Seeking the word for Life in Chinese or Japanese?
Want a word that means the essence of life and existence?
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2. Birth / Life
3. Alive
4. Beautiful Life / Life in Perfect Harmony
5. Choose Life
6. Embrace Life / Embrace Living
7. Embrace Life
8. Enjoy Life
9. Eternal Life / Everlasting Life / Immortality
10. Eternal Life / Future Life
11. Everyday Life
13. The Good Life / Beautiful Life
14. Guan Shi Yin: Protector Of Life
15. The key to immortality is first living a life worth remembering
16. A Life of Serenity Yields Understanding
17. Jesus is My Life
18. Through the Ups and Downs of Life
20. Life in Harmony / Balanced Life
21. Life in Balance / Balancing Life
22. Life in Harmony / Balanced Life
23. Life Energy / Spiritual Energy
24. Life Force
26. Life Goes On
27. A Life of Happiness and Prosperity
31. Life is Good / Life is Beautiful
32. Life is Good
33. Life is Short
35. Life is What You Make of It
36. Journey of Life
38. Life of Love
39. Life of Serenity
40. Life with Love
41. Life is Fun
42. Life is Good
43. Longevity / Long Life Wishes
45. Love Life
46. Music is Life
48. New Life
49. Better to sacrifice your life than your principles
51. The Single Life
52. Such is Life
53. Such is Life / Such is Destiny
54. This is Life
55. Thug Life
58. Prosperous Life
59. The two most important days in your life...
60. Reincarnation / Life in Flux
61. My life is complete because of you
62. Breath of Life
65. 5. Right Living / Right Livelihood / Perfect Livelihood
66. Optimism / Happy With Your Fate
67. The Tree of Enlightenment / The Bodhi Tree
68. Triple Truth of Japanese Buddhism
69. Carpe Diem / Seize the Day
73. First Born Son
74. First Born
75. Rise and Fall / Ups and Downs
76. Healthy Living
77. We are not born with knowledge, how does one achieve maturity?
78. Live For The Day
79. Live For The Day / Seize The Day
81. Live Laugh Love
83. Live Laugh Love
84. New Beginning
85. Freedom from Anger and Worry Yields Longevity
86. No Regrets
89. Sacrifice
90. Soul Mates
91. Vitality
92. Birth Old-Age Sickness Death
93. Born To Be Wild
生活 means life, living, to live, or the state of being alive. It can also refer to your daily existence or livelihood. It can also be a suggestion to just “Live life.”
生活 is also the term used in other titles such as “healthy living” or Lance Armstrong's “Livestrong” campaign (Chinese title for Livestrong only).
If you need a reminder that you are alive and to take a breath, this might be the perfect wall scroll for you.
生 is a Chinese word that means “to be born” and “to give birth.”
Also, it's often used to refer to life itself, and sometimes “to grow.”
生 is used in a lot of compound words such as “yi sheng,” which means “doctor” (literally “healer of life”), “sheng ri” which means “birthday” (literally “birth-day”), and “xue sheng” which means student (literally “studying life” or “learner [about] life”). Few Chinese people will think of the literal meaning when this uses words like doctor and student - but it is interesting to note.
生 has the same root meaning in Korean Hanja and Japanese. However, in Japanese, there are many possible pronunciations, and this can be used to mean “raw” or “unprocessed” (as in draft beer). Therefore, not be the best if your audience is Japanese.
See Also: Vitality
和美 is a word that means “harmonious” or, “in perfect harmony.”
The deeper meaning or more natural translation would be something like, “beautiful life.”
The first character means peace and harmony.
The second character means beautiful. But in this case, when combined with the first character, beautiful refers to being satisfied with what you have in your life. This can be having good relations, good feelings, comfort, and having enough (with no feeling of wanting).
Note: In Japanese, this is often used as the name "Wami." This title is probably more appropriate if your audience is Chinese.
選擇生活 can mean to choose life instead of death (or suicide) or to choose to live life to the fullest.
