<p>it's 福 (u+798f) &amp; 壽 (u+58fd), both in traditional chinese.</p>

<p>福 is "happiness; good fortune; prosperity; blessing"</p>

<p>壽 is "age, life, longevity, birthday"</p>

<p><a href="http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/search.php?word=%E7%A6%8F" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/search.php?word=福</a></p>

<p><a href="http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/search.php?word=%E5%A3%BD" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/search.php?word=壽</a></p>

<p>about the technique, well, i learn traditional chinese since childhood, there's no difficulty in recognising it.</p>

<p>your sketch is correct, to show which way is up.</p>

<p>have fun :)</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-01-28T18:08:11.970Z
2018-02-01T09:36:39.390Z
2018-02-01T09:36:39.390Z
水巷孑蠻
<blockquote>
<p><em>A technique for ‘solving’ such a problem without a human translator</em></p>
</blockquote>
<p>I pretend I did not know Chinese, I use 'Chinese hand writing input' on my iPad to mimic the brush strokes in the image you posted with my finger movement. I got a list of suggestions, Use your judgement to see which one is closest to the original image. Among all the suggestions,  '壽' and '福' are the closest.</p>
<blockquote>
<p><em>Advice of which way is ‘up’</em></p>
</blockquote>
<p>familiarize yourself with Radi­cal <a href="https://www.yellowbridge.com/chinese/radicals.php" rel="noreferrer">https://www.yellowbridge.com/chinese/radicals.php</a> you can tell which side is up generally.</p>
<blockquote>
<p><em>The name of the language</em></p>
</blockquote>
<p>Copy and paste whatever words into Google Translate and click 'detect language' button. It will tell you what language the words are in.</p>
<blockquote>
<p><em>Whether Simplified or Traditional</em></p>
</blockquote>
<p>Copy and paste '壽' and '福' into <a href="https://translate.google.com/#zh-CN/zh-CN/%E5%A3%BD%20and%20%E7%A6%8F" rel="noreferrer">Google Translate</a> and set target result as 'Simplified Chinese', you will get '寿' and '福'. Then you know '壽' is a traditional Chinese characters and '福' is used in both traditional and simplified Chinese.</p>
<p>Finally, check online dictionary to learn the meaning of the character</p>
<blockquote>
<p>壽 <a href="http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/dictionary/characters/1686/" rel="noreferrer">http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/dictionary/characters/1686/</a></p>
<p>福 <a href="http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/dictionary/characters/1102/" rel="noreferrer">http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/dictionary/characters/1102/</a></p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-01-29T14:49:24.590Z
Whether simplified or traditional: if the cuff links are 100+ years old, there's only one choice here... ☺
dda
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-02-03T13:56:29.373Z
You can find Chinese hand writing app for computer or smartphone
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-01-28T18:13:15.210Z
2018-01-28T18:35:38.423Z
2020-06-17T09:50:11.587Z
Tang Ho
<p>@水巷孑蠻 has already provided the correct answer - I just want to provide some additional methods for getting the answer.</p>

<p>I took your written characters and put them into <a href="http://www.pleco.com/" rel="noreferrer">Pleco</a>'s OCR software:</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/9n19k.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/9n19k.png" alt="fu"></a></p>

<p>Your 福 was recognized almost straight away and you can see the definition above.</p>

<p>Your 壽 was recognized as 毒, originally, but the OCR software has an option where you can press &amp; hold and finger draw over the character - helping the software to detect the actual character.</p>

<p>Here are the results:</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/Hegq3.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/Hegq3.png" alt="test"></a></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-01-28T18:19:16.163Z
2018-01-28T18:19:16.163Z
Mou某
<p>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 searched with possible English words (left/right, prosperity/health, sun/moon, man/woman, east/west etc) and not seen anything similar in either simplified or traditional. I have tried via OCR (baidu.com and others) with no meaningful results (mostly none at all) even when rotated.</p>

