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(One of the five elements)
土 is earth, soil, ground, or Terra.
Earth is one of the five elements that ancient Chinese believed all things were composed of. These elements are also part of the cycle of Chinese astrology. Every person has both an animal sign, and one of the five elements according to the date of their birth.
See Also: Five Elements | Chinese Zodiac
身土不二 (Shindofuni) is originally a Buddhist concept or proverb referring to the inseparability of body-mind and geographical circumstances.
This reads, “Body [and] earth [are] not two.”
Other translations or matching ideas include:
Body and land are one.
Body and earth can not be separated.
Body earth sensory curation.
You are what you eat.
Indivisibility of the body and the land (because the body is made from food and food is made from the land).
Going further, this speaks of our human bodies and the land from which we get our food being closely connected. This phrase is often used when talking about natural and organic vegetables coming directly from the farm to provide the healthiest foods in Japan.
Character notes: 身(shin) in this context does not just mean your physical body but a concept including both body and mind.
土 (do) refers to the soil, earth, clay, land, or in some cases, locality. It's not the proper name of Earth, the planet. However, it can refer to the land or realm we live in.
Japanese note: This has been used in Japan, on and off, since 1907 as a slogan for a governmental healthy eating campaign (usually pronounced as shindofuji instead of the original shindofuni in this context). It may have been hijacked from Buddhism for this propaganda purpose, but at least this is “healthy propaganda.”
Korean note: The phrase 身土不二 was in use by 1610 A.D. in Korea, where it can be found in an early medical journal.
In modern South Korea, it's written in Hangul as 신토불이. Korea used Chinese characters (same source as Japanese Kanji) as their only written standard form of the language until about a hundred years ago. Therefore, many Koreans will recognize this as a native phrase and concept.
See Also: Strength and Love in Unity
These search terms might be related to Clay:
Body and Earth in Unity
Earth
Earth Dog
Earth Dragon
Earth Fire Water Air
Earth Goat/Sheep
Earth Horse
Earth Monkey
Earth Ox/Bull
Earth Pig/Boar
Earth Rabbit
Earth Rat
Earth Rooster
Earth Snake
Earth Tiger
Heaven and Earth
Below are some entries from our dictionary that may match your clay search...
Characters If shown, 2nd row is Simp. Chinese |
Pronunciation Romanization |
Simple Dictionary Definition |
土 see styles |
tǔ tu3 t`u tu ni に |
More info & calligraphy: Earth(archaism) soil (esp. reddish soil); (place-name) Do Bhū; bhūmi; pṛthivī. Earth, locality, local, vulgar. |
土牛 see styles |
tǔ niú tu3 niu2 t`u niu tu niu dogyuu / dogyu どぎゅう |
More info & calligraphy: Earth Ox/Bull(given name) Dogyū |
土馬 see styles |
doba どば |
More info & calligraphy: Earth Horse |
垟 see styles |
yáng yang2 yang |
clay sheep buried with the dead |
埴 see styles |
zhí zhi2 chih hani はに |
soil with large clay content (surname) Hani |
堇 see styles |
jǐn jin3 chin |
clay; old variant of 僅|仅[jin3]; violet (plant) |
塑 see styles |
sù su4 su so |
to model (a figure) in clay; (bound form) plastic (i.e. the synthetic material) To model in clay. |
塥 see styles |
gé ge2 ko |
dry clay lump |
壚 垆 see styles |
lú lu2 lu |
clay; shop |
甑 see styles |
zèng zeng4 tseng koshiki; sou / koshiki; so こしき; そう |
cauldron; rice pot (1) (See 蒸篭・1) steaming basket (traditionally clay or wood); (2) (こしき only) steaming vat (for steaming rice in sake production); (surname) Koshiki |
粘 see styles |
zhān zhan1 chan neba ねば |
to glue; to paste; to adhere; to stick to (1) (See お粘) stickiness; gumminess; sticky material; gummy material; (2) (abbreviation) (See 粘土・ねばつち) clay |
乾鍋 干锅 see styles |
gān guō gan1 guo1 kan kuo |
dry pot, a type of dish in which ingredients are wok-fried, then served hot in a clay pot or on a metal pan |
二相 see styles |
èr xiàng er4 xiang4 erh hsiang nisou / niso にそう |
