Beautiful in Chinese / Japanese...

美麗 is a two-character word used often in Chinese, old Korean, and ancient Japanese to express beauty.

I've had a few requests for a "two-character beautiful" and this is by far the best word. 美麗 is not a common word for an Asian person to want on a wall scroll. However, you will see it commonly used as an adjective in phrases, stories, and titles throughout magazines and signage in China.

美麗 can also be translated as gorgeous or lovely.

Note: 美麗 is not commonly used in modern Japan.

美麗的心靈 means beautiful heart, beautiful mind, or beautiful spirit in Chinese.

美 is often used to describe the beauty of a woman.

However, when applied to a man, it can mean handsome. It's also the first character in the word for "beauty salon" which you will see all over China and Japan.

This can be used as the given name for a girl (spell it or say it as "Mei" or "May").

For a bit of trivia: The title for the "USA" in Chinese is "Mei Guo" which literally means "Beautiful Country". This name was bestowed at a time before Chairman Mao came to power and decided that China didn't like the USA anymore (even though we fought together against the Japanese in WWII). But these days, Chinese people love Americans (but have distaste for American politics and policy). But I digress...

美 is also how "Beautiful" is written in Japanese Kanji and Korean Hanja. 美 can also mean: very satisfactory; good; to be pleased with oneself; abbreviation for the USA; fine; handsome; admirable; madhura; sweet; pleasant.

美麗的靈魂 means, "Beautiful Soul" in Chinese.

The first two characters mean beautiful, beauty, or gorgeous.
The middle character connects the ideas (a possessive article).
The last two characters mean soul or spirit.

美魂 is a very short or abbreviated way to say, "Beautiful Soul" in Japanese.

There is a longer version that might be a little more natural and also closer to the intended meaning. This short title is often translated awkwardly as, "Beauty Soul" from Japanese.

美德 written in Chinese or Korean Hanja can also mean "grace of character" or "noble virtue".

There is a slight variation in the modern Japanese Kanji form of the second character. If you want the modern Japanese version, please click on the special Kanji shown to the right instead of the button above. Note that the traditional Chinese form is still readable and understood by Japanese people ( it’s the ancient Japanese form anyway).

These two characters create 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.

美しい心 means, "beautiful heart" or "beautiful mind", in Japanese.

The word for "heart" also means "mind" and sometimes "soul" in ancient Asia.

Note: Because this selection contains some special Japanese Hiragana characters, it should be written by a Japanese calligrapher.

美麗的姑娘 is the best way to express "beautiful girl" in Chinese.

See Also:   Beauty

美麗的女人 is the best and most polite way to express "beautiful woman" in Chinese.

Note: Some people may like the simple 2-character 美女 way to express this but there are some bad connotations with that, so better to stay with this longer and more respectful title.

See Also:   Beauty

This can be translated as beautiful view, beautiful scenery, or beautiful sight.

Note: Not a commonly used word in modern Japanese.

美麗的公主 is how to write beautiful princess in Chinese.

The first two characters mean feminine beauty or rather a way to say beautiful that only applies to women. The middle character is just a connecting character. The last two characters mean princess.

See Also:  Queen

We don't really have a word like this in English but these two characters create a word that means "strong and beautiful". It could also be translated as "healthy and beautiful".

Note: 健美 is a word in Chinese and Korean but it's also the family name Takemi in Japanese. The characters hold the same meaning in Japanese but It's kind of like having the English name Stillwell, when few people would perceive the meanings of still and well.

美しい魂 is a common way to write "Beautiful Soul" in Japanese.

Note: Because this selection contains some special Japanese Hiragana characters, it should be written by a Japanese calligrapher.

美しい精神 is a common way to write "Beautiful Spirit" in Japanese.

Note: Because this selection contains some special Japanese Hiragana characters, it should be written by a Japanese calligrapher.

美麗心靈 means, "Beautiful Mind" in Chinese.

美麗心靈 is also the Chinese title of the 2001 movie of the same name.

While this means mirror in Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja, it's commonly used as a metaphor for something beautiful and bright or something that provides clarity and insight.

媛 means, a beauty; beautiful (woman); princess; young lady of noble birth; girl; small & lovely.

媛 is used a bit more commonly in Chinese than Japanese.

Note: This can be the female given name "Hime" in Japanese.

In Chinese, this means Goddess of Beauty.

The first character means beauty or beautiful.
The second character means spirit (can also mean god, goddess, or soul).
Some will use this as a short way to say, "Beautiful Spirit".

This has a similar meaning in Japanese but is used more often as a female given name in Japan. As a Japanese given name, it can be pronounced Mikami, Mikan, or Binasu.

日本晴 is a Japanese Kanji title that means beautiful weather, clear and cloudless sky, or clear weather.

It's a little odd but if you literally-translated this phrase, it says, "Japanese weather", as if that was an indication of perfect weather (maybe a little arrogant on behalf of Japan - I've experienced a monsoon there, which was unpleasant).

This 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.

In Chinese, this means "Beautiful Life", or "The Good Life".

生活美好 means "life is good" in Chinese.

The first two characters mean "life" or "living".

The last two characters mean "good" or "beautiful".