I think of it as the key phrase used by Renton (Ewan McGregor) in the movie Trainspotting. While Chinese people will not think of Trainspotting when they see this phrase, for me, it will always be what comes near the end of this colorful rant:
Choose life. Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family. Choose a fucking big television. Choose washing machines, cars, compact disc players, and electrical tin can openers. Choose good health, low cholesterol, and dental insurance. Choose fixed-interest mortgage repayments. Choose a starter home. Choose your friends. Choose leisure wear and matching luggage. Choose a three-piece suite on-hire purchase in a range of fucking fabrics. Choose DIY and wondering who the fuck you are on a Sunday morning. Choose sitting on that couch watching mind-numbing, spirit-crushing game shows, stuffing fucking junk food into your mouth. Choose rotting away at the end of it all, pissing your last in a miserable home, nothing more than an embarrassment to the selfish, fucked-up brats you have spawned to replace yourself. Choose your future. Choose life.
人生を楽しみにしている is one way to write “enjoy life” in Japanese.
The character breakdown:
人生 (jinsei) life (i.e. conception to death) human lifetime, living.
を (o) connecting particle.
楽しみ (tanoshimi) enjoyment; pleasure; anticipation; looking forward to.
に (ni) connecting particle.
し (shi) to do; to cause; to become; to make (into).
て (te) connecting particle.
いる (iru) indicates continuing action or resulting state.
Note: Because this selection contains some special Japanese Hiragana characters, it should be written by a Japanese calligrapher.
永生 are the last two words from John 3:16 in the Chinese Union Bible.
Although not specifically Christian, this is the way to express ever-lasting life or eternal life in Chinese.
In Japanese, this can either mean eternal life or immortality.
See Also: Eternity | Rebirth | Reincarnation | Immortality
來世 is a word that can be used in many different ways.
It is often used to express the next life (life in heaven or wherever your soul is bound for). So it does have a religious overtone. However, it can also be used to express your life in the future - perhaps during your present lifetime.
It can also be translated as “the next world,” “the next generation,” “the time that is to come,” “otherworld,” or simply “posterity.”
See Also: Eternity | Rebirth | Reincarnation | Immortality
日常生活 simply means everyday life or regular life.
You can also translate it as “Living day to day.”
淡泊以明志寧靜而致遠 is a kind of complex ten-character proverb composed by Zhuge Liang about 1800 years ago.
This is a Chinese proverb that means “Leading a simple life will yield a clear mind, and having inner peace will help you see far (into the world).”
What I have translated as “simple life” means NOT being materialistic and NOT competing in the rat race.
The last word means “far” but the deeper meaning is that you will surpass what you can currently see or understand. Perhaps even the idea of opening up vast knowledge and understanding of complex ideas.
The whole phrase has a theme that suggests if you are NOT an aggressive cut-throat person who fights his way to the top no matter how many people he crushes on the way, and instead seek inner peace, you will have a happier existence and be more likely to understand the meaning of life.
See Also: Serenity
耶穌是我的生命 means Jesus is my life in Chinese.
The first two characters are a transliteration of the name Jesus into Mandarin Chinese.
The third character means, is.
The fourth and fifth mean my or mine.
The last two characters mean life, as in lifespan, or from birth to death.
This is not a common phrase for Chinese Christians, but this is the best way to translate this idea from English to Mandarin Chinese.
同甘共苦 is a Chinese proverb that talks of “shared delights and common hardships.”
This can be translated and understood in a few different ways, including...
To share life's joys and sorrows.
For better or for worse.
Through joys and sorrows of life.
Through all life's ups and downs.
To go through thick and thin.
To stick together through thick and thin.
To share the joys and sorrows of life.
To share pleasures and pains.
To partake in each other's joys and sorrows.
To take “for better or for worse.”
活人剣 is a Japanese title for “life-saving sword” or “katsujinken.”
This title suggests that a sword used for killing can also be used for saving or giving life.
See Also: Satsujinken
Harmonious Life
This 和諧生活 title suggests that you have, or want to get your life in balance.
The first two characters regard the idea of balance, harmony, and peace.
The second two characters mean “life.” More specifically this refers to your livelihood, career, and the daily activities that comprise your life or living. Some would translate those two characters as “one's daily existence.”
Note: We have a couple of titles for this idea. This version is more of a noun, thus "The Balanced Life" verses a verb form like "Balancing [Your] Life."
The art of balancing your life
This 平衡人生 title suggests that you are actively trying to keep your life in balance.
