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.
水の心
mizu no kokoro
Heart Like Water
A heart like water: still, or flowing through every season, or held gently in cupped hands.
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
水の心 joins 水, water, and 心, the heart, with の between them. The の keeps it clear of 水心, a swimmer's feel for the water. The phrase holds more than one water. In karate it is a still heart that mirrors whatever comes, the calm its teachers stress. In a judo textbook it is the heart of water that flows without stopping, through every season. In a poem set in Japanese school readers it is water that can only be held gently, in cupped hands, and a person's heart with it. Our English title, Heart Like Water, names none of these waters. Which water you see in it is yours.
The image is older than the phrase: a 万葉集 song likens a clear heart to cold water. The phrase itself is in a love poem of the 古今集 of 905 whose water's heart runs swift, and a Buddhist poem of 1320 lodges the moon in the muddy water's heart; one school of archers' manuscript, a judo textbook of 1920 and karate's English of 1960 use it of the mind in training, and 高田敏子's poem 水のこころ is in a Japanese fifth-grade reader. The reversed 心の水, the heart likened to water, is the headword in the two dictionaries read, from a poem of 1151.
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 水の心.
