Seven Lines of Kanji For Translation, Please...

[GREG E.]

At the request of a fellow forum member, I am posting the following pictures of a sword cane grip with seven lines of Kanji (?) characters carved into it, with the hope of some basic translation assistance...

I have been told that the characters are actually Mandarin Chinese - not Japanese - and that this is "philosophical text" about war - but I really have no idea!

The actual item is currently for sale on the E-stand:

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...d.php?t=671973

[GREG E.]

Seven Lines of Kanji For Translation - 02

More...

[GREG E.]

Seven Lines of Kanji For Translation - 03

Again...

[GREG E.]

Seven Lines of Kanji For Translation - 04

Last one...

[J7W22007]

Hi,

The characters were written in Traditional Chinese, not Kanji at all.

Seems like saying the art of fighting, using the sword and sharp weaponry.

Best regards,
Taka

[chen]

1. When it is time to draw the sword but if you don't, then it will only harm yourself.
2. When you draw the sword but not sure it will win , it will only hurt yourself.

[chen]

3. Unless those weapons which can kill in order to protect your body, otherwise, don't carry it.
4. Of course, you still need to use your intelligent to fight in various situations, but at the end you still need to depend on your sword.

[chen]

Is the circle one a word?

[chen]

5. I think it says:
There is no need ,at this moment, that you want to be the one in front( winner) as you perhaps will be the one at back( loser)

[chen]

6. To be a gentleman or to use military mean, you will choose by yourself.
7.For those who does care about his fate, he is a warrior and not controlled by war method.

[J7W22007]

Mr. Chen

Is it the word 須 ?

Taka

[chen]

Taka,
Yes, I later figure it out so I can do the rest of the translation. You have better eye sight than my old eye sight.
Your Chinese and Japanese are very good too.

[J7W22007]

Taka,
Yes, I later figure it out so I can do the rest of the translation. You have better eye sight than my old eye sight.
Your Chinese and Japanese are very good too.

Mr. Chen, thank you for the compliment.

Best regards,
Taka

[Stu W]

Greg, thanks for posting the items.

Taka, how does a layman tell the difference between Classical Chinese and kanji? I thought kanji originated in China and were then adopted for use by the Japanese. I realize they are a complex field of study but are their any basics you can share?

Thanks.

Regards,
Stu

[chen]

Stu,
Kanji is a term of the usual writing character used by the Chinese today. Of course, in ancient China, it also has many other styles of writing. So I just limit the discussion to modern era.
Japanese also use Kanji but not as extensive as Chinese. They also use their Hiragana and Katanaka beside Kanji. Sometime a sentence consists of these 3 styles together.
Take a look at this example of the word "student":
2. is Hiragana
3. is Japanese Kanji which is also Chinese Kanji as shown in 5.
4. is also Chinese Kanji. But why there is a difference between 4 and 5. It is because 4 is the typical classical version while 5 is the simplified version. Why there are 2 versions. It is because 4 needs to write many strokes while 5 doesn't and so create less labor work. More and more Chinese are learning the simplified version instead of the classical version.
In the example by Greg E, it is written in classical version. Not only each of the character has many strokes, the way the sentence is constructed needs some advanced skill to read.