This is the very old way to say woman in Chinese. A common title ancient China, this actually refers to the scarf or head wrapping worn by virtually all women at that time.

This is kind of a cool way to say Woman now. The actual gender character alone on a wall scroll would actually just look like a fancy sign for the woman's restroom (WC).

If you are curious, the character to the right directly means female or woman. This is useful information if you are a woman in need of a toilet in China.

Score: 100/100

This can mean brave woman, heroine, lady of character, distinguished woman, outstanding woman, and sometimes prominent woman.

In modern usage, some people might use this to give a title to women like Oprah Winfrey, Hillary Clinton, or Sarah Palin. I would rather use it for a woman like Araceli Segarra (the first woman from Spain to climb Mt. Everest).

Score: 100/100

This is a cool and somewhat ancient way to say woman hero in Chinese. This word is used in modern times to refer to an outstanding woman or a woman with great accomplishments.

In the old days, it was a title for a woman warrior (oh, did I mention that there were great female generals who led huge armies into battle in ancient China?)

Score: 100/100

This is the best way to say "strong woman" or "strong and independent woman" in Chinese.

Grammar in China is a bit different, so these three characters literally read as "female strength person" or "woman strong person". This might sound funny in English, but this is a natural-sounding title in Chinese.

Score: 100/100

This is the best and most polite way to express "beautiful woman" in Chinese.

Note: Some people may like the simple 2-character way to express this, but there are some bad connotations with that, so better to stay with this longer and more respectful title.

See Also...  Beautiful Girl | Beauty

Score: 100/100

This literally means "Mysterious Person/Woman". In Japanese this is associated with a "geisha", which matches this definition of "mysterious woman". However, this is the colloquial way to say "professional geisha" or "expert prostitute" in Japanese. It therefore might not be what you want on your wall.

Notes: This is a "Japanese only" term, though a Chinese person who sees these characters will think of a geisha or an alluring Japanese female musician.
While not often seen in Korean Hanja, this would mean a "dark woman", as in a woman that you cannot easily see through.

Score: 100/100

This is another simple way to write "Phoenix" in Chinese. This is the specifically female element of phoenix, so this is how you write "female phoenix". This character is sometimes used to represent the female empress (many times in history, China was ruled by a woman, in much the same way queens came to power in Europe).

Note that the emperor is always represented as a dragon (not the male version of phoenix).

If you see yourself as a strong woman, this might be scroll for you to express "woman power" or "powerful woman" in a cool way.

Score: 37/100

This word is often used to describe the beauty of a woman. It's also the first character in the word for "beauty salon" which you will see all over China.

For a bit of trivia: The title for the "USA" in Chinese is "Mei Guo" which literally means "Beautiful Country". This name was bestowed at a time before Chairman Mao came to power and decided that China didn't like the USA anymore (even though we fought together against the Japanese in WWII). But these days, Chinese people love Americans (but have distaste for American politics and policy). But I digress...

This is also how "Beautiful" is written in Japanese Kanji and Korean Hanja.

See Also...  Beautiful Girl

Score: 28/100

This is the best way to express "beautiful girl" in Chinese.

See Also...   Beauty

Score: 24/100

This is one way to write queen in Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja.

This is not the same thing as an empress.

The first character means "woman" or "female", and the second means "king". So this is literally, "woman king".

See Also...  Empress | Goddess | King | Emperor

Score: 21/100

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

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 word is so important to me that I named my second daughter with this character. Her name is "Renni" which means "Benevolent Girl".
-Gary.

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

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

Score: 16/100

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".

Score: 16/100

Characters shown
above are read
vertically, starting
from the right

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).

Score: 11/100

This is the real basis for the way we spell geisha. However, there are many more ways to refer to a woman that fills the role that westerners think of when they hear the word geisha.

In Japanese, these characters literally mean "artful person". But in English it might be better translated as "a person (woman) highly trained/accomplished in the arts".

However, my Japanese dictionary says "a singing and dancing girl".

Many will argue as to whether "geisha" = "prostitute" or not. My Japanese friends seem to have the opinion that a geisha is so highly trained in the art playing musical instruments and dancing that the fact she might also be a prostitute is secondary to her performance on stage.

This is a "Japanese only" term, they use a slightly different first character to express "geisha" in Chinese. Since this is a Japanese term, I have not included the Chinese version.

Score: 11/100

This is the title of empress or emperess, the female form of emperor. This is used in Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja.

While the emperor's reign was for life, if he died, his wife would hold his power. In this case, a woman was the ultimate ruler of the greater part of East Asia (what is now China) until her death and the succession of the emperor's first born son to lead the empire. Numerous times in various Chinese dynasties, an empress took power in this way.

The first character means emperor by itself.

The second character alone can mean "wife of an emperor or king" (the first character clarifies that we are talking about an empress, and not a queen). It can also mean sovereign or last offspring, depending on context.

Note: In some books, this word is translated as queen. While only incorrect if you get technical (because an empress is theoretically a higher level than a queen), the meaning is very similar.

This is sometimes used for the title of queen, but more technically, this is the wife of the emperor (a higher level than a queen).

See Also...  Emperor | King | Queen | Phoenix

Score: 6/100

This can mean saint, sage, or holy man.

Note: There is more than one way to express this idea. This one really matches "Holy man" because the second character means "human" or "person" (therefore, this could equally mean "Holy woman").

Score: 6/100