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自由 is a common word to express the idea of freedom in both Chinese and Japanese.
This word is the essence of “being free” but also acts as the suffix to create words like freestyle swimming, free trade, civil liberties, free will, freedom fighter, religious freedom, and liberal.
The first two characters mean freedom or liberty.
The second two characters mean spirit, heart, mind, or soul.
Together, 自由精神 is a title that is very similar to the English term “free spirit.”
自由意志 is a concept that has existed for thousands of years that humans can understand right and wrong, then make a decision one way or the other (thus affecting their fate).
Sources such as Confucius, Buddhist scriptures, the Qur'an, and the Bible all address this idea.
As for the characters shown here, the first two mean free, freedom, or liberty. The last two mean “will.”
Can be romanized from Japanese as jiyū-ishi, jiyuu-ishi, and sometimes jiyuu-ishii.
It's 자유의지 or jayuu-yiji in Korean and zìyóu yìzhì in Chinese.
Give me liberty or give me death
不自由毋寧死 means “Give me liberty or give me death” in Chinese.
This is also the best way to say, “Live free or die.”
The characters break down this way:
不 = Not; none; without.
自由 = Freedom; liberty; freewill; self-determination.
毋寧 = Rather; would rather; rather be.
死 = Dead; death.
This will go nicely next to your “Don't tread on me” flag. This phrase is known well enough in China that it's listed in a few dictionaries. Though I doubt you will find too many Chinese citizens willing to yell this on the steps of the capital in Beijing.
Below are some entries from our dictionary that may match your 自由 search...
Characters If shown, 2nd row is Simp. Chinese |
Pronunciation Romanization |
Simple Dictionary Definition |
自由 see styles |
zì yóu zi4 you2 tzu yu yoriyoshi よりよし |
More info & calligraphy: Freedom / Liberty(noun or adjectival noun) freedom; liberty; (male given name) Yoriyoshi self-established |
性の自由 see styles |
seinojiyuu / senojiyu せいのじゆう |
More info & calligraphy: Sexual Freedom |
自由意志 see styles |
zì yóu yì zhì zi4 you2 yi4 zhi4 tzu yu i chih jiyuuishi / jiyuishi じゆういし |
More info & calligraphy: Free Willfree will |
自由戦士 see styles |
jiyuusenshi / jiyusenshi じゆうせんし |
More info & calligraphy: Freedom Fighter |
不自由 see styles |
fujiyuu / fujiyu ふじゆう |
(n,adj-na,vs) (1) discomfort; inconvenience; (n,adj-na,vs) (2) poverty; want; destitution; (noun or adjectival noun) (3) inability; disability; impairment (physical, mental, etc.); nonfluency (in a language) |
自由に see styles |
jiyuuni / jiyuni じゆうに |
(adverb) (See 自由) freely; at liberty; at will; as one likes |
自由乃 see styles |
juno じゅの |
(female given name) Juno |
自由人 see styles |
jiyuuto / jiyuto じゆうと |
free person; free spirit; (personal name) Jiyūto |
自由党 see styles |
jiyuutou / jiyuto じゆうとう |
Liberal Party |
自由円 see styles |
jiyuuen / jiyuen じゆうえん |
(hist) free yen; 1960 enabling conversion of yen to other currencies |
自由刑 see styles |
zì yóu xíng zi4 you2 xing2 tzu yu hsing jiyuukei / jiyuke じゆうけい |
(law) deprivation of freedom {law} freedom-restricting punishment; imprisonment |
自由化 see styles |
zì yóu huà zi4 you2 hua4 tzu yu hua jiyuuka / jiyuka じゆうか |
