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Chan in Chinese / Japanese...

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Personalize your custom “Chan” project by clicking the button next to your favorite “Chan” title below...

Sit in Meditation

Zazen

 zuò chán
 za zen
Sit in Meditation Scroll

坐禪 describes the act of sitting in a state of deep meditation.

You'll notice that the second character is Chan/Zen (often used to title the meditative form of Buddhism).

In Korean Hanja, this means “religious meditation” (roughly the same as the Chinese definition).

Buddhists may define this as sitting in dhyāna, abstract meditation, fixed abstraction, or contemplation.


座禅Japanese note: This will make sense in Japanese but the Kanji shown to the left are partially in ancient/traditional Japanese form. Japanese Buddhists may use 坐禪, 坐禅, 座禪, or 座禅. The most standard/modern Japanese form of this word is shown to the right. Click on the Kanji to the right (instead of the button above) if you want this specifically Japanese version.

Zen / Chan / Meditation

...as in Zen Buddhism

 chán
 zen
 
Zen / Chan / Meditation Scroll

First, let's correct something: The Japanese romanization for this character, “Zen” has penetrated the English language. In English, it's almost always incorrectly used for phrases like “That's so zen.” Nobody says, “That's so meditation” - right? As the title of a sect, this would be like saying, “That's so Baptist!"

禪 by itself just means “meditation.” In that context, it should not be confined to use by any one religion or sect.

Regardless of the dictionary definition, more often than not, this character is associated with Buddhism. And here is one of the main reasons:
Zen is used as the title of a branch of Mahayana Buddhism, which strongly emphasizes meditation practice.
However, it should be noted that Buddhism came from India, and “Chan Buddhism” evolved and developed in medieval China. The Chinese character “Chan” was eventually pronounced as “Zen” in Japanese. Chan Buddhists in China have much in common with Zen Buddhists in Japan.

More about the history of Zen Buddhism here.

Please also note that the Japanese Kanji character for Zen has evolved a little in Japan, and the two boxes (kou) that you see at the top of the right side of the character have been replaced by three dots with tails. Japanese Zen Kanji The original character would still be generally understood and recognized in Japanese (it's considered an ancient version in Japan) but if you want the specifically modern Japanese version, please click on the zen Kanji to the right. Technically, there is no difference between the Tensho and Reisho versions of Zen since they are ancient character styles that existed long before Japan had a written language.

Chinese Zen/Chan CharacterThere is also an alternate/shorthand/simplified Chinese version, which has two dots or tails above the right-side radical. This version is also popular for calligraphy in China. If you want this version, just click the character to the right.


Further notes: Zen is just one of seven sects of Buddhism practiced in Japan. The others are 律 Ritsu (or Risshū), 法相 Hossō, 論 Sanron 華嚴 Kegon, 天台 Tendai, and 眞言 Shingon.

 chan
Chan Scroll

チャン is the name Chan in Japanese Katakana.

This should only be used if your English name is Chan. This is different than any variant of the Chinese surname Chan.


Note: Because this title is entirely Japanese Katakana, it should be written by a Japanese calligrapher.




This in-stock artwork might be what you are looking for, and ships right away...

Gallery Price: $232.00

Your Price: $128.88

Gallery Price: $232.00

Your Price: $128.88


Not the results for Chan that you were looking for?

Below are some entries from our dictionary that may match your Chan search...

Characters

If shown, 2nd row is Simp. Chinese

Pronunciation
Romanization
Simple Dictionary Definition

參禪


参禅

see styles
cān chán
    can1 chan2
ts`an ch`an
    tsan chan
 noshi wo ri

More info & calligraphy:

Zen Understanding
to practice Chan Buddhist meditation; to practice Zen meditation; to sit in meditation
To inquire, discuss, seek religious instruction.

坐禪


坐禅

see styles
zuò chán
    zuo4 chan2
tso ch`an
    tso chan
 zazen

More info & calligraphy:

Sit in Meditation
to sit in meditation; to meditate
To sit in dhyāna, i.e. abstract meditation, fixed abstraction, contemplation; its introduction to China is attributed to Bodhidharma (though it came earlier), and its extension to Tiantai.

安禪


安禅

see styles
ān chán
    an1 chan2
an ch`an
    an chan
 anzen
To enter into dhyāna meditation.

禪宗


禅宗

see styles
chán zōng
    chan2 zong1
ch`an tsung
    chan tsung
 Zenshū

More info & calligraphy:

Zen Buddhism
Zen Buddhism
The Chan, meditative or intuitional, sect usually said to have been established in China by Bodhidharma, v. 達, the twenty-eighth patriarch, who brought the tradition of the Buddha-mind from India. Cf. 楞 13 Laṅkāvatāra sūtra. This sect, believing in direct enlightenment, disregarded ritual and sūtras and depended upon the inner light and personal influence for the propagation of its tenets, founding itself on the esoteric tradition supposed to have been imparted to Kāśyapa by the Buddha, who indicated his meaning by plucking a flower without further explanation. Kāśyapa smiled in apprehension and is supposed to have passed on this mystic method to the patriarchs. The successor of Bodhidharma was 慧可 Huike, and he was succeeded by 僧璨 Sengcan; 道信 Daoxin; 弘忍 Hongren; 慧能 Huineng, and 神秀 Shenxiu, the sect dividing under the two latter into the southern and northern schools: the southern school became prominent, producing 南嶽 Nanyue and 靑原 Qingyuan, the former succeeded by 馬祖 Mazu, the latter by 石頭 Shitou. From Mazu's school arose the five later schools, v. 禪門.

