Beast in Chinese / Japanese...

獸 means beast, animal, brute, beastly, or bestial.

Note: A strange selection for a calligraphy wall scroll.

獸 is a very generic term for a beast, so it can be one hunted for food (such as a deer or boar). It can also mean a great animal or someone who acts like a beast.

Note: In Japanese, this can be the personal name Munetada.

In modern Japan, they use the version of this character shown to the right. If your audience in Japanese, click this special Kanji instead of the button above.

グリフィン is the name Griffin in Japanese.

This is used mostly as the name Griffin but can also refer to the mythical beast. It sounds like “Griffin” but does not hold the meaning of the beast known as a Griffin. This is strictly a transliteration of the way Griffin sounds in English but using Japanese sounds to pronounce it.

Note: Because this title is entirely Japanese Katakana, it should be written by a Japanese calligrapher.

長頸鹿 is the Chinese word for Giraffe (the animal).

Not to be confused with the mythical “kirin” or “qilin” beast.

飛龍馬 is the title for a “flying dragon-horse.”

This can refer to a mythical beast or, more realistically, a very fast horse at the track.

This is a common transliteration to Mandarin Chinese for the name Griffin.

This sounds like the English name Griffin but using Chinese sounds to approximate the pronunciation.
This does not have the meaning of the mythical Griffin beast.

麒麟 is the title of a mythical beast of Asia.

The animal is thought to be related to the giraffe, and in some ways, it is a giraffe. However, it is often depicted with the horns of a dragon or deer and sometimes with the body like a horse, but many variations exist.

In Japanese, it is pronounced “Kirin” as in “Kirin Ichiban” beer.


Notes:

1. This is sometimes spelled as “kylin.”

2. In Japanese, this is the only Kanji word for giraffe. Therefore in Japan, this word needs context to know whether you are talking about the mythical creature or the long-necked giraffe of Africa.

3. Apparently, this was the first word used for regular giraffes in China (some were brought from Africa to China during the Ming Dynasty - probably around the year 1400). Though the mythical creature may have existed before, the name “qilin” was given to the “new giraffe.” This is because, more than 600 years ago, giraffes somewhat matched the mythical creature's description when Chinese people saw them for the first time. Later, to avoid such an ambiguous title, a three-character word was devised to mean a “giraffe of Africa.” The characters for “qilin” shown here are only for the mythological version in modern Chinese.

4. More information about the qilin / kirin from Wikipedia.

5. This creature is sometimes translated as the “Chinese Unicorn,” although it is generally portrayed with two horns. I think this is done more for the fantasy aspect of the unicorn and because most westerners don't know what a qilin or kirin is (this avoids a long explanation by the translator).

6. In Korean, this can mean kirin or simply giraffe (usually, the mythological creature is what they would think of when seeing these characters alone on a wall scroll).