(noun - becomes adjective with の) two-phase The two forms, or characteristics, of the bhutatathata, universal and particular. The 起信論 gives (a) 淨智相 pure wisdom, cf. ālaya-vijñāna, out of whose primary condition arise (b) 不思議用相 inconceivable, beneficial functions and uses. The same śāstra gives also a definition of the 眞如 as (a) 同相 that all things, pure or impure, are fundamentally of the same universal, e.g. clay which is made into tiles; (b) 異相 but display particular qualities, as affected by pure or impure causes, e.g. the tiles. Another definition, of the 智度論 31, is (a) 總相 universals, as impermanence; (b) 別相 particulars, for though all things have the universal basis of impermanence they have particular qualities, e.g. earth-solidity, heat of fire, etc. |
京壁 see styles |
kyoukabe / kyokabe きょうかべ |
{archit} kyokabe; Kyoto-style wall made from clay, sand and straw |
便壺 便壶 see styles |
biàn hú bian4 hu2 pien hu bentsubo; benko べんつぼ; べんこ |
bed urinal; chamber pot (See 汲み取り便所,壷・つぼ・1,便槽) night-soil vault; clay pot used to collect feces in an outhouse |
克萊 克莱 see styles |
kè lái ke4 lai2 k`o lai ko lai |
Clay (name) |
八音 see styles |
bā yīn ba1 yin1 pa yin hatton |
ancient classification system for musical instruments, based on the material of which the instrument is made (metal 金, stone 石, clay 土, leather 革, silk 絲|丝, wood 木, gourd 匏, bamboo 竹); the eight kinds of sound produced by instruments in these categories; music The eight tones of a Buddha's voice―beautiful, flexible, harmonious, respect-producing, not effeminate (i.e. manly), unerring, deep and resonant. |
土人 see styles |
tǔ rén tu3 ren2 t`u jen tu jen dojin どじん |
native; aborigine; clay figure (sometimes derog.) native; aboriginal; (male given name) Toshiko |
土偶 see styles |
doguu / dogu どぐう |
(1) earthen figure; clay figure; (2) dogū; clay figurines from the late Jōmon period; (given name) Doguu |
土壩 土坝 see styles |
tǔ bà tu3 ba4 t`u pa tu pa |
earth dam; dam of earth and rocks (as opposed to waterproof dam of clay or concrete) |
土製 土制 see styles |
tǔ zhì tu3 zhi4 t`u chih tu chih dosei / dose どせい |
homemade; earthen clay; earthen |
土面 see styles |
domen どめん |
clay face (made like a mask or as a decoration); (surname) Tonomo |
埴瓮 see styles |
hanibe はにべ |
(archaism) vessel made of clay |
埴生 see styles |
hanyuu / hanyu はにゅう |
clay soil; (place-name, surname) Habu |
塑像 see styles |
sù xiàng su4 xiang4 su hsiang sozou / sozo そぞう |
to sculpt or mold a statue (by shaping a pliable material such as clay, plaster or wax, which may later be cast in metal – as distinct from carving in stone or wood); a statue created through such a process plaster image; clay figure To model images. |
壁土 see styles |
kabetsuchi かべつち |
plaster; wall clay; wall mud |
壌土 see styles |
joudo / jodo じょうど |
(1) soil; (2) loamy soil; loam; soil with clay content of 25-37.5% |
封泥 see styles |
fēng ní feng1 ni2 feng ni fuudei / fude ふうでい |
sealing clay; lute {music} lute |
彩塑 see styles |
cǎi sù cai3 su4 ts`ai su tsai su |
painted clay figure |
彫塑 see styles |
chouso / choso ちょうそ |
(noun - becomes adjective with の) (1) carving; engraving; (noun - becomes adjective with の) (2) clay model; (noun - becomes adjective with の) (3) plastic art |
The following table may be helpful for those studying Chinese or Japanese...
Title | Characters | Romaji (Romanized Japanese) | Various forms of Romanized Chinese | |
Clay | クレイ | kurei | ||
Clay | 克雷 | kè léi / ke4 lei2 / ke lei / kelei | k`o lei / kolei / ko lei | |
Earth | 土 | tsuchi | tǔ / tu3 / tu | t`u / tu |
Body and Earth in Unity | 身土不二 | shindofuni / shindofuji |
Successful Chinese Character and Japanese Kanji calligraphy searches within the last few hours...
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.
Some people may refer to this entry as Clay Kanji, Clay Characters, Clay in Mandarin Chinese, Clay Characters, Clay in Chinese Writing, Clay in Japanese Writing, Clay in Asian Writing, Clay Ideograms, Chinese Clay symbols, Clay Hieroglyphics, Clay Glyphs, Clay in Chinese Letters, Clay Hanzi, Clay in Japanese Kanji, Clay Pictograms, Clay in the Chinese Written-Language, or Clay in the Japanese Written-Language.
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