塵も積もれば山となる chiri mo tsumoreba yama to naru Even dust if piled can become a mountain

Even dust if piled can become a mountain in Japanese is 塵も積もれば山となる which is read chiri mo tsumoreba yama to naru

塵も積もれば山となる (chiri mo tsumoreba yama to naru): even dust, piled up, becomes a mountain.

塵も積もれば山となる is about many small things, kept up, adding up to something great. A grain of dust is too small to notice, and enough of them make a mountain. The proverb counts on number, not on growth: the piling is the act, and it takes time. The small things have been learning, good deeds and coins, and the proverb leaves them to you. Whether you hang it over a long project, a savings jar or a daily practice is yours.

Fine dust piled into a mountain is an image of a Buddhist commentary put into Chinese in the early fifth century, and Bai Juyi's couplet of about 810, 千里始足下、高山起微塵, brought it into Japanese through Tsurayuki's preface to the Kokinshū in 905. A Noh play of about 1430 already puns on the saying, and in 1627 a tract on getting rich prints it as advice about money.

We want you to be as happy with the meaning as you are with Master Takase's art. To learn more, visit Philology of 塵も積もれば山となる.

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Master Japanese Calligrapher Eri Takase brushes your scroll by hand when you order it. Each scroll bears her red seal, 英利, and her signature.

The scrolls are 12 1/4" W × 43" H (31 × 109 cm) with real silk borders and Japanese paper that are layered so the scroll hangs straight and will not warp over time. The scrolls themselves are made by Sankō (株式会社三幸) in Gifu prefecture, which has been making high quality scrolls since 1947, and we have worked with Sankō for over two decades.

Eri Takase was born and raised in Osaka, Japan, and holds the rank of Shihan, the highest rank in Japanese calligraphy, from the Bokuteki-kai and the Bunka-shodo. About Master Takase