王女 is a Japanese title that means princess.

Beyond elegant and exquisite elegance, this is also the word used to say "beautiful" or "marvelous" when referring to a work of art.

Can also be translated as exquisiteness, gracefulness.

Note: Not a commonly used word in Japanese.

永恆的美 is how to write "Eternal Beauty" in Chinese.

美人魚 is the Chinese word for mermaid.

It literally means "beautiful human fish".

美亞 is a common transliteration to Mandarin Chinese for the name Meiya.

The literal meaning is "Beautiful Asia".

粉色 means pink color in Chinese.

In certain context or colloquially, this can also refer to something erotic or a beautiful woman. Sometimes an adjective or reference to a woman who is powdered (with make-up).

The meanings for 妙 include: clever; wonderful; strange; unusual; superb; excellent; beautiful; mystic; supernatural; profound; mysterious; good; surpassing; fine, lovely, charming; special; outstanding; incomparable.

As you can see, this single character can mean a lot of things (a bit ambiguous).

美猴王 is the specific title for "Monkey King".

A character made famous by the ancient novel, Journey to the West.

It literally means "Handsome/Beautiful Monkey King".

See Also:  Monkey Fist | Drunken Monkey

真善美 means truth, goodness and beauty in Chinese and Japanese.

These can also be read as "the true, the good, and the beautiful".

In Japanese, this can be the female given name Mazemi or the personal name Shinzenbi.

In Chinese, 美容 is the title for the art of beauty, as applying makeup or cosmetics to enhance beauty.

Note: In Japanese and Korean, this takes the meaning of beautiful face or beauty of figure or form. Be sure you know who your audience is, and have matched the desired meaning.

Once you eliminate desire or attachment to worldly things, only then can you achieve enlightenment.

Realize that things are impermanent. That fancy car, beautiful spouse, big house, and impressive career are things you can't take with you. These things are a flash in the pan compared to the infinite span of history, generations to come, time, and space.

This term is exclusively used by devout Buddhists. It is not a common term, and is remains an unknown concept to most Japanese, Korean, and Chinese people.

See Also:  Buddhism | Enlightenment

素敵な偶然 is a common way to express serendipity in Japanese.

The first two characters mean nice, lovely, dreamy, beautiful, great, fantastic, superb, or cool.

In the middle is a Japanese Hiragana character that serves to connect these words/ideas together.

The last two Kanji mean incidentally, by chance, randomly, unexpectedly, suddenly, accident, fortuity, or by coincidence.

鳶尾花 is the title for the iris flower in Chinese and Japanese.

If your name happens to be Iris, this is a beautiful way to express your name by meaning in both of these languages (it will mean your name but not sound like your name).

Can also mean wall iris, roof iris, or Iris tectorum.
Note: There are other titles for specific iris varieties - contact us if you need something special.

This single character means to win or be victorious.

This can also be translated: To overcome; success; to beat; to defeat; to surpass; superior to; to get the better of; better than; surpassing; superb.

In other context, this can mean: Beautiful (scenery); scenic spot; scenic beauty.

In Taiwanese Mandarin, this can be pronounced with the first tone (sheng1) and mean: Able to bear; equal to (a task).

In Japan, this can also be the name Masaru.

In Korea, this has the same meaning but can also be the surname Sŭng.

美國館 is a Korean Hanja title, which roughly means, "U.S. School".

The first two characters mean "USA" (literally: Beautiful Kingdom/Country).

The last character means, "school", "building", "schoolroom" in this context.

This "Mi Guk Kwan" title is used to mean, "The American School of Tang Soo Do".

If you want this in modern Korean Hangul, just click the Hangul in the pronunciation box next to the Korean flag above.

珠玉 is a Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja word meaning gem.

Beyond just the word gem, this can refer to pearls and jades, jewels, a clever remark, beautiful writing, gems of wisdom, genius, or an outstanding person.

If your name is Gem, this is a nice way to represent your name in 3 Asian languages. Though the pronunciation will be far from Gem, the meaning of gem is really nice.

Note: In Japanese, this is sometimes used as the female given name, "Tama".

Any woman with affection for Asian art and you will love a gift of this Chinese proverb calligraphy on a wall scroll.

She will melt in your arms as you tell her the meaning of these characters.

Contained in this phrase is a reference to the most beautiful woman in Chinese history. Her name was Xi Shi, and she was known to have good looks that need not fine robes or makeup. Her charms were so powerful that she brought down an entire kingdom (in a successful effort to bring honor and pride back to her people).

情人眼里出西施 is a great way to express that the woman in your life is your one love.

華 means blooming flowers or splendid China.

華 is really open to interpretation. 華 meant flowers or blooming in ancient China. It still has that meaning in Japanese, and Buddhist context.

In modern China, this means glorious, beautiful, splendid, magnificent, or the best part of something. It can also refer to the country of China or something Chinese (such as people - overseas Chinese are often called "hua ren"). 華 is also a surname in China.

In Japanese, this can be the female given name "Ririka". It's also the short name for a certain kind of playing cards in Japan.

In Korean, This can be the surname "Hwa". While it also means splendid, flowery, or the country of China in Korean.