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This single Chinese character, old Korean Hanja, and Japanese Kanji means: to choose; to pick; to select; to elect; selection; choice; choosing; picking; election.
In Japanese, it can also be the male given name Hitoshi.
In the Buddhist context, it means to choose, or a myriad.
寧缺毋濫 is a Chinese proverb that can be translated as “Better to have nothing (than substandard choice).”
It basically suggests that one should prefer to go without something rather than accept a shoddy option.
See Also: A Deliberate Inaction is Better Than a Blind Action
Also means: honor loyalty morality righteousness
義 is about doing the right thing or making the right decision, not because it's easy but because it's ethically and morally correct.
No matter the outcome or result, one does not lose face if tempering proper justice.
義 can also be defined as righteousness, justice, morality, honor, or “right conduct.” In a more expanded definition, it can mean loyalty to friends, loyalty to the public good, or patriotism. This idea of loyalty and friendship comes from the fact that you will treat those you are loyal to with morality and justice.
義 is also one of the five tenets of Confucius's doctrine.
There's also an alternate version of this character sometimes seen in Bushido or Korean Taekwondo tenets. It's just the addition of a radical on the left side of the character. If you want this version, click on the image to the right instead of the button above.
This is also a virtue of the Samurai Warrior
See our page with just Code of the Samurai / Bushido here
See Also: Judgment | Impartial | Confucius Tenets
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.
These search terms might be related to Choice:
Abundance / Prosperous
Abundance and Prosperity
Choice / Choose / Select
Chosen / Handpicked
Diversity
Failure in Not an Option
Failure is Not an Option
First Born
First Born Daughter
First Born Son
First Love
First Turn of the Dharma Wheel
Forgiveness (From the Top Down)
Having High Principles
High Mountain Long River
Highest Quality / Top Notch
I Am Worthy of Being Loved
Ichi-Dan / First Degree
John 3:16 (First Half)
Love Myself First
Love Yourself First
Masterpiece / Excellent / Outstanding
Men Die for Wealth, Birds Die for Food
Money / Wealth
Never Forget Your First Resolution
Pick
Range
The Chosen One
The Key to Immortality is First Living a Life Worth Remembering
The Value of Warriors Lies in Their Quality
Top Quality / First Class
Warriors: Quality Over Quantity
Wealth / Fortune / Riches / Abundance
Wealth / Riches / Fortune
When the Sun Rises It First Shines on the Highest Mountain
Worthy
Year-in Year-Out Have Abundance
Below are some entries from our dictionary that may match your Choice search...
| Characters If shown, 2nd row is Simp. Chinese |
Pronunciation Romanization |
Simple Dictionary Definition |
力 see styles |
lì li4 li riki りき |
More info & calligraphy: Power / Strength(suffix) strength; power; proficiency; ability; (given name) Riki bala; power, strength, of which there are several categories: 二力 power of choice and of practice; 三力 the power of Buddha; of meditation (samādhi) and of practice. 五力 pañcabala, the five powers of faith, zeal, memory (or remembering), meditation, and wisdom. 六力 A child's power is in crying; a woman's in resentment; a king's in domineering; an arhat's in zeal (or progress); a Buddha's in mercy; and a bhikṣu's in endurance (of despite) . 十力 q.v. The ten powers of Buddhas and bodhisattvas. |
選 选 see styles |
xuǎn xuan3 hsüan hitoshi ひとし |
