Custom Japanese and Chinese Love Symbol - Calligraphy Wall Scrolls

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

The best kind of love to have I suppose. This word has the well-know character for love. But the second character modifies and/or reinforces the meaning to become adore, adoring love, or to love and adore.

I say that I suppose this is the best kind of love because adoring someone is fine, until you are in the shoes of the Prince of the Kingdom of Wu. This Prince adored a certain beautiful woman (Xi Shi) so much that he neglected his duties, and soon let the kingdom fall into ruins.

Any woman with affection for Asian art and you will love a gift of this calligraphy on a wall scroll. She will melt in your arms as you tell her the meaning of these characters.

Contained in this phrase is a reference to the most beautiful woman in Chinese history. Her name was Xi Shi, and she was known to have good looks that need not fine robes or make up. Her charms were so powerful that she brought down an entire kingdom (in a successful effort to bring honor and pride back to her people).

This is exactly what the title suggests. The words directly translate from English to Chinese characters. This is a common phrase used between lovers in China.

Note: While the Japanese language uses the same characters, this phrase would not be spoken - it's kind of taboo in Japan. A man might tell a woman that he likes her with the phrase “Watashi wa anata ga suki-desu” (I regarding you have liking). If your audience is Japanese, avoid this “I love you” phrase. If you need something special, we have a Japanese translator on call.

This is a universal word in Japanese, Korean and Chinese which means love and affection. Some may translate this as "love between a man and a woman". Depending on context, it can mean utter devotion or favorite.

This is a slightly poetic way to express this sentiment to someone.

The meaning is "My True Love" but the characters directly translate as "I/Me/My Heart/Mind True/Real Love".

Note that Chinese grammar and construction are different, so this sounds very eloquent and artsy in Chinese.
In Korean Hanja, the third character should be written differently, just let me know when you place your order if you want that version - it will still make sense in Chinese. This phrase makes sense in Korean, but not commonly used.

This is literally "True Love" in Chinese.

The first character means "real", "true" and "genuine". The second character means "love" and "affection".

During the customization of your calligraphy wall scroll, there is a place to add an inscription. You might want that inscription to be your names in Chinese down the side of your wall scroll, or perhaps just below these two main characters (just $9 extra). A nice gift to celebrate an anniversary or marriage!

In Chinese and Korean, this means universal fraternity, brotherhood, or universal love.

In Japanese, this means charity, benevolence, philanthropy, or love for humanity.

Please note these subtle differences and take that into account depending on your intended audience (Chinese, Korean or Japanese).

See Also...   Benevolence | Altruism

This is the love between siblings. When you love, protect, care for, and have a deep bond that only brothers or sisters can.

The actual translation is "Hand and Foot" but it is said the relationship between brothers or sisters is like that of hands and feet. They belong together, and complete the body. Even though this says "hand and foot", it will always be read with the brotherly and sisterly love meaning in Chinese.

Note: During the past 20 years, the "One child policy" in China is slowly making this term obsolete.

This is the Chinese and Japanese way to express "Peace and Love". These are two separate words, so the calligrapher will put a slight space between the first two characters which mean peace, and the last two which represent universal love. This space is not shown on the sample character images for this phrase.

A special note: Word lists may seem okay in English, but feel strange in Chinese and Japanese. We don't offer too many of them, but this one is often-requested, and feels okay in Chinese and Japanese, though a bit uncommon in Korean.

See Also...  Peace

Kindness is showing you care, doing some good to make life better for others. Be thoughtful about people's needs. Show love and compassion to someone who is sad or needs your help. When you are tempted to be cruel, to criticize or tease, decide to be kind instead.

Can also mean "affectionate" or "cordial".

See Also...   Caring | Benevolence

Beyond "benevolence" word can be also be defined as "charity" or "mercy" depending on usage.

The meaning suggests that one should pay alms to the poor, care for those in trouble, and take care of his fellow man (or woman).

This is one of the five tenets of Confucius. In fact, it is a subject in which Confucius spent a great deal of time explaining to his disciples.

I have also seen this benevolent-related word translated as perfect virtue, selflessness, love for humanity, humaneness, goodness, good will, or simply "love" in the non-romantic form.

This is also a virtue of the Samurai Warrior
See our page with just Code of the Samurai / Bushido here

See Also...  Altruism | Kindness | Charity | Brotherhood

Caring is giving love and attention to people and things that matter to you and anyone who is in need of help. When you care about people, you help them. You do a careful job, giving your very best effort. You treat people and things gently and respectfully. Caring makes the world a safer place.

This means caring in Chinese, and is also a word in Korean Hanja, but with more of a flavor or "taking an interest" and "concern".

Note, this is also a word in Korean Hanja, but in Korean, it means taking interest or concern. In Korean it's still a good word, but it doesn't quite have the "caring for a person" meaning that it does in Chinese.

See Also...   Benevolence | Altruism

Compassion is caring and understanding someone is hurt or troubled (even if you don't know them). It is wanting to help, even if all you can do is listen and say kind words. You forgive mistakes. You are a friend when someone needs a friend.

