Questions tagged [character-identification]
Questions about the identification of Chinese characters, especially characters seen in photos and other visual materials.
2
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0answers
49 views
Can someone tell me if this script is correct?
I'm trying to write in full cursive with my own personal style and this is one of my first letterings.
I'm quite happy and I think that it does look readable, but I'm afraid that the two long line I ...
2
votes
0answers
59 views
Seal Script Title + Artist Seals
This is another part of the same book I posted on here yesterday - I'm certain I've got one of the characters, I'm unsure of another, and I'm really struggling with the last one. If anyone is able to ...
2
votes
1answer
54 views
Passage in Seal Script - 18th C Japanese Book of Chinese Poems (?)
I recently got an old Japanese Orihon (folding book) which has a lengthy passage in seal script - my assumption was that Japanese seal script would be the same as Chinese seal script, but if I'm wrong ...
1
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1answer
53 views
What is this thing?
1 hour ago, my friend sent me a mysterious thing.
Can you tell me what is this mysterious thing?
Here's the mysterious thing:
4
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2answers
65 views
Journey to the West: “Mother of wood”
I am reading Wu Cheng'en's Journey to the West in English (using the translation by Anthony C. Yu, don't know enough language to understand the source) and there seems to be a recurring theme of using ...
3
votes
2answers
165 views
Can anyone translate this Seal Script into english for me?
I played this game called Sleeping Dogs that I really loved! It took place in Hong Kong and the main character Wei Shen has this tattoo on his arm that I thought would be cool to have. After doing ...
1
vote
1answer
112 views
Is this the character 良?
Someone sent me this picture and asked me if I knew what it was:
I had a couple of hunches and browsed through Pleco's Small Seal Script Chinese character font. The small seal script for 良 looks very ...
0
votes
1answer
86 views
What's the missing character: 幼儿为「么？」?
I've got this horrible scan from《旅行雜志》1945年第7期，第8頁 and I'm trying to make out the characters:
What I've got so far:
幼儿为「么？」
Any idea what the missing character is?
A logical answer would be: 兒,...
1
vote
1answer
106 views
Is ䷊ a chinese character?
Wiki refer of this character(here it's Chinese character)(you must see it in Chinese language)
Wiki refer of chinese_characters
These are Yijing Hexagram Symbols(4DC0— 4DFF).
In what degree can ...
5
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0answers
184 views
Unknown Traditional Chinese characters on lacquered boards
I'm a East Asian preparing to celebrate the Lunar New Year and have been given these pictures of lacquered boards from my father.
The first picture I suspect contains stylized Seal scripts. I cannot ...
4
votes
1answer
576 views
Can anyone read Seal Script? I'm completely stuck
Is anyone able to give the modern character equivalents for these seals? I'm completely stumped on the top one, but got as far as "X 廾 東 X" on the bottom one.
There's also a 詩塘 at the top, and I don'...
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1answer
101 views
I have a tattoo, i wish to find the meaning
What is the meaning of these letters, and is it somehow connected to eachother?
0
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2answers
76 views
Can a Good Listener Help Me Translate?
I am translating a paragraph from English into Chinese, going by a recording a native speaker made. I am trying to use the same characters that they are using in their spoken translation, but am ...
3
votes
2answers
506 views
What are the characters in this seal script inscription on an ancestral altar?
Hi, this four character inscription is on an ancestral altar which contains two spirit tablets. I am unsure of the more modern equivalents of these characters and would be grateful for any assistance.
4
votes
2answers
102 views
What do the characters I've found on this old gun mean?
On an antique shotgun I was told had Korean origin I found the following (what I presume are Hanja?) characters†. Four out of five I believe I have correctly identified. One character I could not find ...
1
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1answer
63 views
What does this mean in English? (Its upside down I think in the pic)
Help me please! I feel so guilty without knowing what it means! Thanks..
0
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4answers
129 views
What do these Chinese symbols mean?
Looking for age or value of this bowl found while cleaning family home.
This is the inside of the bowl.
