Semi-Cursive · gyōsho 行書 · VS2C
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.
七転八起
nana korobi ya oki
Fall Down Seven, Get Up Eight
Fall down seven times, get up eight.
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.
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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.
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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
Knocked down seven times, up on the eighth: the proverb asks for one rising more than there were falls. That one extra is the point. The tradition keeps two senses, side by side since the Edo period. One is resolve: getting up once more than you are knocked down. The other is consolation, said to someone in trouble: luck turns, and bad is followed by good. The self-righting doll, the daruma today, sits with both. Which of the two you see in the four characters is yours. In everyday writing the same saying takes kana for its verbs: 七転び八起き.
The English on this page is the proverb's modern form, in print by 1964. A shorter one, fall seven times, stand up eight, runs beside it.
The Japanese phrase 七転八起 meaning "Fall Down Seven, Get Up Eight" is composed of the kanji 七 (read nana) meaning "seven", 転 (read korobi) meaning "to fall", 八 (read ya) meaning "eight", and 起 (read oki) meaning "to get up".
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 七転八起.
