Eri's Choice · VD2C
Eri's Choice is a design that does not keep strictly to one style; it is Master Takase's own artistic choice.
知足 chisoku Be Satisfied
To know what is enough.
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
知足 is being at ease with your own share and wanting nothing past it. What the word praises is the knowing, not the having. A rich man who does not know enough is poor, and a poor man who does is rich. The word is at home in the tea room too.
知足 is composed of the kanji 知 (read chi) meaning "know, wisdom" and 足 (read soku) meaning "sufficiency".
The dictionaries derive the word from the Daoist classic 老子, whose thirty-third chapter says that he who knows what is enough is rich, and the Buddhist canon carries it too, in the 遺教経, where knowing what is enough is a monk's practice; the earliest Japanese use the 日本国語大辞典 cites is Kūkai's 三教指帰, about 797, and this study read the same words in his own draft.
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 知足.
