Adventures in Asian Art



You can buy a wall scroll with Bruce in Chinese characters.

We've carefully transliterated Bruce into Mandarin and can offer many custom Chinese calligraphy options for Bruce.

Quick links to words on this page...

  1. Bruce
  2. Bruce Lee
  3. Jeet Kune Do
  4. Kung Fu / Gong Fu
  5. Leanna
  6. Lee / Plum
  7. Little Dragon
  8. Unbreakable

Bruce

bù lǔ sī
布
魯
斯

This is the transliteration to Mandarin Chinese for the name Bruce

Bruce

Japanese Katakana

buruusu
ブ
ル
ー
ス

This is the name Bruce written in Katakana (phonetic Japanese).

This name is written in Katakana, a specifically-Japanese character set.
This selection MUST be written by our Japanese master calligrapher
(sorry, no standard calligraphy service/pricing for this selection).

Bruce Lee

lǐ xiǎo lóng
bu ruu su ri
이소룡
李
小
龍

Bruce LeeMany people have no idea that Bruce Lee had a "real" Chinese name. In mainland China and Hong Kong he is known as "Li Xiao-Long". He kept his family name pronunciation (Li = Lee). This is a common family name that also means "plum".

His given name "Xiao-Long" literally means "little dragon". This is why you often see the character for dragon associated with Bruce Lee on various posters etc.

For a pronunciation lesson, the "X" in Romanized Chinese is pronounced like a "sh" sound but with your tongue at the bottom of your mouth. The vowel sound in "Long" is like the English "oh", not like the "ah" sound in the English word "long".

If you are a big Bruce Lee fan, you should know this information, and you should have this wall scroll hanging in your room or martial arts studio.

Note: Japanese use these same exact Chinese characters / Kanji to write Bruce Lee's real name (with different pronunciation - which is a bit like how the name "Bruce Lee" sounds in English).

See Also...  Kung Fu | Marital Arts

Jeet Kune Do

jié quán dào
jeet kune do
sekken dou
截
拳
道

In Cantonese, this is Jeet Kune Do. Often it is explained as the "Way of the Intercepting Fist". This is a martial art style founded by Bruce Lee.

The first character means to cut-off or sever.
The second character is fist.
The last character means way or method.

Kung Fu / Gong Fu

gōng fu
kan fu / ku fu
功
夫

One of the most famous types of martial arts in the world - and not just because of Bruce Lee.

Some translate the meaning as "Accomplishment by Great Effort". I think this is partially true, but directly translated it literally means "Merit/Achievement/Accomplishment Man". The word "fu" can sometimes mean "husband" or "porter", but in this case, it can only mean "man". However, few in China will think "man" when they hear the word "Gong Fu" spoken.

This term is also used for things other than martial arts. In fact, it's used to refer to a person with excellent skills in crafts that require a great deal of effort such as cooking, tea ceremonies, and calligraphy.

What a lot of people don't know is that the spelling of "Kung Fu" was actually taken from the old Wade Giles form of Romanization. Using this method, the sounds of the English "G" and "K" were both written as "K" and an apostrophe after the "K" told you it was supposed to sound like a "G". Nobody in the west knew this rule, so most people pronounce it with a "K-sound". And so Gong Fu will always be Kung Fu for most westerners.

Also, just to educate you a little more, the "O" in "Gong" has a sound like the English word "oh".

The popular Chinese dish "Kung Pao Chicken" suffers from the same problem. It should actually be "Gong Bao Chicken".

Historical note: Many will claim that Kung Fu was invented by the monks of the Shaolin monastery. This fact is argued in both directions by scholars of Chinese history. Perhaps it is more accurate to say that the Shaolin Monks brought the original fame to Kung Fu many generations ago.

Japanese note: While Japanese martial artists will recognize these characters, Katakana is more often used to approximate the pronunciation of "Kung Fu" with "カンフー". Some will argue as to whether this should be considered a Japanese word at all.

Leanna

lì ān nà
李
安
娜

This is another transliteration to Mandarin Chinese for the name Leanna.

The first character is the only difference. Both ways, the first character is pronounced like "lee" but this one happens to be the same "lee" as in "Bruce Lee" - it also means plum.

Lee / Plum (Surname)


lee
ri / sumomo
리 or 이
李

This is the most common Chinese character which sounds like "Lee" or "Li" and is used as a surname / family name in China. This character actually means "Plum". So it's really Mr. Plum and Mrs. Plum if you translated the name instead of romanizing.

