could someone translate this for me?

[blue eyed snake]

as there are some bums that read chinese, i would much like what is written on this picture.

 

probably something like: Lao Tzu riding Ox

 

but still 

 

and what is he holding? is that a musical instrument? or a calabas? or...

 

Edited January 24 by blue eyed snake

[Taoist Texts]

1 hour ago, blue eyed snake said:

what is he holding? is that a musical instrument? or a calabas? or...

 

 

It's a fan, 😎

[blue eyed snake]

yes, that could very well be a fan,

thankyou

[Nintendao]

The first part looks like it says 常氣東朱 Changqi Dongzhu, maybe the artists name? Something not quite matching up though; there's an artistic liberty in the way those characters mix up. I'm just scratching them into qhanzi.com and making best guesses. I'll take a crack at squinting the smaller part soon 

 

Oh yea that looks like the style of Zhongli Quan's famous fan.

 

Edited January 25 by Nintendao

[Nintendao]

常氣東朱 我首㤗王月明市仍尢俊字

 

常 eternal
氣 qi
東 east
朱 vermilion

 

我 my
首 leader
㤗 exalted
王 king
月 moon
明 lit
市 city
仍 still
尢 special
俊 handsome
字 sage

 

Fair amount of guesswork here! Sort of gets an idea though.

Some of those characters are just to small to make out.

What do you think @ChiDragon how bad did i butcher it? 

 

Edited January 25 by Nintendao

[Taoist Texts]

20 minutes ago, Nintendao said:

how bad did i butcher it?

you did fine given the

 

20 minutes ago, Nintendao said:

常 eternal
氣 qi
東 east
朱 vermilion

this is a well known phrase  紫气东来
zǐ qì dōng lái The Purple Qi comes from the east -- a propitious omen of Lao-zi's arrival (and departure to the west)

[ChiDragon]

@Nintendao

紫氣東來：The purple mist is coming from the east. It indicates that Laotze is coming from the eat.

 

戊戌：The year at the time.

春：Spring(the season)

王月明市：the name of the city

何元俊：the name of the author

寫：written by

Edited January 25 by ChiDragon

[blue eyed snake]

10 hours ago, Nintendao said:

The first part looks like it says 常氣東朱 Changqi Dongzhu, maybe the artists name? Something not quite matching up though; there's an artistic liberty in the way those characters mix up. I'm just scratching them into qhanzi.com and making best guesses. I'll take a crack at squinting the smaller part soon 

 

Oh yea that looks like the style of Zhongli Quan's famous fan.

 

 

yess, of course

 

[Nintendao]

 

4 hours ago, ChiDragon said:

紫氣東來：The purple mist is coming from the east. It indicates that Laotze is coming from the eat.

 

戊戌：The year at the time.

春：Spring(the season)

王月明市：the name of the city

何元俊：the name of the author

寫：written by

 

Zǐ qì dōng lái. Wùxū chūn, Wángyuèmíng shì, HéYuánJùn xiě

 

紫氣東來 戊戌 春 王月明市 何元俊 寫
常氣東朱 我首 㤗 王月明市 仍尢俊 字 

Wow I scored a 47% 😅 that's about what i was expecting.

It was a good exercise though and honing in on it over time.

 

"Purple Air Comes from the East, written by He Yuanjun of Yueming City in the Spring of 1898"

 

18 hours ago, blue eyed snake said:

 

[blue eyed snake]

thank you

 

[ChiDragon]

23 hours ago, blue eyed snake said:

and what is he holding? is that a musical instrument? or a calabas? or...

He is holding a fan that was made from a banana leave.

[ChiDragon]

5 hours ago, Nintendao said:

"Purple Air Comes from the East, written by He Yuanjun of Yueming City in the Spring of 1898"

王月明市：Wang Yueming City

[Cobie]

What are those bumps on his head?
 

 

[ChiDragon]

.

Edited January 25 by ChiDragon

[ChiDragon]

3 minutes ago, Cobie said:

What are those bumps on his head?

It is his hair that was coiled up.

[Cobie]

@ChiDragon Was that a common hairstyle in his day, or does it have a specific meaning?

[ChiDragon]

2 minutes ago, Cobie said:

@ChiDragon Was that a common hairstyle in his day, or does it have a specific meaning?

It was a common hairstyle for kids and immortals in those days.