What is this? Can you read Chinese?

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HighlyIrregular II
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What is this? Can you read Chinese?

Post by HighlyIrregular II » Thu Apr 20, 2023 8:34 pm

Someone told me what this was years ago but all I remember is it's not a cigarette box. I asked someone who was born in China what it says but she seemed to have trouble with traditional Chinese and all she got was "light."

It may be a snuff box. Still wondering what it says.
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Catoptric
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Re: What is this? Can you read Chinese?

Post by Catoptric » Fri Apr 21, 2023 6:14 am

HighlyIrregular II wrote:
Thu Apr 20, 2023 8:34 pm
Someone told me what this was years ago but all I remember is it's not a cigarette box. I asked someone who was born in China what it says but she seemed to have trouble with traditional Chinese and all she got was "light."

It may be a snuff box. Still wondering what it says.
If you experiment with an app called Google translate, the characters (chang'e) should show up. For some reason the angle or the legibility of the script wasn't recognized when I tried, though the bottom right symbol is definitely the moon.

https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E6%9C%88

I'll edit this if I find out more.
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HighlyIrregular II
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Re: What is this? Can you read Chinese?

Post by HighlyIrregular II » Fri Apr 21, 2023 1:29 pm

Oh, so it probably says moon light. I'll draw a couple of versions of the small characters on a solid background and try that tool when I get a chance.

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Catoptric
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Re: What is this? Can you read Chinese?

Post by Catoptric » Fri Apr 21, 2023 2:41 pm

HighlyIrregular II wrote:
Fri Apr 21, 2023 1:29 pm
Oh, so it probably says moon light. I'll draw a couple of versions of the small characters on a solid background and try that tool when I get a chance.
I think it's Glory room Light.

I think the left side of the middle symbol, is in reference to "room" (and light)
https://stock.adobe.com/images/hand-dra ... =206619309

the top could be "glory," or "light," (though strangely it could also mean "empty, used up, finished solely; only,) and for awhile I was thinking the slope angle gave a different context, but it is shown here in different versions of it.
https://www.chinese-word.com/data/0296.html

The boxed in shape at the bottom of the left column that looks like an F could be denoting a signature, as it was customary in east Asian signatures from around 1900 and prior to enclose the signatures, but it also seems to be a variation of the word moon (light,) and maybe the dash underneath and enclosed framing is a reference to day and moon?
https://www.chinese-word.com/data/2198-3.html

I know that with Japanese the language is often contextual within a vernacular and context unique to the culture, and Asian languages have a lot of words that derive from ancient concepts with deeper meanings. The word Tenchi for example can be "above and below" or "Heaven and Hell" which evidently is a universal theme throughout the ancient world, but also the word "muyo" can mean without or to give up, but no singular translation of the phrase Tenchi Muyo seems agreed upon, (as it also get's translated as "Do Not Turn Over") much like trying to translate different languages can lose context of their meaning when using different languages.

An example is when translating the titles of Japanese video games, which almost always adapt a drastically different title in order to market it to western audiences.

Acording to this website:
Shin Nekketsu Kōha: Kunio-tachi no Banka (新・熱血硬派 くにおたちの挽歌?, lit. "The New Hot-Blooded Tough Guy: The Elegy of Kunio and Co.")
https://kuniokun.fandom.com/wiki/Shin_N ... i_no_Banka

Using Google translate of Japanese characters:
New Hot-blooded hard school Kuniotachi no elegy

The left column top two could be a cursive variation.
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HighlyIrregular II
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Re: What is this? Can you read Chinese?

Post by HighlyIrregular II » Fri Apr 21, 2023 5:52 pm

Google translate of this character says it's "bright"
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