Jan Dąbrowski Posted February 16, 2015 at 08:09 PM Report Posted February 16, 2015 at 08:09 PM Could someone please help me translate this but at the same time I see 5 traditional (I think) characters here what are the characters and their individual meaning and what does the phrase mean put together? My grandmother used to own this figurine, I think she bought it several years ago when she traveled to the far east. Is it suppose to be a group of buddhist monks? I figured if I could understand the phrase it might make more sense. I don't just leave things along when there is an opportunity to learn something I put it on the list and when I have the time I research it. However in this case when I started looking through the thousands of Chinese characters and couldn't find any match I figured, okay I could sit around and try to do it manually or probably ask someone and probably someone fluent could answer the question in a minute or two. 1 Quote
Fragrance Posted February 17, 2015 at 03:47 AM Report Posted February 17, 2015 at 03:47 AM Yes, they are traditional characters. 開運七福神, in simplified characters, they are 开运七福神。 运 means luck/fortune. 开 here means bringing you something. So 开运 means bring somebody luck. 七 means seven. 神 means deity. And 福 has similar meaning of 运. 福神 is a noun which means the deity who can bring good things. So you may make sense the meaning of these characters? However, the sculpture and the 福神 are not the symbol of buddhist monks. They are common images in traditional Chinese culture which symbolize luck/fortune. Especially in ancient China, it placed labouring people‘s hope for good life. My English is not good enough to express my thoughts. I wish I express clearly enough. 1 Quote
Lu Posted February 17, 2015 at 04:41 PM Report Posted February 17, 2015 at 04:41 PM Fragrance has it right. I'd translate the phrase as something like 'the seven lucky deities who bring good fortune'. Quote
Jan Dąbrowski Posted February 18, 2015 at 01:26 AM Author Report Posted February 18, 2015 at 01:26 AM Very though and exactly what I wanted. I am just glad it was clean. ;) 謝謝, Jan Quote
jbradfor Posted February 18, 2015 at 06:14 PM Report Posted February 18, 2015 at 06:14 PM Wikipedia article on 七福神: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Lucky_Gods Note that it's listed as Japanese, not Chinese, which is weird, as I thought I've seen them in China as well? [And no, I don't think I'm confusing them with the 8 Immortals, although one never knows.] Quote
Lu Posted February 18, 2015 at 09:40 PM Report Posted February 18, 2015 at 09:40 PM That figurine looks pretty Chinese to me. Wikipedia has its blind spots, perhaps it's just that no-one has gotten around to writing it up there. Quote
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