These same two characters contain this meaning of compassion and sympathy in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean, which makes this word universal.

See Also...  Caring | Kindness

This is how the name for Aphrodite, Goddess of Love is written in Chinese characters.

This is the true essence of sincerity. It takes strength of personality to be truly sincere without over-doing it. Speaking of strength, this is probably the strongest way to convey the idea of sincerity in the Chinese language without over-doing it.

The first character literally means true, real, and genuine. While the second character means sincere and honest.

See Also...  Honor

This is the last line of a famous poem. It is perceived as a tribute or ode to your parent's or mother from a child or children that have left home.

The poem was written by Meng Jiao during the Tang Dynasty (about 1200 years ago). The Chinese title is "You Zi Yin" which means "The Traveler's Recite".

The last line as shown here speaks of the generous and warm spring sun light which gives the grass far beyond what the little grass can could ever give back (except perhaps by showing its lovely green leaves and flourishing). The metaphor is that the sun is your mother or parents, and you are the grass. Your parents raise you and give you all the love and care you need to prepare you for the world. A debt which you can never repay, nor is repayment expected.

The first part of the poem (not written in the characters to the left) suggests that the thread in a loving mother's hands is the shirt of her traveling offspring. Vigorously sewing while wishing them to come back sooner than they left.
...This part is really hard to translate into English that makes any sense, but maybe you get the idea. We are talking about a poem that is so old that many Chinese people would have trouble reading it (as if it was the King James Version of Chinese).

This means benevolent heart or merciful heart in Japanese. This is a Japanese only phrase, and must be ordered using one of our master calligraphers (We suggest our Japanese master calligrapher). This is because the third character is special Hiragana.

Chances are you are into Inuyasha and are seeking the title of chapter 471 which is often translated as "Merciful Heart".

See Also...  Altruism

This is how the name for Venus, Goddess of Love is written in Chinese characters.

This came from a customer's request, but it's not too bad. These three simple characters suggest that you are born, you learn to love, and then exit the world.

Whether you want to make a joke about what marriage really is, or just feel that the world in full of love and hate, this selection is for you.

These characters happen to literally translate. So the first character is love. The middle character is a connecting particle like "and" in English. The last character is hate.

Upon request, we can omit the "and" character and just put a dot to separate love and hate if you prefer.

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 | Forgiveness

The first two characters mean "eternal" and the last character is "love". The third character is a possessive article which sort of makes this selection mean "Love of the eternal kind".

This version is best if your audience is Chinese. We also have a Japanese version of this entry.

See Also...  Forever Love | Eternal Love (japanese)

The first two characters mean "forever" and the last character is "love". The third character is a possesive article which sort of makes this selection mean "The forever kind of love".

See Also...  Eternal Love

The first character here means "love" the last two mean "eteral" or "eternally". This is the shortest way to express the idea of "love eternally" in Chinese.

See Also...  Love Forever

The first character here means "love" the last two mean "forever". This is the shortest way to express this idea in Chinese.

See Also...  Eternal Love

This entry was added at the request of a customer. This is how to write "love without reason" in Mandarin Chinese (using proper grammar, etc).

This is not a commonly-used, nor ancient phrase in Chinese.

This means love passionately, ardent love, devotion. The literal meaning is "hot love", as the first character means heat, fervent, hot and warm. The second character is, of course, love.

This means to love and honor. This is more or less the kind of thing you'd find in marriage vows.The first character suggests emotions, passion, and feelings.
In this context, the second character means to honor your lover's wishes, and treat them justly and righteously (fairly).

This is the short and sweet form, there is also a longer poetic form (you can find it here: Love and Honor if it's not on the page you are currently viewing).

See Also...  Love And Honor

This means to love and honor. This is more or less the kind of thing you'd find in marriage vows.

The first two characters suggest deep love or deep emotions, passion, and feelings.
The last two character s mean generous justice or thick honor (the third character is an adjective that means generous or thick). It just means that you will honor your lover's wishes, and treat them justly and righteously (fairly).

This is the longer four-character version, there is also a short and sweet two character version (you can find it here: Love and Honor if it's not on the page you are currently viewing).

See Also...  Love And Honor

The first two characters mean eternal, eternity, perpetuity, immortality, and permanence.

The third character is a possessive article which sort of makes this selection mean "Love, of the eternal kind".

The last character is "love".

Cultural note: Most of the time, it is taboo to use the word "love" in Japanese. For instance, a Japanese man will say, "I like you", rather than, "I love you", to his spouse/girlfriend. However, this entry for eternal love is acceptable because of the way it is composed.

This entry is only appropriate if your audience is Japanese. We also have a Chinese version of this phrase.

The first two characters mean "live" as in "to be alive" or "pursue life".
The third character means love.
The last character means laugh (sometimes means smile).

This is not a normal phrase, in that it does not have a subject, verb, and object. It is a word list. It should be noted that word lists are not normal or natural in Asian languages/grammar (at least not as normal as they are in English). The calligrapher may separate each word slightly with some space to show that they are separate ideas (such spacing not shown in the scroll mock up to the left).

We only added this entry because so many people requested it.