird | 鳥 鸟 | tori | niǎo / niao3 / niao | |
Flying Ace Aviator Bird Man | 鳥人 | chou jin / choujin / cho jin | ||
Kingfisher | 翠鳥 翠鸟 | cuì niǎo / cui4 niao3 / cui niao / cuiniao | ts`ui niao / tsuiniao / tsui niao | |
Swan White Crane | 白鳥 | hakuchou / shirotori hakucho / shirotori | ||
Beauty of Nature | 花鳥風月 | ka chou fuu getsu kachoufuugetsu ka cho fu getsu | ||
Bad Experience, Caution Lingers | 傷弓之鳥 伤弓之鸟 | shou kyuu no tori shoukyuunotori sho kyu no tori | shāng gōng zhī niǎo shang1 gong1 zhi1 niao3 shang gong zhi niao shanggongzhiniao | shang kung chih niao shangkungchihniao |
Men Die for Wealth, Birds Die for Food | 人為財死鳥為食亡 人为财死鸟为食亡 | rén wèi cái sǐ niǎo wèi shí wáng ren2 wei4 cai2 si3 niao3 wei4 shi2 wang2 ren wei cai si niao wei shi wang | jen wei ts`ai ssu niao wei shih wang jen wei tsai ssu niao wei shih wang |
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Faith is the bird that feels the light when the dawn is still dark | 信唸是在黎明前的黑闇中能感到光明的鳥 信念是在黎明前的黑暗中能感到光明的鸟 | xìn niǎn shì zài lí míng qián de hēi àn zhōng néng gǎn dào guāng míng de niǎo xin4 nian3 shi4 zai4 li2 ming2 qian2 de hei1 an4 zhong1 neng2 gan3 dao4 guang1 ming2 de niao3 xin nian shi zai li ming qian de hei an zhong neng gan dao guang ming de niao | hsin nien shih tsai li ming ch`ien te hei an chung neng kan tao kuang ming te niao hsin nien shih tsai li ming chien te hei an chung neng kan tao kuang ming te niao |
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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.