Jiun · 自運 · VD5B
Jiun (自運) is the calligrapher's word for writing from one's own invention. As a Shihan, Master Takase has a hand of her own, and these designs are that hand: she draws freely on the classic scripts to create exactly the look she wants.
蛇の道は蛇
ja no michi wa hebi
Snakes Follow The Way Of Serpents
Those of one kind know one another's ways: the expert knows the trade, the insider knows the hidden world.
Master Takase creates this beautiful scroll when your order is placed, personally preparing the ink and brushing your art, which proudly bears her signature and seal. This is an original work of art.
Description
Snakes Follow The Way Of Serpents in Japanese is 蛇の道は蛇 which is read ja no michi wa hebi
蛇の道は蛇 (ja no michi wa hebi): those of one kind know one another's ways.
The saying plays on two readings of one character, 蛇 read ja, the great serpent, and 蛇 read hebi, the ordinary snake: the great serpent's path, the small snake knows it. The line has meant both the expert who knows the trade and the insider who knows a hidden world. A 1910 dictionary of proverbs files it under expertise, beside 餅は餅屋, rice cakes from the rice-cake maker, and prints Set a thief to catch a thief among its European parallels. The title, Snakes Follow the Way of Serpents, first printed in the 1920s and carried by Buchanan in 1965, keeps two English words for one animal.
A Japanese folk saying, not a line from a book: the 日本国語大辞典's first example is the proverb collection 毛吹草 of 1638, and the same words stand earlier as a comparison in a monk's saying in the late-Kamakura 一言芳談, a line the dictionary counts as a parallel figure.
We want you to be as happy with the meaning as you are with Master Takase's art. To learn more, visit Philology of 蛇の道は蛇.
Delivery
Your scroll is brushed when you order it and completed within 1 to 3 business days. It ships by USPS Priority Mail from Master Takase's studio in Washington State, boxed and ready to hang, with a printed page giving the art's English, romaji and Japanese.
Sending it as a gift? Add your message at checkout and we will include it.
Shipping is calculated at checkout from your address; within the United States it is $13 to $23. We ship worldwide, and any import charges for your country are shown at checkout before you pay.
Every order is covered by our 30-day money-back guarantee. If your scroll arrives damaged, or we made an error, we replace it or refund you in full, including shipping. Refund policy
About Our Scrolls
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 woven damask borders and layered Japanese paper, designed to last generations. The scrolls themselves are made by a scroll maker in Gifu, Japan, and we have worked with them 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