Think of this as the action verb of seeking or having a balanced life.
The first two characters mean balance, equilibrium, or keeping things equal.
The last two characters mean “life.” Literally “human life.”
調和生活 is a Japanese title that suggests that you have, or want to get your life in balance.
The first two Kanji mean harmonious or in harmony.
The second two Kanji mean “life.” More specifically this refers to your livelihood, career, and the daily activities that comprise your life or living.
Chi Energy: Essence of Life / Energy Flow
This 氣 energy flow is a fundamental concept of traditional Asian culture.
氣 is romanized as “Qi” or “Chi” in Chinese, “Gi” in Korean, and “Ki” in Japanese.
Chi 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.” Some people will simply translate this as “spirit,” but you must consider the kind of spirit we're talking about. I think this is weighted more toward energy than spirit.
The character itself is a representation of steam (or breath) rising from rice. To clarify, the character for rice looks like this:
Steam was apparently seen as visual evidence of the release of “life energy” when this concept was first developed. The Qi / Chi / Ki character is still used in compound words to mean steam or vapor.
The etymology of this character is a bit complicated. It's suggested that the first form of this character from bronze script (about 2500 years ago) looked like these samples:
However, it was easy to confuse this with the character for the number three. So the rice radical was added by 221 B.C. (the exact time of this change is debated). This first version with the rice radical looks like this:
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: Energy | Life Force | Vitality | Birth | Soul
This Chinese, Korean and Japanese word means “life force” or simply “life.”
The first character means “life” or “birth.” The second means “life” or “fate.” Together they create the meaning of “life force,” though some will translate this as “existence” and sometimes “vitality.”
生活在繼續 means “No matter what happens, life goes on” or “For better or worse, life goes on.”
生活在繼續 is kind of modern Chinese proverb, but the meaning is generational.
生活 = to live; life; livelihood.
在 = (used before a verb to indicate an action in progress).
繼續 = to continue; to proceed with; to go on with.
人生は続く is a Japanese phrase that expresses, “Life Goes On.”
The first two characters mean “life” (literally “human life”).
The third character is a particle that connects the ideas in this phrase.
The last two characters mean “to continue,” “to last,” “to go on,” and “to occur again and again.”
Note: Because this selection contains some special Japanese Hiragana characters, it should be written by a Japanese calligrapher.
幸福成功的一生 means “A life of happiness and prosperity” or “A life of happiness and success.”
It's a very positive and inspirational wall scroll selection.
See Also: Prosperity
幸福と繁栄の人生 is a Japanese proverb that means “A life of happiness and prosperity” or “A life of happiness and success.”
Note: Because this selection contains some special Japanese Hiragana characters, it should be written by a Japanese calligrapher.
See Also: Prosperity
生活中的每一次呼吸 means “life in every breath” in Chinese.
This phrase is more like “every breath in life” as if it's a quantity of breaths that makes up your life.
There are many ways to understand this phrase in English, so this is one of a few ways it could be translated into Chinese. If you’re looking for a different meaning, please contact me.
吐く息一つにも生命が宿り means “life in every breath” in Japanese.
This phrase is more like “every single breath as you live and dwell.”
The characters breakdown this way:
吐く息 (hakuiki) to breathe; exhaled air; one's breath; breathing.
一つ (hitotsu) one; only; just.
にも (nimo) also; too; as well; even.
生命 (seimei) life; existence; living.
が (ga) particle.
宿り (yadori) to lodge; to dwell; lodging; abode; shelter.
Note: Because this selection contains some special Japanese Hiragana characters, it should be written by a Japanese calligrapher.
人生は素晴らしい means “life is good,” “life is great,” or “life is beautiful” in Japanese.
The first two characters mean “life” (as in your or a human lifespan).
The third character kind of means “is.”
The last five characters are a long adjective that means wonderful, splendid, and/or magnificent. In the context of life, it reads more like good or beautiful.
Note: Because this selection contains some special Japanese Hiragana characters, it should be written by a Japanese calligrapher.
A 100-year-old is but a traveler passing through this life
人生は短い is “life is short” in Japanese.
The character breakdown:
人生 (jinsei) life (i.e., conception to death); human life, living, lifetime.
は (ha/wa) particle (means “is” in this case).
