Cursive · sōsho 草書 · VC4B
Cursive or sōsho (草書) styles are the most simplified styles and Master Takase's favorite. While very beautiful, these styles are often difficult to read even by specialists.
苦は楽の種
ku wa raku no tane
No Pain, No Gain
Hardship is the seed of ease.
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
苦は楽の種 is said in the middle of a hard time: what is hard now is what a later ease will grow from. 種 is a seed, and the seed is the whole figure. Hardship is not a price paid for ease; ease grows out of it. The saying lives as a pair, 楽は苦の種、苦は楽の種: ease is the seed of hardship, and hardship the seed of ease. These words are the half people keep, the half that consoles.
No Pain, No Gain is the English proverb it sits nearest; the seed is what the Japanese keeps.
The proverb is first found as calligraphy: the Zen master Hakuin, about 1752 and again in 1768, tells of an old master who wrote out the two halves for everyone who asked him for calligraphy; a comic novel of 1774 has them as a sermon commonplace.
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 苦は楽の種.
