<p>Are the two characters on the left in the first photo stylized versions of 幸福, written vertically? Not sure about the 福, but the top left character sure looks like a stylized 幸?
As for the character on the top right, 龍, dragon?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-02-20T01:30:14.457Z
2020-02-20T01:30:14.457Z
Ian Megill
<p>I'm a East Asian preparing to celebrate the Lunar New Year and have been given these pictures of lacquered boards from my father.</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/gtaPv.jpg" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/gtaPv.jpg" alt="The first picture"></a></p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/t0YGI.jpg" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/t0YGI.jpg" alt="The second picture"></a></p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/nTrDs.jpg" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/nTrDs.jpg" alt="The third picture"></a></p>

<p>The first picture I suspect contains stylized <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seal_script" rel="noreferrer">Seal scripts</a>. I cannot identify any of those 4. The second picture contains typical (semi) <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cursive_script_(East_Asia)" rel="noreferrer">Cursive scripts</a>, but I still don't have enough knowledge to identify those 2. The third picture is a weird one, I suspect it contains deformed Seal scripts, which makes it even harder. However, I would say that there are 4 characters in the third picture, the last one is impercept-ible, and the second one may be derived from 耑. To sum up, the only thing I'm sure about all of those 10 characters is that they're all Traditional Chinese.</p>

<p>Now I'm here to seek help. What are those characters?</p>

<p>By the way, Happy Lunar New Year guys!</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-02-04T18:56:31.987Z
Well, I have a big hunch that the top right character in the first picture is 追. In fact the left hand side of both characters on the right in that picture is 辵/辶.
dROOOze
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-02-04T20:28:28.053Z
@droooze With your hint, I think the first picture is 慎終追遠, a phrase from Confucian Analects.
Vincent J. Ruan
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-02-04T21:38:36.697Z
Well, the other three characters are believable, but I can't see 終. Also, that implies that the first character 慎 is on the bottom left.
dROOOze
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-02-04T22:22:43.217Z
@droooze I'm not sure about the 2 left characters either, but I'm pretty sure about the last one, because 遠 has a variant: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E9%80%BA Therefore, if you're sure about your guess, then those 4 character should be 慎終追遠, because that's perhaps the only old common phrase with 追 and 遠.
Vincent J. Ruan
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-02-04T23:56:26.697Z
It is believable if 終 was restructured such that 糸 is written on the top. Well done for solving it :)
dROOOze
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-02-05T05:51:37.037Z
@droooze So, 終 is top left or bottom left? Also, do you have any clue on the second picture? I assume they're just typical Cursive.
Vincent J. Ruan
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-02-05T05:56:10.693Z
終 is top left. What I meant was, 終 was rewritten such that 糸 appears on the top of the character and 冬 appears on the bottom of the character, which explains its shape in the photo. The phrase should be 追遠慎終 to have a reading order that makes sense. Anyway, here's my guess for the second photo: 園 壽.
dROOOze
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-02-05T09:16:06.483Z
@droooze Thanks. About the second picture, the problem of your guess is that it's not a common phrase.
Vincent J. Ruan
<characters><traditional-characters><character-identification><classical-chinese>
Unknown Traditional Chinese characters on lacquered boards
# Unknown Traditional Chinese characters on lacquered boards

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-02-04)

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](https://i.sstatic.net/gtaPv.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/gtaPv.jpg)

[![The second picture](https://i.sstatic.net/t0YGI.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/t0YGI.jpg)

[![The third picture](https://i.sstatic.net/nTrDs.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/nTrDs.jpg)

The first picture I suspect contains stylized [Seal scripts](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seal_script). I cannot identify any of those 4. The second picture contains typical (semi) [Cursive scripts](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cursive_script_(East_Asia)), but I still don't have enough knowledge to identify those 2. The third picture is a weird one, I suspect it contains deformed Seal scripts, which makes it even harder. However, I would say that there are 4 characters in the third picture, the last one is impercept-ible, and the second one may be derived from 耑. To sum up, the only thing I'm sure about all of those 10 characters is that they're all Traditional Chinese.

Now I'm here to seek help. What are those characters?

By the way, Happy Lunar New Year guys!

**Tags:** characters, traditional-characters, character-identification, classical-chinese

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Well, I have a big hunch that the top right character in the first picture is 追. In fact the left hand side of both characters on the right in that picture is 辵/辶.  
> **username_0**: @username_1 With your hint, I think the first picture is 慎終追遠, a phrase from Confucian Analects.  
> **username_1**: Well, the other three characters are believable, but I can't see 終. Also, that implies that the first character 慎 is on the bottom left.  
> **username_0**: @username_1 I'm not sure about the 2 left characters either, but I'm pretty sure about the last one, because 遠 has a variant: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E9%80%BA Therefore, if you're sure about your guess, then those 4 character should be 慎終追遠, because that's perhaps the only old common phrase with 追 and 遠.  
> **username_1**: It is believable if 終 was restructured such that 糸 is written on the top. Well done for solving it :)  
> **username_0**: @username_1 So, 終 is top left or bottom left? Also, do you have any clue on the second picture? I assume they're just typical Cursive.  
> **username_1**: 終 is top left. What I meant was, 終 was rewritten such that 糸 appears on the top of the character and 冬 appears on the bottom of the character, which explains its shape in the photo. The phrase should be 追遠慎終 to have a reading order that makes sense. Anyway, here's my guess for the second photo: 園 壽.  
> **username_0**: @username_1 Thanks. About the second picture, the problem of your guess is that it's not a common phrase.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2020-02-20. Score: 1

Are the two characters on the left in the first photo stylized versions of 幸福, written vertically? Not sure about the 福, but the top left character sure looks like a stylized 幸?
As for the character on the top right, 龍, dragon?


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