<p>I appreciate that this site is not a free translation service but have asked on <a href="https://chinese.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/1551/without-breaching-on-topic-guidelines-is-it-possible-to-receive-assistance-here/1552#1552">meta</a> and understand that a concession may be allowed where reasonable effort has been made to obtain a translation independently. In addition to trying to guess the translation and working backwards, I have tried:</p>

<ol>
<li>Uploading the images to Google Docs with the option <code>Convert uploaded files to Google Docs format</code>. This merely inserted the images as images. According to <a href="https://ocr.space/blog/2015/03/best-ocr-software-for-chinese.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">The OCR Software Blog</a>:</li>
</ol>

<blockquote>
  <p>Just like with English Google OCR disappoints and is clumsy to use. It seems to be some kind of black magic if or if not the OCR conversion is triggered.</p>
</blockquote>

<ol start="2">
<li><p>Each of OnlineOCR, NewOCR and i2 OCR. The first returned <code>No recognized text !</code> for both orientations of both images. NewOCR offered no response and i2OCR showed just the uploaded images (and anyway clicking <code>Translate</code> , then <code>Google</code> returned: <em>The page isn’t redirecting properly</em> and <em>This problem can sometimes be caused by disabling or refusing to accept cookies.</em> I do have AdBlock Plus installed but since only to remove from sight the ad mentioned <a href="https://meta.stackoverflow.com/questions/339789/should-so-jobs-advertisement-have-appropriate-comment-format">here</a> (that was still appearing on Web Applications about a year after <em>This appears to have been updated.</em>) the settings are not strict (supposed to be only applicable to Stack Exchange but I admit I have seen a few sites asking me to disable AdBlock).</p></li>
<li><p>I tried the demo version of <a href="http://cloud.ocrsdk.com/Demo/#" rel="nofollow noreferrer">ABBYY Cloud OCR SDK</a> but Chinese in any form isn’t available under <code>Recognition languages</code>. I did have ABBYY software but am reluctant to replace it after a change in hardware just for the sake of two characters.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>A scan of the cufflinks is shown and the sketches I took in the hope they might aid identification and hence translation: </p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/DyyoW.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/DyyoW.jpg" alt="Scan of cufflinks"></a></p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/HUSZI.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/HUSZI.jpg" alt="Sketch of one cufflink"></a> <a href="https://i.sstatic.net/vmUhG.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/vmUhG.jpg" alt="Sketch of other cufflink"></a></p>

<p>Please note that I would be very grateful for <em>any</em> of the following:  </p>

<ul>
<li>A technique for ‘solving’ such a problem without a human translator.</li>
<li>Advice of which way is ‘up’.</li>
<li>The name of the language.</li>
<li>Whether Simplified or Traditional.</li>
<li>Readable character versions (not images!).</li>
</ul>

<p>So something other than translation would be very acceptable. I just don’t fancy wading through what I believe are some ~5,000 symbols trying to find matches!</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-01-28T18:21:23.290Z
precisely, the "壽" in the cufflink is a variant character; not the standard one in dictionary. http://dict.variants.moe.edu.tw/variants/rbt/word_attribute.rbt?quote_code=QTAwODM2  well, it might be too difficult for foreigner to find the difference.
水巷孑蠻
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-01-28T23:52:17.213Z
for character lookup may use four-corner input method,     e.g. https://sijiao.911cha.com/
壽５０３４０, 福 ３１２６６ (from handwritten form it may not be so easy to recognize top left corner as 3)
user6065
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-01-29T03:32:37.623Z
correction: 50340 belongs to simplified 寿, 壽 is 40641
user6065
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-01-29T16:51:05.920Z
This is not a place for technical stuff like OCR/Computer Vision suggestion.
mootmoot
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-01-29T16:56:59.443Z
You will get more luck if you look for Tesseract  under stackoverflow and/or  Artificial intelligent (tensor flow,etc).  You need to deal with a lot of "features" manipulation before you can get a desired "automation"  (and huge amount of training . Which enough for you to start a business or a  carrier somewhere ;-)
mootmoot
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-01-29T17:01:17.147Z
then you should try @user3306356♦  the moderator answer
mootmoot
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-01-29T17:18:22.527Z
Well, join a language course group (there is many free), make some friend in SNP,  make use stackexchange(well, you are doing it)
mootmoot
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-03-01T23:08:15.073Z
Related: [How do I self-answer “What does this say?”](https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/36144/how-do-i-self-answer-what-does-this-say)  [Is the meaning of this symbol "longevity"?](https://chinese.stackexchange.com/q/3568)  [What does this symbol mean on my ring?](https://chinese.stackexchange.com/q/9507)
Becky 李蓓
<translation><mandarin><character-identification>
What do these two characters on cufflinks signify? (Characters identified: 福 and 壽/夀)
# What do these two characters on cufflinks signify? (Characters identified: 福 and 壽/夀)