More info & calligraphy: Choice / Choose / Select(n,n-suf) selection; choice; choosing; picking; election; (male given name) Hitoshi To choose; a myriad. |
精選 精选 see styles |
jīng xuǎn jing1 xuan3 ching hsüan seisen / sesen せいせん |
More info & calligraphy: Chosen / Handpicked(n,vs,vt,adj-no) careful selection |
寧缺毋濫 宁缺毋滥 see styles |
nìng quē wú làn ning4 que1 wu2 lan4 ning ch`üeh wu lan ning chüeh wu lan |
More info & calligraphy: Better to Choose Nothing, Rather than Make a Poor Choice |
一択 see styles |
ittaku いったく |
(slang) (only) one option; one possible choice |
上物 see styles |
joumono / jomono じょうもの |
high-quality goods; choice goods |
不二 see styles |
bù èr bu4 er4 pu erh fuji ふじ |
the only (choice, way etc); undivided (loyalty) {Buddh} advaitam (non-duality); (surname, female given name) Fuji advaya. No second, non-duality, the one and undivided, the unity of all things, the one reality、 the universal Buddha-nature. There are numerous combinations, e. g. 善惡不二 good and evil are not a dualism: nor are 有 and 空 the material and immaterial, nor are 迷 and 悟 delusion and awareness— all these are of the one Buddha-nature. |
人選 人选 see styles |
rén xuǎn ren2 xuan3 jen hsüan jinsen(p); ninsen(ok) じんせん(P); にんせん(ok) |
choice of person; candidate (n,vs,vt,vi) selecting a suitable person; personnel selection |
作出 see styles |
zuò chū zuo4 chu1 tso ch`u tso chu tsukuride つくりで |
to put out; to come up with; to make (a choice, decision, proposal, response, comment etc); to issue (a permit, statement, explanation, apology, reassurance to the public etc); to draw (conclusion); to deliver (speech, judgment); to devise (explanation); to extract (noun/participle) new creation; new invention; new production; new breed; (place-name) Tsukuride |
佳品 see styles |
kahin かひん |
choice article; item of excellent quality; masterpiece |
候補 候补 see styles |
hòu bǔ hou4 bu3 hou pu kouho / koho こうほ |
to wait to fill a vacancy; reserve (candidate); alternate; substitute (1) candidate; contender; prospect; pick; choice; list; (2) candidacy; candidature; nomination |
兩難 两难 see styles |
liǎng nán liang3 nan2 liang nan |
dilemma; quandary; to face a difficult choice |
取捨 取舍 see styles |
qǔ shě qu3 she3 ch`ü she chü she shusha しゅしゃ |
to select; to make one's choice; to decide what to accept and what to reject (noun, transitive verb) adoption or rejection; selection; choice; option selecting and rejecting |
只有 see styles |
zhǐ yǒu zhi3 you3 chih yu |
only have ...; there is only ...; (used in combination with 才[cai2]) it is only if ... (that one can ...) (as in 只有通過治療才能痊愈|只有通过治疗才能痊愈[zhi3 you3 tong1 guo4 zhi4 liao2 cai2 neng2 quan2 yu4] "the only way to cure it is with therapy"); it is only (someone) who ... (as in 只有男性才有此需要[zhi3 you3 nan2 xing4 cai2 you3 ci3 xu1 yao4] "only men would have such a requirement"); (used to express lack of alternatives) can only; have no choice but to (as in 只有屈服[zhi3 you3 qu1 fu2] "the only thing you can do is give in") |
只能 see styles |
zhǐ néng zhi3 neng2 chih neng |
can only; obliged to do something; to have no other choice |
名木 see styles |
meiki / meki めいき |
(1) old tree of historical interest; (2) excellent wood; precious woods; choice wood; (surname) Meiki |
名茶 see styles |
meicha / mecha めいちゃ |
fine tea; brand-name tea; famous tea; choice tea; well-known brand of quality green tea |
名酒 see styles |
míng jiǔ ming2 jiu3 ming chiu meishu / meshu めいしゅ |
a famous wine famous brand of sake; choice sake |
定番 see styles |
jouban / joban じょうばん |