[![enter image description here][2]][2]
[2]: https://i.stack.imgur.com/AZZvq.jpg
0
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1answer
153 views
Can anyone identify these characters?
Can anyone help me identify these characters, I'm having a difficult time even finding the radicals due to the photo quality. Thanks!
3
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0answers
172 views
Help identifying characters on a memorial coin
I recently got my hands into this coin
No idea how it got here, nor where it came from, I've tried to identify the text with some chinese speaking friends but we are unable to fully comprehend.
So ...
0
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1answer
156 views
need help me translate this title and signature?
can someone help me with what this says, i've tried google image search and even looking for different signatures but no luck so far.
1
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1answer
110 views
Translation of characters on antique metal
During my last visit in Shanghai I bought this old pice of metal, it might be silver. What are the characters on it? I am having trouble reading them. Also, what do they mean?
1
vote
1answer
86 views
Mystery Character (Components: 禾日日皿)
I have a mystery character that I cannot seem to find the usual way: OCR, radical search, stroke search, nor drawing in any IME pad.
It appears to have 18 strokes in total and composed of 禾日日皿. The ...
2
votes
1answer
137 views
Help me translate the red signature seal on this picture?
I inherited these pictures from my grandmother who bought them in China in 1980-81. I have had a difficult time trying to translate the red artist signature seals. I have tried image translator app, I ...
2
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0answers
206 views
What does this seal stamp say?
My parents have bought some type of ceramic vessel (plate, pot, something like that), which has the following stamp on the bottom:
Armed with 米好 '-'’s answer on how to decipher seal script, I’ve done ...
5
votes
2answers
172 views
What is the missing character on the seal?
跟進此問題，題中之印
共收六字，其中五字無疑，作爲
後皇漢裔帝Ｘ
Ｘ是何字，解之有難。僅看字形，個人釋之爲「亘」，而@水巷孑蠻釋之爲「亙」，因漢朝既無「亘帝」也無「亙帝」，二解都有問題。
先說說「亘」與「亙」二字的字源。二者在秦漢之後已經就被混淆了，甚至到今世多釋之爲繁簡或異體關係，非也。
「亘」字本義是環繞、迴旋，很可能跟「還」、「漩」等類似的詞有同源關係，但初期竝無「亘」字而以「...
2
votes
1answer
155 views
What are the six characters on this seal?
What are the characters on this seal? The middle two seem to be 皇帝, but I can't make out the other four.
1
vote
1answer
175 views
Chinese Poem And Seal Translation Needed
Really Hoping someone can Translate this Old Chinese Painting Poem and Seal into English for me.
edited, picture added.
3
votes
1answer
562 views
Could someone help me to identify these characters on the screen walls
Today I visited a garden of one of my friends and there were several screen walls with a character on each one. (The owner was absent and neither could his housekeeper read these characters.)
These ...
4
votes
2answers
268 views
What are the characters on this seal?
What are the characters on this seal?
Flipped image for easier reading:
1
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2answers
241 views
Can someone translate this Chinese calligraphy into English?
This was written by a relative of mine, Ahn Jung-Geun
4
votes
1answer
166 views
What is this character? How to identify it?
Came across this etching in a ABAC pattern as the A:
The more complicated ones were easier to identify, but this one is kind of tricky.
One guess was that it was the character for 今, but that doesn'...
1
vote
1answer
65 views
Translate the characters in this sign
I have tried to find the characters in this sign in order to translate them but with no luck for the 2nd character.
This restaurant's French name is "Le bonheur" which in English is roughly "...
1
vote
1answer
55 views
Does this box in the movie 妖猫传 (Legend of the Demon Cat) say 鳳栖樓 on its lid and 私人必死 inside, and what do they mean?
I'm watching the movie 妖猫传 (yāomāo zhuàn) = Legend of the Demon Cat. About 10 minutes into the movie, a man secretly enters a room named 御宬 (yùchéng) = "imperial storage" (I think) and searches for a ...
1
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1answer
119 views
untranslated characters and their meaning
I recently saw a movie where this appeared and unfortunately, this was the only part that wasn’t translated. Could anyone tell me what it says?
