We have many options to create artwork with Forgiveness characters on a wall scroll or portrait.
If you want to create a cool Forgiveness Asian character tattoo, you can purchase that here:
Asian / Chinese / Japanese Tattoo Image Service
...and we'll give you many tattoo image templates of the ancient Asian symbols that express the idea of forgiveness.
Quick links to words on this page...

This is the simplest way to express the idea of compassion. It can also mean love for your fellow humans, humanity, or living creatures. Sometimes this is extended to mean charity.
This term is often used with Buddhist or Christian context. The concept was also spoken of by Laozi (Lao Tze) in the Dao De Jing (Tao Te Ching).
This Chinese character is understood in Japanese, but is usually used in compound words (not seen alone). Also used in Korean Hanja, so it's very universal.
See Also... Mercy | Benevolence | Kindness

This single character means "forgive" in Chinese. In Korean, this kind of means forgive, but also has slightly different definitions of consider, excuse, faithful, believe.


This two-character word means "forgive" in Chinese. It can also be defined as "to pardon" or "to excuse". This is kind of a general forgiveness.


This Chinese word is a kind of forgiveness that you would beg for like a servant begging a master. This can also be the forgiveness that a person would beg from the king or God.
This word suggests that this is forgiveness for something really bad (a terrible crime or sin).


This two-character word of Chinese origin means forgive or forgiveness. This is a deep kind of forgiveness from the bottom of your heart.
In a religious context, this is the kind of forgiveness that you beg God for.
In Korean Hanja, this can also be defined as forbearance or leniency.
In Japanese Kanji, beyond forgiveness, this can also mean magnanimity or generosity.
While we don't actively recommend Asian tattoos, this would be the forgiveness title which is best for a tattoo in most cases.
Note: The first character can also be written in the form shown to the right (especially in Japanese). If you have a preference, please let us know in the "special instructions" when you place your order.




This is a Japanese proverb which suggests that "water continues to flow". It's similar to our English phrase, "Water under the bridge". The perceived meaning is, "Forgive and forget".
I have also seen this translated as, "Don't cry over spilled milk".






Characters shown
above are read
vertically, starting
from the right
This is a religious phrase, which means exactly what the title suggests.
See Also... Christian




This is how to write "forgive yourself" in Chinese.
The first two characters mean, "to excuse", "to forgive", or "to pardon".
The last two characters mean, "self" (reflexive pronoun), "yourself", or "oneself".


This is the kind of forgiveness that a king might give to his subjects for crimes or wrong-doings. This is a rather high-level forgiveness. Meaning that it goes from a higher level to lower (not the reverse).
Alone, first character can mean "to bear", "to allow" and/or "to tolerate", and the second can mean "to forgive", "to pardon" and/or "to excuse".
See Also... Benevolence

This character means forgive, show mercy, absolve, or excuse in Chinese and Korean Hanja (though mostly used in compound words in Korean).
This character incorporates the pictogram of a heart at the bottom, and a woman and a mouth at the top. The heart portion has the most significance, as it is suggested that it is the heart's nature to forgive.
In Asian culture, as with most other cultures, forgiveness is an act of benevolence and altruism. In forgiving, you put yourself in someone else's shoes and show them the kindness that you would want them to show you. Confucius referred to this quality as "human-heartedness".



If you are looking for forgiveness, this is what you would say to ask/beg for it.
Note: This is a strange thing to write on a wall scroll for Chinese people - but you can bend the rules if you want in the west.
Wall scroll artwork shown on this page is priced as follows:
1 character $29.88 each
2-3 characters $39.88 each
4 characters $49.88 each
5-10 characters $59.88 each
After you select your calligraphy, our website will take you through the process of customizing your artwork.
Options for other mounting such as portraits are available for $13 less.
We also offer the services of a famous master calligrapher for a $40 fee on any scroll if you are looking for investment-quality calligraphy.
If you chose our famous master-calligrapher, you also get more choices for silk and paper colors and the option for larger artwork.
All of our calligraphy is completely done by hand in the ancient way.
When the calligrapher finishes creating your artwork, it is taken to our art mounting workshop in Beijing where a wall scroll is made by hand from a combination of silk, rice paper, and wood.
After we create your wall scroll, it takes at least two weeks for air mail delivery from Beijing to you.
Therefore, allow at least 3 weeks for delivery from the time you place your order.
When you select your calligraphy, you'll be taken to another page where you can choose various custom options.
The scroll that I am holding in this picture is a "regular 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)
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.
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.
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.
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 Hanyu-Pinyin (Romanized Chinese) | |||
| Mercy / Compassion / Love | 慈 慈 | ji | cí ci | ci2 ci | ||
| Forgive | 谅 諒 | n/a | liàng liang | liang4 liang | ||
| Forgive | 原谅 原諒 | n/a | yuán liàng yuan liang | yuan2 liang4 yuanliang | ||
| Begging Forgiveness | 饶恕 饒恕 | n/a | ráo shù rao shu | rao2 shu4 raoshu | ||
| Forgive | 宽恕 寬恕 / 寛恕 | kan jo kanjo | kuān shù kuan shu | kuan1 shu4 kuanshu | ||
| Forgive and Forget | 水に流す 水に流す | mizu ni naga su mizuninagasu | n/a | |||
| Forgive Me of My Sins | 原谅我的罪孽 原諒我的罪孽 | n/a | yuán liàng wǒ de zuì niè yuan liang wo de zui nie | yuan2 liang4 wo3 de zui4 nie4 yuanliangwodezuinie | ||
| Forgive Yourself | 原谅自己 原諒自己 | n/a | yuán liàng zì jǐ yuan liang zi ji | yuan2 liang4 zi4 ji3 yuanliangziji | ||
| Forgiveness (from the top down) | 容赦 容赦 | you sha yousha yo sha | róng shè rong she | rong2 she4 rongshe | ||
| Forgiveness | 恕 恕 | n/a | shù shu | shu4 shu | ||
| Please Forgive Me | 请原谅 請原諒 | n/a | qíng yuán liàng qing yuan liang | qing2 yuan2 liang4 qingyuanliang | ||
| 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 we spent hundreds of hours making images so that you could view the characters in the "Forgiveness" 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. | ||||||
All custom calligraphy items are made-to-order in our little Beijing artwork-mounting workshop.
Normal delivery isjust over 3 weeksfor these handmade items.
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