(noun - becomes adjective with の) (1) standard item; usual thing; (a) classic; go-to choice; staple; regular fixture; standard procedure; convention; (2) (orig. meaning) basic item (with stable demand); staple goods; (place-name) Jōban |
屬意 属意 see styles |
zhǔ yì zhu3 yi4 chu i |
to set one's heart on; to set one's choice on |
志望 see styles |
shibou / shibo しぼう |
(noun, transitive verb) wish; desire; ambition; choice |
択一 see styles |
takuitsu たくいつ |
choosing one from among several; multiple choice |
招親 招亲 see styles |
zhāo qīn zhao1 qin1 chao ch`in chao chin |
to invite the groom (who will live with the bride's family); to take a wife by one's own choice |
採択 see styles |
saitaku さいたく |
(noun, transitive verb) adoption; selection; choice |
本命 see styles |
honmei / honme ほんめい |
(noun - becomes adjective with の) (1) favorite (to win); favourite; likely winner; (noun - becomes adjective with の) (2) (colloquialism) one's heart's desire; first choice |
格律 see styles |
gé lǜ ge2 lu:4 ko lü kakuritsu かくりつ |
forms of versification; conventions regarding set number of words and lines, choice of tonal patterns and rhyme schemes for various types of Classical Chinese poetic composition; metrical verse maxim; personal standard |
正解 see styles |
zhèng jiě zheng4 jie3 cheng chieh seikai / sekai せいかい |
(n,vs,vt,vi) (1) correct answer; right solution; correct interpretation; (2) right decision; right choice; appropriate judgement to correct understanding |
沒法 没法 see styles |
méi fǎ mei2 fa3 mei fa |
at a loss; unable to do anything about it; to have no choice |
無已 无已 see styles |
wú yǐ wu2 yi3 wu i |
endlessly; to have no choice |
無難 无难 see styles |
wun án wun2 an2 wun an bunan ぶなん |
(noun or adjectival noun) (1) safe (e.g. choice); secure; innocuous; inoffensive; (noun or adjectival noun) (2) acceptable; passable; satisfactory; adequate; faultless; without flaw; (personal name) Bunan no difficulty |
The following table may be helpful for those studying Chinese or Japanese...
| Title | Characters | Romaji (Romanized Japanese) | Various forms of Romanized Chinese | |
| Choice Choose Select | 選 选 | sen | xuǎn / xuan3 / xuan | hsüan |
| Better to Choose Nothing, Rather than Make a Poor Choice | 寧缺毋濫 宁缺毋滥 | nìng quē wú làn ning4 que1 wu2 lan4 ning que wu lan ningquewulan | ning ch`üeh wu lan ningchüehwulan ning chüeh wu lan |
|
| Justice Rectitude Right Decision | 義 义 | gi | yì / yi4 / yi | i |
| Choose Life | 選擇生活 选择生活 | xuǎn zé shēng huó xuan3 ze2 sheng1 huo2 xuan ze sheng huo xuanzeshenghuo | hsüan tse sheng huo hsüantseshenghuo |
|
| Choose Your Own Destiny | 選擇自己的命運 选择自己的命运 | xuǎn zé zì jǐ de mìng yùn xuan3 ze2 zi4 ji3 de ming4 yun4 xuan ze zi ji de ming yun xuanzezijidemingyun | hsüan tse tzu chi te ming yün | |
| 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. | ||||
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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.
Check out my lists of Japanese Kanji Calligraphy Wall Scrolls and Old Korean Hanja Calligraphy Wall Scrolls.
Some people may refer to this entry as Choice Kanji, Choice Characters, Choice in Mandarin Chinese, Choice Characters, Choice in Chinese Writing, Choice in Japanese Writing, Choice in Asian Writing, Choice Ideograms, Chinese Choice symbols, Choice Hieroglyphics, Choice Glyphs, Choice in Chinese Letters, Choice Hanzi, Choice in Japanese Kanji, Choice Pictograms, Choice in the Chinese Written-Language, or Choice in the Japanese Written-Language.
244 people have searched for Choice in Chinese or Japanese in the past year.
Choice was last searched for by someone else on Apr 20th, 2026