This is the Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja word for "believer".

Just as in English, this word can be used for a follower of virtually any religion.

This word can also be translated into English as layman, adherent, follower, laity, disciple, or devotee.

Score: 100/100

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This phrase literally means "Better to see something once rather than hear about it one hundred times" or "Telling me about something 100 times is not as good as seeing it once". In English, we have the similar phrase of "Seeing is believing", but this has a bit of the "A picture paints a thousand words" meaning too.

Score: 65/100

This is the Chinese way to say believe. This specifically means to be convinced that something is true or to accept something as true or real. This can also be translated as "convinced of", "have trust in", "have faith in"

Score: 54/100

This single character is often part of other words with similar meanings. Alone, this character can mean to believe, truth, faith, fidelity, sincerity, trust and confidence in Chinese, old Korean Hanja and Japanese Kanji.

It is one of the five basic tenets of Confucius.

In Chinese, it sometimes has the secondary meaning of a letter (as in the mail) depending on context, but it will not be read that way when seen on a wall scroll.

See Also...  Faith | Trust | Confucius

Score: 54/100

This means exactly what the title suggests. The first two characters mean "trust" or "believe" and the second two mean "God" (as in the God of Abraham and the God of Zion).

This is also how the American phrase "In God We Trust" as seen on U.S. Currency would be translated into Chinese. It would also be correct to say that this means "Believe in God", though in this arrangement/context, one would be more likely to interpret it as "trust".

Score: 30/100

This means "Trust in God", "Faith in God", "Rely upon God" and/or "Believe in God".

Score: 29/100

This is another character that expresses the idea of honesty. It can also mean truth, faith, believe in, fidelity, sincerity, trust and/or confidence.

Some have included this in the list for the Bushido, although "makoto" is probably more common/popular.

Note: In some context, this character can mean letter; news or envoy. However, alone, it will generally be read with the honesty-meaning.

See our page with just Code of the Samurai / Bushido here

See Also...  Loyalty Trustworthiness Trustworthy

Score: 29/100

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This is a philosophical poem/quote from Indian Poet and Philosopher, Rabindranath Tagore.

Rabindranath Tagore, 1915

This quote is not sourced, and therefore several variations exist in English. Some suggest the original was in the Bengali language.

This of course is the Chinese translation which has the meaning of, "Faith is the bird that feels the light and sings when the dawn is still dark".

Score: 28/100

This means firm belief, faith, persuasion, conviction, and sometimes religion or creed in Chinese, Japanese Kanji and old Korean Hanja.

This word clearly fits religious connotation of the English word "devotion".

See Also...  Faith | Trust

Score: 28/100

These characters express the idea of "having a belief", or "trusting in the unseen".

This word could also be translated as beliefs or convictions.

Note: Also considered to be one of the Seven Heavenly Virtues.

See Also...  Devotion | Dedication | Trust

Score: 28/100

This is the more religious form of "faith". It has this same meaning in Chinese, Korean Hanja and Japanese Kanji. This is often used to refer to a person of faith or a religious person. Can be directly translated as "firm belief", "creed", "conviction" or simply as "religious" depending on context.

See Also...  Devotion | Trust

Score: 28/100

These four characters together relay the meaning that can be expressed in English as, "When three people say there's a tiger running in the street, you believe it".

Of course, there is an ancient story behind this phrase...

This is actually an idiom that resulted from a conversation that occurred around 300 B.C.

The conversation was between the king of the Wei kingdom and one of the king's ministers named Pang Cong.

It was near the end of one of many wars, this time with the Zhao kingdom. Pang Cong was to be sent by the king to the Zhao kingdom with the king's son who was to be held hostage. It was common at the time for a king to make his son a hostage to secure stable peace between warring kingdoms.

Before minister Pang Cong departed, he asked his king, "If one person told you there was a tiger running in the street, would you believe it?".

"No", the king said.

The minister continued, "What if two people told you?"

The king replied, "Well, I would have my doubts, but I might believe it".

The minister continued, "So, what if three people told you that there is a tiger running in the streets?"

The king replied, "Yes, I would believe it, it must be true if three people say it".

The minister then reminded the king, "Your son and I are now traveling far away to live in the distant Zhao kingdom - much farther from your palace than the street. Rumors may fly about me in my absence, so I hope your majesty will weight such rumors appropriately".