短い (mijikai) short.
Note: Because this selection contains some special Japanese Hiragana characters, it should be written by a Japanese calligrapher.
If you believe that life is a journey, this is a nice Japanese title for your wall.
人生行路 means “journey of life” in Japanese Kanji. The actual word order is more like “life (人生) journey (行路)” as Japanese grammar is a bit different than English.
Note: The “journey” part can also be translated as “road,” so this is also how to say “the road of life.”
愛情生活 is the Chinese proverb for “Loving Life.” Some also translate this as “[your] Loving Life” or “Life full of Love.”
This is about being a loving person (to your spouse and/or family) during your life. This is not the same as loving the state of being alive - not “love of living” but rather “being a loving person during your life.”
Note: Korean pronunciation is included above, though use of this proverb in Korean has not been verified.
This proverb can be understood in Japanese but
it’s
primarily a Chinese proverb (it will "feel" Chinese to a Japanese person).
A wish for a long and prosperous life
福如東海壽比南山 is a phrase that means “May you have good fortune as great as the eastern oceans, and may your life last as long as the southern mountains.”
In ancient Chinese mythology, the eastern oceans and southern mountains are where God resides (basically it is the same as saying “heaven”). So it's like saying, “May your good fortune and life be as vast as the heavens.”
There is also a longer, 14-character version of this phrase. Also, this can be cut into two scrolls (with half the phrase on each side - great for hanging on either side of a doorway). Just let me know if you'd like a special version (there is an additional cost).
南山之壽 is a wish for long life for someone. The first part of this Japanese phrase is “Nan Zan,” which means “south mountain.” This mountain is one of the good wishes, good fortune, and prosperity. The title is often used as a salutation of good wishes.
The third Kanji is just a connector, and the last Kanji means long life or longevity.
I guess you could translate this phrase as “May your life be as long as Nan Zan is tall.”
Used as a noun, this word means “longevity” or “the ability to live long.”
It can also be an adjective meaning “long-lived.”
Please note that Japanese use a simplified version of the second character of longevity - it also happens to be the same simplification used in mainland China. Click on the character to the right if you want the Japanese/Simplified version of this two-character longevity calligraphy.
熱愛生命 is the Chinese phrase for “Love Life” or “Love of Life.”
If you love your life or want a reminder on your wall to keep you loving your life each day, this is the selection for you.
To clarify, this is different than “A life full of love,” or “love while you live.” With this phrase, you are loving the state of being alive.
Note: Korean pronunciation is included above, though use of this phrase in Korean has not been verified.
My life, I call the shots
我的生活我做主 is a Chinese phrase that can be translated as “My life, my rules,” or “My life, I call the shots.”
The first four characters say, “my life.”
The fifth character is I, me, and/or my.
The last two characters can be interpreted in a variety of ways, just as to make the decision, to take charge of, to call the shot, or to make the rule.
新生 literally means “new life” or “new birth” in Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja.
Depending on the context, this word can also mean newborn, new student, rebirth, new birth, or nascent.
In Japanese, this can be the given name Wakaki.
Note: This is not the most common word selection for a calligraphy wall scroll. But if you’re a westerner, you can bend the rules a bit.
This literally means “new life” or “new livelihood” in Japanese Kanji.
新生活 is most appropriate if you are starting a new career or otherwise are starting a new chapter in your life or a new beginning.
Note: This is not the most common word selection for a calligraphy wall scroll. But if you’re a westerner, you can bend the rules a bit.
捨生取義 is a Chinese proverb that comes from the philosopher Mencius.
It can be translated in a few different ways:
To give up life for righteousness.
To choose honor over life
Better to sacrifice one's life than one's principles.
生活信條 is a Chinese proverb that means “principles of life” or “The personal obligations and rules that you live by.”
For instance, if you were a vegetarian, the act of not eating meat fits into this category.
This could also be translated as a “Way of living.”
Dokushin-Kizoku
独身贵族 is a Japanese proverb that means “Single Aristocrat” or “Single Noble.”
The understood meaning is that single people can live freely without a spouse or kids to support them. To put it in an old cliché, they are footloose and fancy-free.
If you are a bachelor or bachelorette with few responsibilities and just a thirst for freedom and a worry-free life, this could be your title.