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-01-28)

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 searched with possible English words (left/right, prosperity/health, sun/moon, man/woman, east/west etc) and not seen anything similar in either simplified or traditional. I have tried via OCR (baidu.com and others) with no meaningful results (mostly none at all) even when rotated.

I appreciate that this site is not a free translation service but have asked on [meta](https://chinese.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/1551/without-breaching-on-topic-guidelines-is-it-possible-to-receive-assistance-here/1552#1552) and understand that a concession may be allowed where reasonable effort has been made to obtain a translation independently. In addition to trying to guess the translation and working backwards, I have tried:

1. Uploading the images to Google Docs with the option `Convert uploaded files to Google Docs format`. This merely inserted the images as images. According to [The OCR Software Blog](https://ocr.space/blog/2015/03/best-ocr-software-for-chinese.html):

> Just like with English Google OCR disappoints and is clumsy to use. It seems to be some kind of black magic if or if not the OCR conversion is triggered.

2. Each of OnlineOCR, NewOCR and i2 OCR. The first returned `No recognized text !` for both orientations of both images. NewOCR offered no response and i2OCR showed just the uploaded images (and anyway clicking `Translate` , then `Google` returned: *The page isn’t redirecting properly* and *This problem can sometimes be caused by disabling or refusing to accept cookies.* I do have AdBlock Plus installed but since only to remove from sight the ad mentioned [here](https://meta.stackoverflow.com/questions/339789/should-so-jobs-advertisement-have-appropriate-comment-format) (that was still appearing on Web Applications about a year after *This appears to have been updated.*) the settings are not strict (supposed to be only applicable to Stack Exchange but I admit I have seen a few sites asking me to disable AdBlock).
3. I tried the demo version of [ABBYY Cloud OCR SDK](http://cloud.ocrsdk.com/Demo/#) but Chinese in any form isn’t available under `Recognition languages`. I did have ABBYY software but am reluctant to replace it after a change in hardware just for the sake of two characters.

A scan of the cufflinks is shown and the sketches I took in the hope they might aid identification and hence translation:

[![Scan of cufflinks](https://i.sstatic.net/DyyoW.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/DyyoW.jpg)

[![Sketch of one cufflink](https://i.sstatic.net/HUSZI.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/HUSZI.jpg) [![Sketch of other cufflink](https://i.sstatic.net/vmUhG.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/vmUhG.jpg)

Please note that I would be very grateful for *any* of the following:

* A technique for ‘solving’ such a problem without a human translator.
* Advice of which way is ‘up’.
* The name of the language.
* Whether Simplified or Traditional.
* Readable character versions (not images!).

So something other than translation would be very acceptable. I just don’t fancy wading through what I believe are some ~5,000 symbols trying to find matches!