The king replied, "I have every trust in you, do not worry"

While the minister was gone, the king's enemies gossiped about minister Pang Cong on many occasions. At first, the king thought nothing of these comments and rumors. But slowly as the rumors mounted, the king began to suspect ill of his minister.

Some time later when peace was well-established, the minister and prince were freed and returned to the kingdom of Wei. The king received his son, BUT DID NOT EVEN SUMMON MINISTER PANG CONG TO THE PALACE!

Hopefully this story will help you see how dangerous words can be when used to promote rumors, or create ill will. And perhaps will inspire you to not believe everything you hear.

There is also a secondary suggestion in this idiom that gossip is as ferocious as a tiger. Some Chinese people who don't know the ancient story above may believe that this scroll means that rumors are as vicious as three tigers.

Note: This phrase appears in my Korean dictionary, but is not well-known in Korea.

Score: 19/100

This is a specific type of martial arts (Karate) from Okinawa, Japan.

The first two characters mean "Little Forest". This happens to be the exact title of Shaolin (the famous place in China that many believe to be the birthplace of Kung Fu).

The last character can mean a flow or movement, but in the context of martial arts, refers to a style, method, or in the extended meaning, a school.

Note: This title can be pronounced in Chinese, but would only be used or well-known by Chinese people who practice this Japanese martial art (rare). In most cases, consider this to be a "Japanese only" title.

Note: This title is sometimes written with a different first character. It can be written with a character that means "little/small" (see first character to the right).

But it can also be written with a first character which means "pine" (see second character to the right).

Click on the character above (instead of the button above) of your choice if you want one of these alternate forms.

Score: 14/100

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This is the full translation of John 3:16 into Chinese.

This translation comes from the Chinese Union Bible which comes from a revised version of the King James. This Chinese Bible was originally translated and printed in 1919 (several revisions since then).

Because of the origin being the KJV, I'll say that in English, this would be, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life".

As with any translation, there are interesting cultural and linguistic issues. For instance, the word used for "world" in Chinese can also mean "common people". So you could say that it means "For God so loved the common people..."
This does not take away from the text, as it will be understood with the same meaning and connotation.

There is no direct Greek to Chinese translation in print (that I know of), so this is the best available. Of course, you can ask any Greek person of faith, and they will claim that a bit is lost from the original Greek of the New Testament to any of the English versions of the Bible in print.

Score: 14/100

Honesty is being truthful and sincere. It is important because it builds trust. When people are honest, they can be relied on not to lie, cheat or steal. Being honest means that you accept yourself as you are. When you are open and trustworthy, others can believe in you.

Please note that the second Kanji sometimes has an alternate form in Japanese. Let us know if you want the alternate form shown to the right.

Note: This entry is cross-listed as "integrity" because it also fits that definition.

See Also...  Truth | Trust | Integrity

Score: 14/100

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.

Score: 14/100

This is the Buddhist concept of a chance meeting or an opportunity that presents itself by fate.

Sometimes this is used to describe a cosmic chain of events or cause and effect.

It also is used to describe predestined relationships between people - and sometimes married couples (although if you want one about marriage, try this: Fate / Destiny of Lovers.

This word can also be translated as origin, karma, destiny, affinity, connection, and relation. This all depends on context - seen alone on a wall scroll, this will be read with a "fate / chance" meaning by a Chinese person, or Korean who can read Hanja.

This is a rather uncommon word in Japanese, so I recommend it only if your audience is Chinese, Korean or maybe devout Buddhist Japanese.

This concept is known as nidana in the original Sanskrit. Also sometimes presented as hetupratyaya which I believe is Pali.

See Also...  Buddhism | Opportunity

Score: 14/100

Commitment is caring deeply about something or someone. It is deciding carefully what you want to do, and then giving it 100%, holding nothing back. You give your all to a friendship, a task, or something you believe in. You finish what you start. You keep your promises.

In Chinese, this word directly means to undertake something or to make a promise to do something.

Within the idea of commitment, this word also means to make a big effort, or undertaking a great task. Outside of the commitment idea, this particular word can also mean approval, acceptance, consent, assent, acquiescence, or agreement depending on context (especially in Japanese and Korean). Therefore this word is probably best if your audience is Chinese.

See Also...  Partnership | Hard Work | Dedication

Score: 14/100

This is the character "dao" which is sometimes written as "tao" but pronounced like "dow" in Mandarin.