暴徒生活 is probably the best way to say “Thug Life” in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.
It's a strange title, to be sure, so expect native Asian people to be confused when they see your Thug Life calligraphy.
The first two characters mean bandit, thug, ruffian, insurgent, rioter, or mob.
The last two characters mean life, live, or living.
生活法 is a Japanese and Chinese title meaning “art of living” or “way of life.”
This can also be translated in a few other ways, such as “rule of life” and “the act of living.”
The “art” title kind of comes from the fact that the last character is the same as the book, “The Art of War.” So when you write your book, this is the title for “The Art of Life,” in Chinese and Japanese.
法輪 is the Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja title, “The Eternal Wheel of Life,” in Buddhism.
Also known as the wheel of the law, or Buddha-truth, which can crush all evil and all opposition. It is likened to Indra's wheel, which rolls on from man-to-man, place-to-place, age-to-age.
Colloquially used in some sects to mean preaching or spreading Buddha-truth.
人生で一番大事な日は二日ある。生まれた日と、なぜ生まれたかを分かった日 is Mark Twain's quote, “The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why” in Japanese.
Note: Because this selection contains some special Japanese Hiragana characters, it should be written by a Japanese calligrapher.
人生朝露 is a proverb that means “human life is like morning dew.”
Figuratively, this suggests the ephemeral and precarious nature of human existence.
Also translated as:
Man's life vanishes like a drop of dew.
A person's life is as fleeting as morning dew.
Life is as transient as morning due.
Samyag Ajiva / Samma Ajiva
正命 (right living) is one of the Noble Eightfold Paths of Buddhism.
Right Living, along with Right Speech and Right Action, constitute the path to Virtue.
Right Living means that a Buddhist should only take a job or pursue a career in a field that does no harm. Buddhists should not work in the arms trade, as pimps or in the field of prostitution, as a butcher or in a shop that kills or sells meat, in a laboratory that does animal research, or in any other business that involves scheming or unethical behavior.
Another definition: Avoidance of professions that are harmful to sentient beings, such as slaughterer, hunter, dealer in weaponry or narcotics, etc.
This term is exclusively used by devout Buddhists. It is not a common term, and is remains an unknown concept to most Japanese and Chinese people.
See Also: Buddhism | Enlightenment | Noble Eightfold Path
樂天 is about being optimistic and also making the best of whatever life throws at you.
This is hard to define. One dictionary defines this as “acceptance of fate and happy about it.” There is one English word equivalent, which is sanguinity or sanguinary.
You can also say that this means “Be happy with whatever Heaven provides,” or “Find happiness in whatever fate Heaven bestows upon you.” 樂天 suggests being an optimist in life.
Note: This is sometimes a given name in China.
Please note that Japanese tend to write the first character in a slightly-different form (as seen to the right). Let us know if you have a preference when you place your order.
菩提樹 is the full title of the Bodhi tree (a fig tree) under which Siddhartha Gautama (the legendary man who established the Buddhist religion), achieved enlightenment.
Sometimes this is referred to as “the tree of enlightenment.” If you don't have a Bodhi tree to sit under, maybe you can achieve enlightenment under a wall scroll with this title.
人間性を再生するのは寛容な心親切な言葉奉仕と思いやりの精神 is known as the Triple Truth of Buddhism in Japanese.
The Buddha ordered that all should know this triple truth...
A generous heart, kind speech, and a life of service and compassion are the things that renew humanity.
That is the English translation most commonly used for this Japanese Buddhist phrase. You might have seen this on a coffee cup or tee shirt.
Note: Because this selection contains some special Japanese Hiragana characters, it should be written by a Japanese calligrapher.
死而無悔 is how to say “die with no regrets” in Mandarin Chinese.
This proverb comes from the Analects of Confucius.
See Also: No Regrets
喫喝玩樂及時行樂 is just about the closest proverb to match the western idea of “Eat, drink, and be merry.”
This is a Chinese proverb that more literally means “Eat, drink, play, be merry, enjoy everything as long as you can.”
It's basically a suggestion that you try to enjoy everything in life, as long as you live, or as long as you are able.
長女 is a Chinese, old Korean Hanja, and Japanese Kanji title for eldest daughter or firstborn daughter.
