Can someone translate this for me into English?

[Lumis]

I had a friend who inherited this, we, unfortunately, don't know Chinese. Could someone please translate this into English for us? Please and Thank you! Any help is appreciated

[Xtuphe]

The 1st row on left "甲申" is represents a certain year, it could be the year 2004 or 1944 or 1884, every 60 years has a 甲申年, 韋小忠書means "wrote by Wei Xiao Zhong".

Then the next row "行健君子自强不息" is from《易经》(The book of changes), which was written maybe 3000 years ago, but the original text is "天行健君子以自强不息", which means "As the heavens move, the noble-minded strive for self-improvement without ceasing." I don't know why the author misses 2 characters, but to me, this writing doesn't make much sense.

[mermaid]

Most part of it comes from an essay by Han Yu (768-824) of the Tang Dynasty

 

The essay is title "About/on Dragon"

You can find more here: https://tangdynastypoetry.com/han-yu-on-dragons-with-english-translations/

 

[cncorrect]

The original text on the folding fan is as follows:
 

Quote

 

龙嘘气成云，云固弗灵于龙也。然龙乘是气，茫洋穷乎玄间，薄日月，伏光景，感震电，神变化，水下土，汩陵谷，云亦灵怪矣哉！

云，龙之所能使为灵也。若龙之灵，则非云之所能使为灵也。然龙弗得云，无以神其灵矣，失其所凭依，信不可欤！异哉！其所凭依，乃其所自为也。

《易》曰：“云从龙。”既曰龙，云从之矣。

 

右韩愈《龙说》

 

龙能大能小，能升能隐。大则与云吐雾，小则隐介藏形，升则飞腾于宇宙之间，隐则潜伏于波涛之内。龙在春深，乘时变化，犹人得志而纵横四海，龙之为物，好比世之英雄所谓行健君子自强不息。

 

甲申 韦小忠书。

 

 

The right part features ‘On Dragon’ by Hanyu. The left part represents the writer’s own thoughts and words, constituting the essence of the work.

"Dragons can be big or small, can ascend or hide. When big, they exhale clouds and mist; when small, they conceal their forms and hide their traces. When ascending, they soar through the universe; when hiding, they lurk within the waves. In the depth of spring, dragons change with the times, just as people who have achieved their ambitions roam the world freely. Dragons, as creatures, are like the heroes of the world, the so-called gentlemen who are strong and unremitting in their efforts. Written by Wei Xiaozhong in the year of Jia Shen (Jia Shen year is one of the 60 years in the lunar calendar cycle, such as 1824, 1884, 1944, 2004, etc. These are all years of the Monkey in the Chinese Zodiac)."