Offering in Chinese / Japanese...

供養 is the Chinese, Japanese, and Korean rough equivalent to the Sanskrit word, Pūjā.

The meaning is: To make offerings (to the Gods), to supply, to provide for one's elders, to support one's parents, a memorial service for the dead, holding a service, any offering for body or mind, to make offerings of whatever nourishes (e.g., food, goods, incense, lamps, scriptures, the doctrine).

The final meaning varies greatly depending on the context in which the word is used.

三方 is San Bo or Sanbo which literally means three sides but in Japanese, refers to a small offering stand.

It can also be the Japanese surname Mitsukata.

In Mahayana Buddhism, 四大 represents mahābhūta, the four elements of which all things are made: earth, water, fire, and wind.

This can also represent the four freedoms: speaking out freely, airing views fully, holding great debates, and writing big-character posters.

In some contexts, this can be a university or college offering four-year programs.

To others, this can represent the Tao, Heaven, Earth, and King.

Going back to the Buddhist context, these four elements “earth, water, fire, and wind,” represent 堅, 濕, 煖, 動, which are: solid, liquid, heat, and motion.

龍馬精神 is an old proverb that is used to wish someone good health and success combined as a great compliment.

The meaning is “The vigor and spirit of the legendary dragon-horse.” These four characters are often accompanied by four more which mean “...and the power and prestige of the tiger.” Here we are just offering the first part which is considered the short version.

By giving a wall scroll like this to someone, you were either wishing or telling them that they have an amazing quality. There is also a suggestion of good health - at least anyone with the vigor of a dragon horse would seem to also be in good health.

Note: In Japanese, this would be read as the spirit of 坂本龍馬 (Sakamoto_Ryōma), a beloved rebel who help abolish the old Japanese feudal system. This can be confusing, so I am declaring this proverb to be Chinese only.

切格瓦拉 is the name “Che Guevara,” as written (transliterated) in Mandarin Chinese.

Once revered by Chinese people as a Socialist rebel, he's now just a historical figure that school children briefly learn about in China.

切格瓦拉 is because China used to be a truly-Communist/Socialist nation, and thus, other Communists and Socialists were heroes.

In modern China, with its free-market economy, those former heroes fade a little.

We are not offering the “Che” character alone, as few would associate it with Che Guevara, so you need the full name to be clear (minus Ernesto, which is his real first name).

聖經 is how to write Bible in Chinese.

The first character means Holy, sacred, saint, or sage.
The second character means sacred book or scripture.

Each Sunday morning, if you are near a Catholic or Protestant Church, you will see plenty of Chinese people carrying their Bibles. Virtually every large or medium city in China has at least one Christian church. Beijing has about 14 Christian churches of Catholic and various Protestant denominations. That number doubles if you count all the church services that are for foreigners only and doubles again if you count all of the underground Christian Churches. Many Embassies (Canadian, Italian, French, etc.) offer Protestant and Catholic services. However, the U.S. Embassy is the most unfriendly in all of China, offering no such religious services, regularly denying entry, and kicking out Americans and others, whether or not they have official business.

See Also:  Christian | Disciple

忍術 is the “art of the ninja” in Japanese. Most Japanese people associate ninjas with romance and reverence for Japan's ancient past. But most will accept that the ninja is an idea or way of life whose time has passed. However, this has not stopped floods of movies about ninjas and dojos offering Ninjutsu training from keeping the idea of the ninja alive in modern times.

My modern Japanese dictionary defines this as “assassination, stealth, and combat techniques” or “fighting art of the ninja.”

Note that when writing this as Kanji, Japanese tend to write the first character in the form shown to the right. Because this is specifically a Japanese title, we only suggest a Japanese calligrapher for this selection - and you will get the form shown to the right if you do that (please ignore the fact that some of the images you see during the following pages in the options process will be the Chinese/alternate form).

This is the Mawangdui version of Daodejing chapter 54.