This can also be a given name “Osame” in Japanese.
長男 is a Chinese, old Korean Hanja and Japanese Kanji title for eldest son (may be the only son), firstborn son.
This can also be the Japanese personal name “Nobuo.”
Eiko-Seisui
This Japanese proverb can be translated as “flourish and wither, prosper and perish,” “life is full of fortune and misfortune,” or simply “vicissitudes of life.”
栄枯盛衰 / 榮枯盛衰 is about the rise and fall of human affairs or the ups and downs of life. Prosperity comes and goes, everything is fleeting and temporary, but like waves, another swell of prosperity may come.
Here's how the Kanji break down in this proverb:
栄 = prosper; thrive; flourish; boom.
枯 = wither; die.
盛 = prosperous; flourishing; thriving; successful; energetic; vigorous; enthusiastic.
衰 = become weaker; decline; get weak; die down; subside; abate; fail.
Notes: The original version of the first character looks like the image to the right. In modern Japan, they simplified that Kanji a bit into the version shown above. If you have a preference for which style is used for your calligraphy, please let me know when you place your order.
Apparently, with that original version of the first character, this is also used in Korean Hanja. However, I have not confirmed that
it’s
used in the same way or is widely-known in Korean.
If you are into healthy living, 健康生活 might be an excellent selection for a wall scroll to hang in your home.
The first two characters speak of health, vitality, vigor, and being of sound body. The second two characters mean living or life (daily existence).
This figuratively means “Without a teacher, how can we learn/mature?”
人非生而知之者熟能無惑 is a philosophic pondering by Han Yu, a Tang Dynasty essayist, and philosopher (618-907 A.D.). This is a Chinese proverb that can be translated as “Knowledge is not innate to man, how can we overcome doubt?” or, “We are not born with knowledge, how does one achieve maturity?.”
This infers that we need the guidance of a teacher if we wish to learn, mature, and become better.
活在今天 is not an eastern concept, so it does not translate into a phrase that seems natural on a wall scroll.
However, if this is your philosophy, the characters shown here do capture your idea of living for today or living in the moment. 活在今天 says “Live in today,” and they are grammatically correct in Chinese.
Note: This kind of makes sense in Korean Hanja but the grammar is Chinese, so it’s not that natural in Korean.
今を生きる is a Japanese phrase that can be translated as “live for the day,” “live for the moment,” “seize the day,” or “make the most of the present.”
You can think of this as the Japanese version of “Carpe Diem.”
Note: Because this selection contains some special Japanese Hiragana characters, it should be written by a Japanese calligrapher.
人生謳歌 means “live for what you love” in Japanese.
The first two characters mean “human life” or simply “living.” The last two characters mean “merit,” “prosperity,” or “what you enjoy.” This phrase can suggest working or staying busy for your own goals (in your career).
See Also: Prosperity
In English, the word order shown in the title is the most natural or popular. In Chinese, the natural order is a little different:
The first character means laugh (sometimes means smile).
The second character means love.
The last two characters mean “live” as in “to be alive” or “pursue life.”
Please note: 笑愛生活 is not a normal phrase in that it does not have a subject, verb, or object. It is a word list. Word lists are not common in Asian languages/grammar (at least not as normal as in English). We only added this entry because so many people requested it.
We put the characters in the order shown above, as it almost makes a single word with the meaning “A life of laughter and love.” It's a made-up word, but it sounds good in Chinese.
We removed the Japanese pronunciation guide from this entry, as the professional Japanese translator deemed it "near nonsense" from a Japanese perspective. Choose this only if your audience is Chinese and you want the fewest-possible characters to express this idea.
In Korean, this would be 소애생활 or "so ae saeng hwar" but I have not confirmed that this makes sense in Korean.
生而無悔 is how to say “live without regrets” in Mandarin Chinese.
Note: There is some debate about whether this makes sense in Japanese. It would be read, "nama ji mu ke," and be understood in Japanese. But, a Japanese person will probably think it’s Chinese (not Japanese).
See Also: Live for Today
人生悔い無し is how to say “live without regrets” in Japanese.
Note: Because this selection contains some special Japanese Hiragana characters, it should be written by a Japanese calligrapher.