1
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1answer
156 views
Can I translate “still alive” as 还活着?
if I have to translate "still alive" can I write it like this 还活着 or are there better ways to say it? I have to use it as a title of a poem, so it doesn't have a context or a phrase where it should ...
4
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2answers
226 views
Help please me find out what this means
I’m looking to find out what this means. Please help was handed down to me from my family
2
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4answers
325 views
What does this seal stamp on Chinese painting mean?
Is this seal the name of an artist or poet? How can I find him?
[![enter image description here][1]][1]
Is this translation okay?
[![enter image description here][3]][3]
Thank you for every answer....
1
vote
1answer
189 views
What are these characters on old brass stamps?
These brass stamps were found by a relative in China ~1917.
I'm wondering what the inscriptions mean.
The smaller one in the likeness of an elephant is worn and discolored.
0
votes
1answer
95 views
What character can “□” [fei3] meaning 呕吐 be?
I've got this entry from 《广安方言与民俗词典》which goes as follows:
□
fei3
指呕吐。例：他中午吃醉酒了，fei3了一地。
□ is as Wiktionary states:
Used as a placeholder for an unknown hanzi.
There's a good chance ...
5
votes
3answers
319 views
Is there any evidence that 90% of characters are phono-semantic compounds?
I've heard this claim a lot, from Chinese teachers in real life, and on this Wikipedia page, where the claim "At present, more than 90% of Chinese characters are phono-semantic compounds" lacks a ...
0
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1answer
260 views
Can you please help me translate this title and signature?
I am trying to translate this signature from a watercolor painting I bought many years ago at a thrift store. I've tried google translate along with searching Asian artist seals, but no luck.
1
vote
1answer
103 views
What is the variant bā character for 巴掌?
I'm working through the entry for 耳巴 in《四川方言词语续考》and I don't have my paper copy around.
The problem is I only have my crappy OCR'd digital version which is giving me �� where a proper character ...
6
votes
3answers
1k views
Only two characters but I have no idea what they signify
I was given a pair of gold cufflinks by my grandfather who was in Shanghai 100 years ago. Each shows a Chinese character (Mandarin, I guess) and I would like to know what these mean. However I have ...
3
votes
2answers
247 views
What's this character that looks like 七 with a ～ in the middle? And what's its history?
Having a hard time figuring out what this guy is:
The equivalent Wikisource page for the material I'm working with says that it is:
甚
Perhaps it is
Which zisea says it is:
同【甚】字。
If it is 七 +...
1
vote
3answers
1k views
How can I search for a Chinese character when I see it on a picture?
Like, when I see a Chinese character in this picture:
What is the best way to find more information about this character (unlike English, there're only 26 letters, and I can type them and google. ...
1
vote
1answer
92 views
Three Chinese characters (?) on the entrance of the History Museum of Ho Chi Minh city
Since visiting the museum, I've been very curious about these three characters (shown below). I've unsuccessfully tried to search it on the Internet. Their pretty calligraphic style is one of the ...
0
votes
1answer
97 views
Can you help identify the artist for these Taizong horse rubbings?
Can you help identify the artist? The art was framed back in 1952 by the Jean Bohem Gallery in New York City. These are on scroll paper which is attached to something (cloth/ linen?) Beautiful ...
0
votes
2answers
90 views
Please help to identify the character [duplicate]
My hobby is to collect the wind chimes and the one I have recently bought had a pretty complex character on its pendant. I've tried to look it up by the radical 辵/辶, but to no avail.
At first I ...
3
votes
2answers
491 views
Are these chinese characters understandable?
I am designing a logo for my company, starting from a chinese word (which i am not mentioning not to influence you, i am including it below in a spoiler).
I simplified the ideograms a lot and I ...
1
vote
2answers
299 views
Character difference between 'buy' and 'sell'
The characters for 'buy' and 'sell', seem to have a subtle difference in the character.
買/买 (buy)
賣/卖 (sell)
I want to know, what's the significance of the radial on top of the sell? How does ...
