Eri's Choice · VD5B
Eri's Choice is a design that does not keep strictly to one style; it is Master Takase's own artistic choice.
不言実行
fugen jikkō
Action Before Words
To do the thing without announcing it; act first, and let your words follow.
by Master Eri Takase
Born and raised in Osaka, Japan, Eri Takase received the rank of Shihan, master, from two calligraphy societies, the Bokuteki-kai and Bunka-shodō, and won best-of-category awards in all-Japan national competitions. She has created calligraphy for people around the world for more than thirty years, and with your order she will be creating calligraphy for you.
In a ritual as old as calligraphy itself, Master Takase prepares the ink, meditatively rubbing the ink stick against the stone until it reaches the perfect consistency for the paper. Then, properly loading the brush with ink, she brushes your scroll. And only when the scroll is just right and meets her approval, she signs it and affixes her seal, completing your original scroll.
12 1/4" × 43" (31 × 109 cm) Japanese Scrolls
The scrolls have woven damask borders and special layered Japanese paper (washi), designed to last generations by a scroll maker in Gifu, Japan, with whom we have worked for over two decades.
Gift-Ready
Your scroll arrives boxed, with a printed insert describing the words in detail.
Sending it as a gift? Add your message at checkout and we will include it with the insert.
Ships in 1-3 days from Washington State
Your scroll is brushed when you order it and completed within 1 to 3 business days.
Your scroll ships from Master Takase's studio in Washington State. Shipping is calculated at checkout. We ship worldwide.
30-day money-back guarantee
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.
Explanation
Do the thing and do not announce it: a word for resolve kept quiet, the virtue of the person who carries out what they have decided and lets the doing speak. From 1902 its users tied it to the Analects, and its commentators later read it through the Master's answer to a talkative disciple, act first, then let your words follow, and Action Before Words is the English the word has carried in Kenkyūsha's dictionary since at least 1942; its best gloss is a commentator's one line, 不言実行 prizes not the silence but the doing.
不言実行 translates as "Action Before Words; Actions speak louder than words; No talk, all deeds" and is a combination of the words 不言 (read fugen) meaning "not saying" and 実行 (read jikkō) meaning "Action".
A Japanese-made word, in print by 1898 for a new cabinet that kept its platform to itself, and declared by the first Katsura cabinet in 1901 as its own watchword; from 1902 its users tied it to the Analects' gentleman, slow in speech and quick in action.
Learn More About These Words
We want you to be as happy with the meaning as you are with Master Takase's art. To learn more, visit Philology of 不言実行.
