Block · kaisho 楷書 · VB2C
Block or kaisho (楷書) styles are the most common and recognizable styles. Block styles are easily read and are noted for their angular form and their vertical and horizontal lines.
心の儘
kokoro no mama
Follow Your Heart
As the heart wills; following one's own heart.
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
In 心の儘, 心 is the heart, and 儘 is the state one wishes. So the phrase names the condition of doing what one's heart directs. The dictionaries give it as just as one thinks, or likes, as one likes and at will. Freedom is its sense. Follow your heart turns the description into advice; the Japanese only says how a thing is done. 儘 is the full form of the character, and the word is also written in kana or with 侭, all one word.
心の儘 is composed of the kanji 心 (read kokoro) meaning "heart", the possessive grammatical element の (read no) and 儘 (read mama) meaning "as it is; as one likes".
心の儘 is a classical phrase, as the heart wills, in the 竹取物語 of about 900 and in the 源氏物語, where it can already carry license as well as freedom; its older form, kokoro no manima, is in a poem of 807 recorded in the 類聚国史.
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 心の儘.