See Also: Live for Today
Because a word list of “Live Laugh Love” is not natural in Japanese, this takes the concept and incorporates it into a proper phrase.
愛と笑いの生活 can be translated as “A life of love and laughter” or “Live life with love and laughter.”
Note: Because this selection contains some special Japanese Hiragana characters, it should be written by a Japanese calligrapher.
伊始 is a short version of “new beginning” or simply “beginning” in Chinese characters.
You can also translate this as “from this moment on,” “starting now,” or “henceforth.”
In the day-to-day speech, this word can apply to starting a new job, beginning a new career, entering a new chapter of your life, or taking a new position (in politics, scholarship, etc.).
新たな始まり is a Japanese word that means “new beginning” or “new start.”
Here's the character breakdown:
新た (arata) = new; fresh; novel; newly; freshly; or this can be like the prefix “re-” like “re-start” or “reset.”
な (na) is kind of a connecting article. This glues “new” to “beginning.”
始まり (hajimari) = origin; beginning.
Note: Because this selection contains some special Japanese Hiragana characters, it should be written by a Japanese calligrapher.
無悔 is how to say “no regrets” in Mandarin Chinese.
This also makes sense in Japanese, though not the most common way to express “no regrets” in Japanese.
See Also: Live for Today
重生 is the Chinese word for rebirth. This can be used literally or metaphorically. As a metaphor, you could use this to say something like, “We are watching the rebirth of New Orleans after the disaster of Katrina.”
重生 is sometimes translated as “renaissance.”
Note: 重生 is not the Buddhist concept of reincarnation or re-birth.
See Also: Reincarnation
復活 is the Chinese, Japanese and Korean word for resurrection or rebirth.
復活 literally means “return to life.”
It is the term used in most Asian Bibles to refer to the resurrection of Christ. In Japanese, it is sometimes used to mean a Christian Revival. In some contexts, it can mean resuscitation.
See Also: Christianity | Jesus Christ | God of Abraham
犧牲 means sacrifice in Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja.
There is a suggestion in this word that this regards sacrificing your life.
Note: Depending on the context, this can also mean victim or scapegoat in Japanese.
In original and ancient Chinese, this word referred to sacrificial animals. It can still have this meaning in a Buddhist context.
The version of the first character used in modern Japan looks like the image to the right. If you order this from the Japanese master calligrapher, it will be written in this Japanese version.
靈魂伴侶 is the literal translation of “Soul Mates.”
This is kind of the western way to express “soul mates” but translated into Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja.
The first two characters mean “soul” or “spirit.”
The second two characters mean “mate,” “companion” or “partner.”
Although not the most common title, these characters have good meaning and will be received well in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. It's a universal title!
生命力 can mean “vitality” or “libido.”
The first two characters mean “life” or “life force.” The last character is a common word that means “strength.” So together, you get the meaning of “life strength” which is the essence of vitality.
Some will also translate this word as “good health.”
See Also: Life Force | Health
Born to Suffer
生老病死 means “to be born, to grow old, to get sick and to die” or “birth, aging, sickness, and death.”
This is an old somewhat-morbid Chinese proverb that is also used in Korean and Japanese. It figuratively means the fate of humankind (i.e. mortality) or suggests that we are all born to suffer.
In the Buddhist context, there are the “four inevitables in human life” or “four afflictions that are the lot of every human” known as “四苦” (literally “four afflictions”). Sometimes this proverb is written with that affliction character, 苦, at the end like 生老病死苦.
天生狂野 is “Born To Be Wild” (like the Steppenwolf song) in Chinese (Mandarin).
If you get to the deep meaning, the first two characters can mean “born” but refer as much to the nature, disposition, calling, or innate qualities of something or someone.
The last two mean coarse and/or wild.
So it kind of means that it is your nature to be wild.
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All of our calligraphy wall scrolls are handmade.
When the calligrapher finishes creating your artwork, it is taken to my 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.
Allow a few weeks for delivery. Rush service speeds it up by a week or two for $10!
When you select your calligraphy, you'll be taken to another page where you can choose various custom options.
The wall scroll that Sandy is holding in this picture is a "large size"
single-character wall scroll.
We also offer custom wall scrolls in small, medium, and an even-larger jumbo size.
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.
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.
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.