This is the base of what is known as "Taoism". If you translate this literally, it can mean "the way" or "the path".

Dao is believed to be that which flows through all things, and keeps them in balance. It incorporates the ideas of yin and yang (e.g. there would be no love without hate, no light without dark, no male without female.)

The beginning of Taoism can be traced to a mystical man named
Lao Zi (604-531 BC), who followed, and added to the teachings of Confucius.

More about Taoism / Daoism here.

Note that this is pronounced "dou" and sometimes "michi" when written alone in Japanese, but pronounced "do" in word compounds such as Karate-do and Bushido. It's also "do" in Korean.

Alternate translations and meanings: road, way, path; truth, principle province.

Important Japanese note: In Japanese, this will generally be read with the road, way, or path meaning. Taoism is not as popular or well-known in Japan, so that Daoist/Taoist philosophy is not the first thing a Japanese person will think of then they read this character.

See our Taoism Page

Score: 14/100

This is the title of the five elements which are: wood, fire, water, earth and metal. The first character means "5" and the second character is simply "elements".

According to ancient Chinese science, all matter in the world is made up of these elements. One idea presented with the five elements is that when energy is added, matter is believed to expand. When energy is removed, matter contracts. Oddly, this concept is not far from Einstein's theories, and modern science. Just a few thousand years before Einstein.

See more on our Five Elements page. Also a Wikipedia entry for Five Elements (Wu Xing).

See Also...  Wood | Fire | Water | Earth | Metal

Score: 14/100

This word would often be translated as “heart”. However, because it was believed in Chinese culture thousands of years that your consciousness and thoughts came from the big red organ in the middle of your chest, it also means “mind” or “spirit” and sometimes even “soul”.

In Korean, beyond heart, mind, and spirit, this character can mean moral, nature, mind, affections, intentions, core, and center. In fact, it is used in Chinese to mean "center" as well, but only with another character in front of it. For instance, "medical center" or even "shopping center". Separately and alone, it will not be read with that "center" meaning unless thought of as "the center of your soul".

Score: 14/100

This is from "The Story of the Stone" by Cao Xueqin.

For some reason, this phrase was translated as "House of Green Delights" when the novel was published in English. The translator took some liberties, and believed that "green" had a more positive feel than red, to a western audience. Therefore, the phrase shown to the right is "House of Red Delights" (which is the most original and correct way).

Score: 14/100

Qi which is also Romanized as Chi in Chinese or Ki in Japanese, is a fundamental concept of traditional Asian culture. Qi is believed to be part of everything that exists, as in “life force” or “spiritual energy”. It is most often translated as “energy flow,” or literally as “air” or “breath”.

The character itself is a representation of steam (or breath) rising from rice.
This was apparently seen as the release of energy from the rice when this concept was first developed. To clarify, the character for rice is shown to the right. The Qi / Chi / Ki character is still used in compound words to mean steam or vapor.

The idea of Qi / Chi / Ki is really a philosophical concept. It's often used to refer to the “flow” of metaphysical energy that sustains living beings. Yet there is much debate that has continued for thousands of years as to whether Qi / Chi / Ki is pure energy, or consists partially, or fully of matter.

You can also see the character for Qi / Chi / Ki in common compound words such as Tai Chi / Tai Qi, Aikido, Reiki and Qi Gong / Chi Kung.

In the modern Japanese Kanji, the rice radical has been changed into two strokes that form an X.

The original and traditional Chinese form is still understood in Japanese, but we can also offer that modern Kanji form in our custom calligraphy. If you want this Japanese Kanji, please click on the character to the right, instead of the “Select and Customize” button above.

More language notes: This is pronounced like “chee” in Mandarin Chinese, and like “key” in Japanese.
This is also the same way to write this in Korean Hanja where it is Romanized as “gi” and pronounced like “gee”, but with a real G-sound, not a J-sound.
Though Vietnamese no longer use Chinese characters in their daily language, this character is still widely known in Vietnam.

See Also...  Life Force | Vitality | Life | Birth | Soul

Score: 14/100

This means just what the title suggests. This means antiwar, as in what a pacifist believes in.

China doesn't tend to go to war very often so it's rare to need this word. But it's the kind of word that war protesters would write on their signs. If you add the word for "protest" after this word in Chinese, you have the subject that gets a lot of press lately in China:
Anti-War protests in America.

