Comments on: Translate this line of possibly-Japanese writing?

Question: Translate this line of possibly-Japanese writing?

oblique red — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 06:43:02 -0800

Can anyone translate the Asian characters (I think they are Japanese) on this image?

By: adamdschneider

adamdschneider — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 07:18:48 -0800

Alas, no, but I would say it is Chinese.

By: delmoi

delmoi — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 07:21:20 -0800

Chinese and Japanese use the same characters, what are called Kanji in Japanese and Hanzi in Chinese. The Japanese also use Hiragana and Katakana, which are not present in the picture. So I think it's probably Chinese, rather then Japanese writing.

(It also looks like simplified Chinese, although I'm not sure.)

By: Phire

Phire — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 07:26:32 -0800

Chinese.

Translated literally, it means: "Houyi shoots at the sun, raise your cup and celebrate together". It references a Chinese folklore in which there were ten suns in the sky, scorching the earth and rendering life impossible. The emperor invited Houji the archer to shoot down nine of them, doing a great service to the country, thus the celebration. Read more about this legend and how it relates to the Mid-Autumn Festival at the Wikipedia page.