Semi-Cursive · gyōsho 行書 · VS6C
Semi-Cursive or gyōsho (行書) styles are a simplified and softer form of the kaisho styles. Gyōsho styles can be read by most Japanese.
初心忘る可からず
shoshin wasurubekarazu
Never Lose Your Beginner's Spirit
The beginner's mind must not be forgotten: Zeami's maxim, which his school held good in every art.
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
Never Lose Your Beginner's Spirit in Japanese is 初心忘る可からず which is read shoshin wasurubekarazu
初心忘る可からず (shoshin wasurubekarazu): the beginner's mind must not be forgotten.
初心忘る可からず carries two senses. In the source it is a master's rule: there is a beginning at every stage of a life, and the last of them is old age. The dictionaries give a general sense, advice to beginners to keep the humility they started with. The last word is written with 可 standing for the syllable べ, since 可 is read べし in the Japanese reading of Chinese. Whether you hang it for a first year of training or the fortieth is yours.
Zeami wrote the line in 1424 at the close of his treatise 花鏡, The Mirror of the Flower, naming it the one maxim his school held good in every art and dividing it in three; his earlier 風姿花伝 already says 初心を忘れず and, in a section dated 1418, 初心ヲ忘ルベカラズ, and the treatises lay unpublished until 1909.
We want you to be as happy with the meaning as you are with Master Takase's art. To learn more, visit Philology of 初心忘る可からず.
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 Japanese paper that are layered so the scroll hangs straight and will not warp over time. 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