Score: 3/100

The first chapter of Sun Tzu's Art of War lists five key points to analyzing your situation. Sun Tzu says that to sharpen your skills, you must plan. To plan well, you must know your situation. Therefore, you must consider and discuss the following:

1. Philosophy and Politics: Make sure your way or your policy is agreeable among all of your troops (and the citizens of your kingdom as well). For when your soldiers believe in you and your way, they will follow you to their deaths without hesitation, and will not question your orders.

2. Heaven/Sky: Consider climate / weather. This can also mean to consider whether God is smiling on you. In the modern military, this could be waiting for clear skies so that you can have air support for an amphibious landing.

3. Ground/Earth: Consider the terrain in which the battle will take place. This includes analyzing defensible positions, exit routes, and using varying elevation to your advantage. When you plan an ambush, you must know your terrain, and the best location from which to stage that ambush. This knowledge will also help you avoid being ambushed, as you will know where the likely places in which to expect an ambush from your enemy.

4. Leadership: This applies to you as the general, and also to your lieutenants. A leader should be smart and be able to develop good strategies. Leaders should keep their word, and if they break a promise, they should punish themselves as harshly as they would punish subordinates. Leaders should be benevolent to their troops, with almost a fatherly love for them. Leaders must have the ability to make brave and fast decisions. Leaders must have steadfast principles.

5. [Military] Methods: This can also mean laws, rules, principles, model, or system. You must have an efficient organization in place to manage both your troops and supplies. In the modern military, this would be a combination of how your unit is organized, and your SOP (Standard Operating Procedure).

Notes: This is a simplistic translation and explanation. Much more is suggested in the actual text of the Art of War (Bing Fa). It would take a lot of study to master all of these aspects. In fact, these five characters can be compared to the modern military acronyms such as BAMCIS or SMEAC.

CJK notes: I have included the Japanese and Korean pronunciations, but in Chinese, Korean and Japanese, this does not make a typical phrase (with subject, verb and object) it is a list that only someone familiar with Sun Tzu's writings would understand.

Score: 3/100

A man named Wei Zheng lived between 580-643 AD. He was a noble and wise historian and minister in the court of the early Tang Dynasty.

The emperor once asked him, "What should an emperor do to understand the real-world situation and what makes an emperor out-of-touch with reality?"

Wei Zheng replied, "Listen to both sides and you will be enlightened; listen to only one side and you will be left in the dark."

Then Wei Zheng went on to site examples of leaders in history that were victorious after heeding both sides of the story, and other leaders that met their doom because they believed one-sided stories which often came from flattering lips.

Please note that there is an unwritten rule when the same character appears twice in the same phrase, the calligrapher will alter the appearance so that no two characters are exactly alike in the same piece. This calligraphy has two repeating characters that will be written differently than they appear here.

Score: 14/100

Loyalty is staying true to someone. It is standing up for something you believe in without wavering. It is being faithful to your family, country, school, friends or ideals, when the going gets tough as well as when things are good. With loyalty, you build relationships that last forever.

Notes:
1. This written form of loyalty is universal in Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja.

2. There is also a Japanese version that is part of the Bushido Code which may be more desirable depending on whether your intended audience is Japanese or Chinese.

3. This version of loyalty is sometimes translated as devotion, sincerity, fidelity, or allegiance.

See Also...  Honor | Trust | Integrity | Sincerity

Score: 14/100

This is "nothingness" in Buddhist context.

The first character means empty, but can also mean air or sky (air and sky have no form).

The second character means have not, no, none, not or to lack.

Together these characters reinforce each other into a word that means "absolute nothingness".

I know this is a term used in Buddhism, but I have not yet figured out the context in which it is used. I suppose it can be the fact that Buddhists believe that the world in a non-real illusion, or perhaps it's about visualizing yourself as "nothing" and therefore leaving behind your desire and worldliness.
Buddhist concepts and titles often have this element of ambiguity or rather "mystery". Therefore, such ideas can have different meanings to different people, and that's okay. If you don't get it right in this lifetime, as there will be plenty more lifetimes to master it (whatever "it" is, and if "it" really exists at all).

Soothill defines this as "Unreality, or immateriality, of things, which is defined as nothing existing of independent or self-contained nature".

Score: 14/100

These four characters together translate in English to a strong form of "profound" or "written with a forceful hand".

But there is much more to the story...

The deep meaning behind this phrase comes from a man named Wan Xizhi who lived in the third century.