liberalization; freeing (from something) (noun, transitive verb) liberalization; liberalisation; freeing |
自由国 see styles |
jiyuukoku / jiyukoku じゆうこく |
free state |
自由型 see styles |
jiyuugata / jiyugata じゆうがた |
freestyle (e.g. swimming event) |
自由城 see styles |
zì yóu chéng zi4 you2 cheng2 tzu yu ch`eng tzu yu cheng |
Freetown, capital of Sierra Leone (Tw) |
自由基 see styles |
zì yóu jī zi4 you2 ji1 tzu yu chi |
free radical |
自由子 see styles |
yoriko よりこ |
(female given name) Yoriko |
自由市 see styles |
zì yóu shì zi4 you2 shi4 tzu yu shih |
Libreville, capital of Gabon (Tw) |
自由希 see styles |
miyuki みゆき |
(female given name) Miyuki |
自由席 see styles |
jiyuuseki / jiyuseki じゆうせき |
(See 指定席) unreserved seat; non-reserved seat |
自由帳 see styles |
jiyuuchou / jiyucho じゆうちょう |
free-use notebook (unruled paper); general-purpose notebook |
自由平 see styles |
jiyuubei / jiyube じゆうべい |
(given name) Jiyūbei |
自由度 see styles |
zì yóu dù zi4 you2 du4 tzu yu tu jiyuudo / jiyudo じゆうど |
(number of) degrees of freedom (physics and statistics) degree of freedom |
自由式 see styles |
zì yóu shì zi4 you2 shi4 tzu yu shih |
freestyle (in sports) |
自由形 see styles |
jiyuugata / jiyugata じゆうがた |
freestyle (e.g. swimming event) |
自由梨 see styles |
jiyuri じゆり |
(female given name) Jiyuri |
自由業 see styles |
jiyuugyou / jiyugyo じゆうぎょう |
(See フリーランサー) self-employed profession (e.g. actor, artist); liberal profession |
自由権 see styles |
jiyuuken / jiyuken じゆうけん |
civil liberties |
自由民 see styles |
jiyuumin / jiyumin じゆうみん |
free people; free men |
自由水 see styles |
jiyuusui / jiyusui じゆうすい |
{chem} (See 結合水) free water |
The following table may be helpful for those studying Chinese or Japanese...
Title | Characters | Romaji (Romanized Japanese) | Various forms of Romanized Chinese | |
Freedom Liberty | 自由 | jiyuu / jiyu | zì yóu / zi4 you2 / zi you / ziyou | tzu yu / tzuyu |
Free Spirit | 自由精神 | zì yóu jīng shén zi4 you2 jing1 shen2 zi you jing shen ziyoujingshen | tzu yu ching shen tzuyuchingshen |
|
Free Will | 自由意志 | jiyuu ishi / jiyuuishi / jiyu ishi | zì yóu yì zhì zi4 you2 yi4 zhi4 zi you yi zhi ziyouyizhi | tzu yu i chih tzuyuichih |
Freedom Fighter | 自由戦士 | ji yuu sen shi jiyuusenshi ji yu sen shi | ||
Inner Freedom | 內心自由 内心自由 | nèi xīn zì yóu nei4 xin1 zi4 you2 nei xin zi you neixinziyou | nei hsin tzu yu neihsintzuyu |
|
Inner Freedom | 內在自由 内在自由 | nèi zài zì yóu nei4 zai4 zi4 you2 nei zai zi you neizaiziyou | nei tsai tzu yu neitsaitzuyu |
|
Sexual Freedom | 性の自由 | sei no ji yuu seinojiyuu sei no ji yu | ||
Free Spirit | 自由な精神 | ji yuu na sei shin jiyuunaseishin ji yu na sei shin | ||
Live Free or Die | 不自由毋寧死 不自由毋宁死 | bú zì yóu wú nìng sǐ bu2 zi4 you2 wu2 ning4 si3 bu zi you wu ning si buziyouwuningsi | pu tzu yu wu ning ssu putzuyuwuningssu |
|
In some entries above you will see that characters have different versions above and below a line. In these cases, the characters above the line are Traditional Chinese, while the ones below are Simplified Chinese. |
Successful Chinese Character and Japanese Kanji calligraphy searches within the last few hours...
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.
Check out my lists of Japanese Kanji Calligraphy Wall Scrolls and Old Korean Hanja Calligraphy Wall Scrolls.