I need to find a .JPG or .BMP of the chinese ideograph for "JOY"

---

Request for Question Clarification by tutuzdad-ga on 28 Nov 2004 12:07 PST

It is important to note that in the Chinese language there are many
different measures and manifestations of "joy". There are also many
kinds of Chinese and many forms of symbols. This is a simplifed
character for "joy" in general supposedly appears here:

http://www.zein.se/patrick/char/amulett01a.gif
Taken from CHINESE LUCKY CHARACTERS
http://www.zein.se/patrick/chinen11p.html

A more artistic and perhaps visually pleasing form of the character appears here:
http://www.aspencountry.com/aspen/assets/product_images/product_lib/29000-29999/29627.jpg

The typed version of the symbol appears here (in large black bold type)
http://zhongwen.com/d/179/d223.gif

Here are the various Kanji symbols (Japanese script) for different kinds of joy:
http://www.ideogear.com/word?en=joy

I should warn you though that there is a running joke in the orient
about English speaking people's who, in their ignorance of the
language, have tattoos applied to their skin thinking a symbol means
one thing when in fact it means something altogether different. Read
this article and beware:

'Lost in Translation'
http://www.echomagonline.com/back/winspr02/intensecity1.html

I'd definitely speak to a professional linquist before I made such a decision.

How's that for an answer?

Regards;
tutuzdad-ga

---

Clarification of Question by ken_sanders-ga on 28 Nov 2004 13:23 PST

Thanks - I was aware of the problems of translating certain (if not
most) concepts from one culture to another.  Your links are more than
satisfactory.  I consider your research as concluded. - Ken

Dear ken_sanders-ga:

Thank you for allowing me an opportunity to answer your question.
Rather than repost the information here I'll simply say thank you, and
redirect you to my comments in an effort to officially close your
question.

I look forward to next time.

Regards;
tutuzdad-ga

SEARCH TERMS:

KANJI

CHARACTERS

CHINESE

HANZI

CALLIGRAPHY

SCRIPT

SYMBOLS

JOY

This character when doubled side by side, is used as a good luck
symbols for weddings. You see it posted outside the home of the groom
and everywhere at wedding banquets in China. It is most commonly used
in the spoken language as the first half of the word for 'like' - xi
huan.

Pronunciation is similar to "shee" in English, with a softer "sh" sound.

It is kinda funny how people can botch things like that.  I read a
similar article some time ago, and the author gave the example of one
woman who had a tattoo, in Japanese, that read, "I am a man."

I have a tattoo in Chinese myself, but it's a phrase, not a single
character, so I had my Chinese professor translate it for me and
confirm that I used the correct characters (since a given pinyin
syllable can have more than a dozen characters, this is important). 
It's just common sense, I think, but then I see all these examples....