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Custom Friendship Chinese & Japanese Calligraphy Wall Scroll

We have many options to create artwork with Friendship characters on a wall scroll or portrait.
If you want to create a cool Friendship Asian character tattoo, just email us and we'll help you select from many forms of ancient Asian symbols that express the idea of friendship.


Quick links to words on this page...




Select

Best Friends

Mandarin: zhì yǒu

摯
友

This is the Chinese way to say best friend.

The first character can mean "best" or "most sincere". The second character means "friend" or "friends" (plural forms work differently in China).

See Also...  Soulmates

Select

Best Friends (Japanese Only)

Japanese: shinyuu
Korean: 친우

親
友

This is the Japanese way to say "best friend".

The first character can mean "relative" or sometimes "parents". The second character means "friend". Think about the close relationship that Japanese people have with their parents and relatives, and this starts to mean "close friends".

Some Japanese-English dictionaries also translate this as "bosom friend", "old friend", "intimate friend", "buddy", "crony" or "chum".

Note that in Chinese, this has the meaning of "relatives and friends" so only select this if Japanese is your target audience.

Select

Christian Friend

Mandarin: jiào yǒu
Korean: 교우

教
友

Depending on context, this word can mean Christian or "friend of the same religion". While technically it could be any religion, this is used mostly within the Christian faith. You can also translate this as "Christian friend" and in some cases "Church member".

Select

Friend / Friendship

Single Character

Mandarin: yǒu
Japanese: tomo
Korean:

友

This is the simplest way to express the idea of friends or friendship in Chinese. It can mean friend, companion, or pal in Japanese. In Korean, it can mean friend, companion, or associate.

This single characters is open to interpretation, so it can mean different things to different people (not necessarily a bad thing, as you can decide what it means to you). If you want a more concisely-defined word, you should probably pick one of our multi-character friendship-related words.

See Also...  Best Friends | Friendly

Select

Friend (Japanese)

Japanese: tomo dachi

友
達

This is the most common way to say "friend" in Japanese.

See Also...  Best Friends | Friendly

Select

Friendliness

Mandarin: yǒu hǎo
Japanese: yuukou
Korean: 우호

友
好

This Chinese/Japanese word can also be defined as "amity", "friendly", and "outgoing".

Select

Friends Forever

Mandarin: yǒng yuǎn de péng yǒu

永
遠
的
朋
友

This is exactly what the title suggests. This means friends that are eternal or a friendship that will last forever - you will remain the best of friends as long as you live.

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Select

Friendship

Chinese and Korean

Mandarin: yǒu yì
Japanese: yuugi
Korean: 우의

友
誼

Can also be defined as companionship or fellowship. This word is common in Chinese and Korean Hanja but seldom used in Japanese anymore.

See Also...  Partnership | Friendliness

Select

Friendship

Japanese and Korean

Mandarin: yǒu qíng
Japanese: yuujou
Korean: 우정

友
情

Can also be translated as "camaraderie" or "fellowship". But this character combination is only used commonly in Japanese Kanji and Korean Hanja.

Select

Love

Mandarin: ài
Japanese: ai
Korean:

愛

Love is a special feeling that fills your heart. You show love in a smile, a kind word, a thoughtful act or a hug. Love is treating people and things with care and kindness because they mean so much to you. Love is contagious. It keeps spreading.

It's very common for couples to say "I love you" in Chinese. However, in Japanese, "love" is not a term used very often. In fact, a person is more likely to say "I like you" rather than "I love you" in Japanese. So this word is known, but seldom spoken. Can also be defined as "affection".

See Also...  Caring | Benevolence | Friendliness | Double Happiness Happy Marriage Wall Scroll

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Select

Loyalty (devoted to your friends)

Chinese, Korean, and Japanese

Mandarin: zhōng yì
Japanese: chuugi
Korean: 충의

忠
義

This is another form of loyalty. This is more specifically the loyalty you have to your friends. This version is understood universally in Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja. It can also be used to describe devotion or fidelity.

It should be noted that this Kanji combination is being used less and less in modern Japan (this is a better choice if your audience is Chinese, though any Japanese person will clearly understand it).

Select

Partnership: Marriage

Mandarin: bàn lǚ
Japanese: hanryo
Korean:

伴
侶

This is the kind of partnership in which a good marriage is founded. This Chinese word could also be translated as mates or companionship. This word can also be used as a noun to refer to a partner or companion.

This does not have to include a marriage, but at least refers to a partnership with a deep relationship or bond.

Note that this is not the same as a business partner. Different words are used for various types business partnerships (post your request on our Asian calligraphy forum if you need something in that regard).

Select

Sworn Friend / Ally

Mandarin: méng yǒu
Japanese: meiyuu
Korean: 맹우

盟
友

This means a sworn friend or ally. If you stand on the same side of an issue with someone, and perhaps fight for the same cause together, this is the term you would use to describe such a partner.

There may not be a personal relationship, as this term is also used to describe whole countries that make a coalition, or fight against a common enemy.

This would be most appropriate if you are a high-level military officer, giving this wall scroll to an officer of another country as you join forces together, and go to war.

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Wall scroll artwork shown on this page is priced as follows:

1 character $28.88 each

2-3 characters $39.88 each

5-10 characters $59.88 each


We dispatch any size order to any country worldwide for a flat rate US$9.80 P&P

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 $12 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.

A nice Chinese calligraphy wall scroll

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)

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 Hanyu-Pinyin
(Romanized Chinese)
Best Friends挚友
摯友
n/azhì yǒu
zhi4 you3
Best Friends亲友
親友
shinyuun/a
Christian Friend教友
教友
n/ajiào yǒu
jiao4 you3
Friend / Friendship
tomoyǒu
you3
Friend友达
友達
tomodachin/a
Friendliness友好
友好
yuukouyǒu hǎo
you3 hao3
Friends Forever永远的朋友
永遠的朋友
n/ayǒng yuǎn de péng yǒu
yong3 yuan3 de peng2 you3
Friendship友谊
友誼
yuugiyǒu yì
you3 yi4
Friendship友情
友情
yuujouyǒu qíng
you3 qing2
Love
aiài
ai4
Loyalty忠义
忠義
chuugizhōng yì
zhong1 yi4
Partnership: Marriage伴侣
伴侶
hanryobàn lǚ
ban4 lv3
Sworn Friend / Ally盟友
盟友
meiyuuméng yǒu
meng2 you3
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 "Friendship" 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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