禪心


禅心

see styles
chán xīn
    chan2 xin1
ch`an hsin
    chan hsin
 zenshin

More info & calligraphy:

Zen Heart / Zen Mind
Chan (Seon, Zen) mind

禪悅


禅悦

see styles
chán yuè
    chan2 yue4
ch`an yüeh
    chan yüeh
 zenetsu
Joy of the mystic trance. 禪悅食 Its mystic nourishing powers.

see styles
chǎn
    chan3
ch`an
    chan
skewer

see styles
chán
    chan2
ch`an
    chan
to revile; to abuse

see styles
chán
    chan2
ch`an
    chan
indecisive; irresolute

see styles
chàn
    chan4
ch`an
    chan
irregular; mixed


see styles
chǎn
    chan3
ch`an
    chan
variant of 鏟|铲[chan3]


see styles
chǎn
    chan3
ch`an
    chan
to level off; to root up

see styles
chán
    chan2
ch`an
    chan
bore; cut; polish

see styles
chàn
    chan4
ch`an
    chan
(literary) animal's mouth or beak


see styles
chǎn
    chan3
ch`an
    chan
smilingly


see styles
chán
    chan2
ch`an
    chan
used in 嬋娟|婵娟[chan2 juan1] and 嬋媛|婵媛[chan2 yuan2]

see styles
chán
    chan2
ch`an
    chan
(bound form) weak; feeble


𡶴

see styles
chǎn
    chan3
ch`an
    chan
winding mountain path

see styles
chán
    chan2
ch`an
    chan
(literary) steep; rugged; jagged; precipitous

see styles
chān
    chan1
ch`an
    chan
curtain in carriage; screen

see styles
chán
    chan2
ch`an
    chan
market place


see styles
chàn
    chan4
ch`an
    chan
 sen
(bound form) to feel remorse; (bound form) scripture read to atone for sb's sins (from Sanskrit "ksama")
kṣamayati, "to ask pardon"; to seek forgiveness, patience or indulgence, kṣamā meaning patience, forbearance, tr. as 悔過 repentance, or regret or error; also as confession. It especially refers to the regular confessional service for monks and for nuns.


see styles
chān
    chan1
ch`an
    chan
to take by the arm and assist; to mix; to blend; to dilute; to adulterate

see styles
chǎn
    chan3
ch`an
    chan
(literary) (of sunlight) to beam down; to illuminate; (used in place names and given names)

see styles
chān
    chan1
ch`an
    chan
length (of a tree or beam); long

see styles
chán
    chan2
ch`an
    chan
sandalwood (Santalum album), a Nepalese tree producing valuable fragrant oil; comet

see styles
chán
    chan2
ch`an
    chan
cunning; artful


see styles
chǎn
    chan3
ch`an
    chan
name of a river in Shaanxi province; see 滻河|浐河[Chan3 He2]

see styles
chán
    chan2
ch`an
    chan
flow; trickle (of water)

see styles
chán
    chan2
ch`an
    chan
still (as of water); still water

Click here for more Chan results from our dictionary

The following table may be helpful for those studying Chinese or Japanese...

Title CharactersRomaji (Romanized Japanese)Various forms of Romanized Chinese
Sit in Meditation坐禪
坐禅
za zen / zazenzuò chán / zuo4 chan2 / zuo chan / zuochantso ch`an / tsochan / tso chan
Zen
Chan
Meditation

zenchán / chan2 / chanch`an / chan
Chanチャンchan
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.


Dictionary

Lookup Chan in my Japanese & Chinese Dictionary


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A nice Chinese calligraphy wall scroll

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.

A professional Chinese Calligrapher

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.

Trying to learn Chinese calligrapher - a futile effort

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.

A high-ranked Chinese master calligrapher that I met in Zhongwei

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.

Some people may refer to this entry as Chan Kanji, Chan Characters, Chan in Mandarin Chinese, Chan Characters, Chan in Chinese Writing, Chan in Japanese Writing, Chan in Asian Writing, Chan Ideograms, Chinese Chan symbols, Chan Hieroglyphics, Chan Glyphs, Chan in Chinese Letters, Chan Hanzi, Chan in Japanese Kanji, Chan Pictograms, Chan in the Chinese Written-Language, or Chan in the Japanese Written-Language.

114 people have searched for Chan in Chinese or Japanese in the past year.
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