This is not the only character in Chinese that can be romanized as "Lee" or "Li". If your family name is "Lee" or "Li" please be sure this is the correct character before you order this scroll (look at your grandparents' Chinese passports or other documents if you are an ABC and are trying to create a heritage wall scroll).

Famous people with this surname include Bruce Lee (Li Xiao-Long), Minister Li Peng, and famous Tang Dynasty poet Li Bai.

Note: This also one version of Lee that is a common Korean surname. However, it's often romanized as "Yi" and sometimes as "Ri" or "Rhee".

See Also...  Bruce Lee

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Little Dragon

xiǎo lóng
소룡
小
龍

This literally means "little dragon" or "young dragon". This is often used as a given name in Chinese. In fact, Bruce Lee's real given name is "Little Dragon".

Unbreakable

jiān bù kě cuī
堅
不
可
摧

This means "unbreakable" in Chinese. It can also mean invulnerable, indestructible, or impregnable.

You may be searching for this because you like the 2000 film, Unbreakable, starring Bruce Willis. This is the title of that film in Chinese.


A nice Chinese calligraphy wall scroll

The scroll that I am holding in this picture is a "medium size"
4-character wall scroll.
As you can see, it is a great size to hang on your wall.
(We also offer custom wall scrolls in larger sizes)

A professional Chinese Calligrapher

Professional calligraphers are getting to be hard to find these days.
Instead of drawing characters by hand, the new generation in China merely type roman letters into their computer keyboards and pick the character that they want from a list that pops up.

There is some fear that true Chinese calligraphy may become a lost art in the coming years. Many art institutes in China are now promoting calligraphy programs in hopes of keeping this unique form of art alive.

Trying to learn Chinese calligrapher - a futile effort

Even with the teachings of a top-ranked calligrapher in China, my calligraphy will never be good enough to sell. I will leave that to the experts.


A high-ranked Chinese master calligrapher that I met in Zhongwei

The same calligrapher who gave me those lessons also attracted a crowd of thousands and a TV crew as he created characters over 6-feet high. He happens to be ranked as one of the top 100 calligraphers in all of China. He is also one of very few that would actually attempt such a feat.



See: Our list of specifically Japanese Kanji Calligraphy Wall Scrolls. And, check out Our list of specifically old Korean Hanja Calligraphy Wall Scrolls.

The following table is only helpful for those studying Chinese (or Japanese), and perhaps helps search engines to find this page when someone enters Romanized Chinese or Japanese

Title
Characters 
Simplified
Traditional
Japanese Romaji
(Romanized Japanese)
Various forms of Romanized Chinese
Bruce布鲁斯
布魯斯
n/abù lǔ sī
bu lu si
pu lu ssu
bu4 lu3 si1
bulusi
Bruceブルースburuusu
burusu
n/a
Bruce Lee李小龙
李小龍
bu ruu su ri
buruusuri
bu ru su ri
lǐ xiǎo lóng
li xiao long
li hsiao lung
li3 xiao3 long2
lixiaolong
Jeet Kune Do截拳道
截拳道
sekken dou
sekkendou
seken do
jié quán dào
jie quan dao
chieh ch`üan tao
jie2 quan2 dao4
jiequandao
chiehchüantao
chieh chüan tao
Kung Fu / Gong Fu功夫
功夫
kan fu / ku fu
kanfu/kufu
gōng fu
gong fu
kung fu
gong1 fu
gongfu
Leanna李安娜
李安娜
n/alì ān nà
li an na
li4 an1 na4
lianna
Lee / Plum (Surname)
ri / sumomo
ri/sumomo

li
li3
li
Little Dragon小龙
小龍
n/axiǎo lóng
xiao long
hsiao lung
xiao3 long2
xiaolong
Unbreakable坚不可摧
堅不可摧
n/ajiān bù kě cuī
jian bu ke cui
chien pu k`o ts`ui
jian1 bu4 ke3 cui1
jianbukecui
chienpukotsui
chien pu ko tsui

If you have not set up your computer to display Chinese, the characters in this table probably look like empty boxes or random text garbage.
This is why I spent hundreds of hours making images so that you could view the characters in the "Bruce" listings above.
If you want your Windows computer to be able to display Chinese characters you can either head to your Regional and Language options in your Win XP control panel, select the [Languages] tab and click on [Install files for East Asian Languages]. This task will ask for your Win XP CD to complete in most cases. If you don't have your Windows XP CD, or are running Windows 98, you can also download/run the simplified Chinese font package installer from Microsoft which works independently with Win 98, ME, 2000, and XP. It's a 2.5MB download, so if you are on dial up, start the download and go make a sandwich.



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