太 in Chinese / Japanese...

We struggled to find a word that encompasses the English, “hella” with a meaning like, “really,” “a lot,” “totally,” and/or “very.”

In Chinese, Japanese, and old Korean, 太 is a character that is often said as an adjective in front of other words, to make “good” into “too good,” or “extremely good.”

The meaning of this character from the dictionary is highest, greatest, too (much), very, extremely, fat, grand, magnificent, excellent, or great.

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

You may be surprised to learn 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.

健太 is the name Kenta in Chinese (Mandarin).

太平 means “peace and tranquility” or “peace and security” in Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja.

The literal translation would be “very balanced” or “very peaceful.”

The first character means very, much, too much, or extremely.
The second character means balanced, peaceful, calm, equal, even, level, or smooth.

太陽 is a two-character title for the Sun.

This refers specifically to Sol, the star at the center of our Solar system.

In Japanese, this is often romanized as Taiyou or Taiyo but can also be pronounced as the names Minami, Hiroaki, Hinata, Hikaru, Tsubasa, Tahi, Takayasu, Takaharu, or Soru.

太來 is the name Taerae in Chinese (Mandarin).

太極 is the name Tageik in Chinese (Mandarin).

太極 is the shortened title for Tai Chi Chuan or Tai Ji Quan that is sometimes used in Western countries.

Basically just removing the last character which means fist. I don't recommend this two-character selection because it's not really a word without the third character in Japanese and Chinese.

太石 is the name Taishi in Chinese (Mandarin).

太澤 is the name Tazzle in Chinese (Mandarin).

太陽神 means “Sun God” in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.

It's used in Chinese to mean the Greek God Apollo. This can also be used in Chinese to refer to Nasa's Apollo missions to the moon.

太白星 is the specific title for the planet Venus in Chinese and Japanese Kanji.

太極拳 is the famous Taoist meditation and martial art exercise. The direct translation of these characters would be something like “grand ultimate fist,” but that does not quite hit the mark for what this title really means.

An early-morning walk through any city in China near a park or an open area will yield a view of Chinese people practicing this ancient technique.

A typical scene is an old man of no less than 80 years on this earth, with a wispy white beard and perhaps a sword in one hand. He makes slow moves that are impossibly smooth. He is steady-footed and always in balance. For him, time is meaningless and proper form, and technique is far more important than speed.

For the younger generation, faster moves may look impressive and seem smooth to the casual observer. But more discipline and mental strength are needed to create perfectly smooth moves in virtual slow motion.

Note: There are two ways to Romanize these Chinese characters, as seen in the title above. The pronunciation and actual characters are the same in Chinese. If you really used English sounds/words to pronounce this, it would be something like “tie jee chew-on” (make the “chew-on” one flowing syllable).

太極球 is the title “Tai Chi Ball.”

This may refer to any number of variations of exercise balls, some with yin-yang themes, others strictly for taichi/taiji or qigong exercises.

麥金太爾 is the name Macintyre in Chinese (Mandarin).

太極拳道 is the common Tai Chi Chuan title with “Dao” (the Way) added to the end.

If you're not sure, I suggest shorter titles such as “Tai Chi Chuan,” or just “Tai Chi.”

太极拳法 literally translates as “Tai Chi Fist Law” though 拳法 is also known in Japanese as “Kempo” which is sometimes read as “boxing” depending on context.

This proverb can be translated as the whole world at peace, peace and prosperity, peaceful and tranquil, peace reigns over the land, times of peace, peace and tranquillity, peaceful world, or from the Greek, times of halcyon.

Sometimes (rarely) written as 天下泰平 (variant 3rd character).

五行太極拳 is a certain school or style of Tai Chi (Taiji).

The characters literally mean “Five Elements Tai Chi Fist.”

Notes:
In Taiwan, it would be Romanized as “Wu Hsing Tai Chi Chuan” - see the standard Mandarin method above in the gray box (used in mainland China and the official Romanization used by the Library of Congress).

The last three characters are sometimes translated as “Grand Ultimate Fist,” so the whole thing can be “Five Elements Grand Ultimate Fist” if you wish.

I have not confirmed the use of this title in Korean but if it is used, it's probably only by martial arts enthusiasts. The pronunciation is correct, as shown above for Korean.

太極詠春功夫 is the title Tai Chi Wing Chun Kung Fu.

Please note that it can be romanized in a variety of ways such as:
Tai Chi Ving Tsun Kung Fu
Tai Qi Yong Chun Gong Fu
Taai Gik Wing Ceon Gung Fu

Be sure this is the right title for what you are looking for before you order.

啟盛世開太平 means “To bring flourishing peace and security to the world (our current era).”

It's a wish that a new door leading to peace and prosperity could be opened to mankind.

Character and word breakdown:
啟 to open; to start; to initiate; to enlighten or awaken.
盛世 a flourishing period; period of prosperity; a golden age.
開 to open; to start; to turn on.
太平 peace and security; peace and tranquility; peace; tranquility.
I don't like to do breakdowns like this, as the words altogether create their unique meaning (encompassed in the main title above).