He was a great writer and calligrapher whose writing style influenced generations of other writers and calligraphers.

He once wrote words on a piece of wood to be taken to an engraver.
When the engraver began to carve the characters into the wood, he found that Wang Xizhi's writing had penetrated the wood about 3/8 of an inch.

Thus people believed that his words were so powerful, and so profound this it caused the ink from his brush to penetrate the wood deeply.

The phrase literally means "penetrated wood three fen" (fen is an ancient Chinese measurement a little over to 1/8 of an inch or almost 4mm).

Score: 14/100

When you take this word apart, you find the sum is a little different than the parts. The first character means blood and the second means heart. It is important to note that for thousands of years, it was believed that your heart was both your soul and your mind in Asian culture. When you add blood to the heart, it is your whole being - it is pure and clean dedication with your whole soul.

Most Chinese dictionaries define this as sincerity of heart or a MEDICAL TERM!!!
Please think carefully before ordering this selection - it was only added as others have used this for coffee cups and other novelties (though perhaps naively).

Score: 14/100

This is a nice one if you know a vintner or wine seller - or wine lover - although the actual meaning might not be exactly what you think or hope.

The literal meaning is that someone drinking wine is more likely to let the truth slip out. It can also be translated as, "People speak their true feelings after drinking alcohol".

It's long-believed in many parts of Asia that one can not consciously hold up a facade of lies when getting drunk, and therefore the truth will come out with a few drinks.

I've had the experience where a Korean man would not trust me until I got drunk with him (I was trying to gain access to the black market in North Korea which is tough to do as an untrusted outsider) - so I think this idea is still well-practiced in many Asian countries.

VS

Please note that there are two common ways to write the second character of this phrase. The way it's written will be left up to the mood of the calligrapher, unless you let us know that you have a certain preference.

See Also...  Honesty | Truth

Score: 14/100

This is the generic term for turtle in Chinese, and old Korean Hanja. It's like saying "turtle" (or "tortoise") without being specific about species of turtle.

Please note that there are many special characters in Chinese and a few in Japanese that denote specific species of turtle, and do not include this character. We can't possibly cover all of these species, but if you want a certain one, such as "loggerhead" or a "leatherback", just post your request for a special Chinese / Japanese Kanji / Korean Hanja calligraphy word and we'll do our best to research your special species.

If you noticed, I said species names that do not include this character. This is because, in much the same way we can do it in English by just saying, "loggerhead", instead of "loggerhead turtle", the same can be done in Chinese and Japanese.

This may be hard to believe, but the image shown to the right is an alternate version of this character, which is currently used in Japan. This was originally an alternate form in ancient China for turtle - but it's so obscure now, that most Chinese people would just think this is the Japanese version of turtle (I did a lot of research on this). The version shown in the upper left is traditional Chinese (also used in Korea, prior to 100 years ago). It will generally not be recognized by the new generation of Japanese people. If your audience is Japanese, please click on the Kanji image shown to the right to have the calligrapher write that version (instead of clicking the button above).

Score: 14/100

This is an alternate Chinese way to write Aries (ram) of western astrology. I don't believe it is used at all in Japanese, so the other version is probably better or at least more universal.

See Also...  Chinese Zodiac

Score: 14/100

This is an alternate Chinese way to write Capricorn (horned goat) of western astrology. I don't believe it is used at all in Japanese, so the other version is probably better or at least more universal.

See Also...  Chinese Zodiac

Score: 14/100

This is the title for Jews or the adjective for being Jewish in Chinese.

You may be surprised to learn that there are still a few native Jews in China (though many ethnic Jews moved to Israel). It's believed that they are descendants of traders who traveled the silk road between the Middle East and the Orient.

Score: 14/100

This is a very seldom-used title for Karate. This title uses a character which represents the Tang Dynasty of China. Thus, this is often translated as the "Tang Hand" or incorrectly, "Tang Fist". I have also seen some call it "China Hand".

There is not a lot of information on this title, but some believe that a simplified form of Kung Fu that started in China, and ended up very popular in Japan used this title initially. It was later changed in Japan to a different Karate title which means "Empty Hand" (as in, without weapons).

I am sure that some will suggest a different history or argue a different origin. I think that nobody can be sure.

Note: Just like the more conventional Karate title, this one can have the "way" or "method" character added to the end, as in Karate-Do.

Score: 14/100