**Tags:** translation, mandarin, character-identification

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: precisely, the "壽" in the cufflink is a variant character; not the standard one in dictionary. http://dict.variants.moe.edu.tw/variants/rbt/word_attribute.rbt?quote_code=QTAwODM2  well, it might be too difficult for foreigner to find the difference.  
> **username_2**: for character lookup may use four-corner input method,     e.g. https://sijiao.911cha.com/ 壽５０３４０, 福 ３１２６６ (from handwritten form it may not be so easy to recognize top left corner as 3)  
> **username_2**: correction: 50340 belongs to simplified 寿, 壽 is 40641  
> **username_3**: This is not a place for technical stuff like OCR/Computer Vision suggestion.  
> **username_3**: You will get more luck if you look for Tesseract  under stackoverflow and/or  Artificial intelligent (tensor flow,etc).  You need to deal with a lot of "features" manipulation before you can get a desired "automation"  (and huge amount of training . Which enough for you to start a business or a  carrier somewhere ;-)  
> **username_3**: then you should try @user3306356♦  the moderator answer  
> **username_3**: Well, join a language course group (there is many free), make some friend in SNP,  make use stackexchange(well, you are doing it)  
> **username_4**: Related: [How do I self-answer “What does this say?”](https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/36144/how-do-i-self-answer-what-does-this-say)  [Is the meaning of this symbol "longevity"?](https://chinese.stackexchange.com/q/3568)  [What does this symbol mean on my ring?](https://chinese.stackexchange.com/q/9507)  

---

## 3 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2018-01-28. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

it's 福 (u+798f) & 壽 (u+58fd), both in traditional chinese.

福 is "happiness; good fortune; prosperity; blessing"

壽 is "age, life, longevity, birthday"

[http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/search.php?word=福](http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/search.php?word=%E7%A6%8F)

[http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/search.php?word=壽](http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/search.php?word=%E5%A3%BD)

about the technique, well, i learn traditional chinese since childhood, there's no difficulty in recognising it.

your sketch is correct, to show which way is up.

have fun :)


---

### Answer by username_5 on 2018-01-28. Score: 7

> *A technique for ‘solving’ such a problem without a human translator*

I pretend I did not know Chinese, I use 'Chinese hand writing input' on my iPad to mimic the brush strokes in the image you posted with my finger movement. I got a list of suggestions, Use your judgement to see which one is closest to the original image. Among all the suggestions, '壽' and '福' are the closest.

> *Advice of which way is ‘up’*

familiarize yourself with Radi­cal <https://www.yellowbridge.com/chinese/radicals.php> you can tell which side is up generally.

> *The name of the language*

Copy and paste whatever words into Google Translate and click 'detect language' button. It will tell you what language the words are in.

> *Whether Simplified or Traditional*

Copy and paste '壽' and '福' into [Google Translate](https://translate.google.com/#zh-CN/zh-CN/%E5%A3%BD%20and%20%E7%A6%8F) and set target result as 'Simplified Chinese', you will get '寿' and '福'. Then you know '壽' is a traditional Chinese characters and '福' is used in both traditional and simplified Chinese.

Finally, check online dictionary to learn the meaning of the character

> 壽 <http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/dictionary/characters/1686/>
>
> 福 <http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/dictionary/characters/1102/>

> **Comments:**
> **username_6**: Whether simplified or traditional: if the cuff links are 100+ years old, there's only one choice here... ☺  
> **username_5**: You can find Chinese hand writing app for computer or smartphone  

---

### Answer by username_7 on 2018-01-28. Score: 5

@username_1 has already provided the correct answer - I just want to provide some additional methods for getting the answer.

I took your written characters and put them into [Pleco](http://www.pleco.com/)'s OCR software:

[![fu](https://i.sstatic.net/9n19k.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/9n19k.png)

Your 福 was recognized almost straight away and you can see the definition above.

Your 壽 was recognized as 毒, originally, but the OCR software has an option where you can press & hold and finger draw over the character - helping the software to detect the actual character.

Here are the results:

[![test](https://i.sstatic.net/Hegq3.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/Hegq3.png)


---

