紅五蝠 is a play on words in Chinese because of some homophones.

The first thing you need to know is that the word for bat, 蝠, sounds exactly like the word for good fortune, 福. Thus, bats are often associated with good luck and good fortune in Chinese culture.

Five bats (五福 / 五蝠) means “five fortunes,” referring to luck, prosperity, wealth, happiness, and longevity.

The word red, 红, has the same sound as 宏 meaning vast, great, or magnificent. Therefore, a red bat means “vast fortune.”

Altogether, five red bats represent vast reaches of the five fortunes.

This is a common Mandarin Chinese transliteration for the male French name Abélard or Abelard.

年年有餘 is a common proverb or wish of prosperity you'll hear around the time of Chinese New Year.

Directly translated character by character, it means “Year Year Have Surplus.” A more natural English translation including the deeper meaning would be “Every Year may you Have Abundance in your life.”

On a side note, this phrase often goes with a gift of something related to fish. This is because the last character, “yu” which means surplus or abundance, has exactly the same pronunciation in Mandarin as the word for “fish.”

This is also one of the most common titles for traditional paintings that feature koi fish.

In China, this phrase might make an odd wall scroll - a customer asked especially for this common phrase which is why it appears here. See my other abundance-related words if you want a wall scroll that will seem more comfortable in Chinese culture.

Note: This can be pronounced in Korean, but it's not a commonly used term.

See Also:  Prosperity | Good Fortune

This is a common Mandarin Chinese transliteration for the female French name Adélaïde or Adelaide.

This is a common Mandarin Chinese transliteration for the female French name Adélie or Adelie.

可愛 is a Chinese word that means adorable, cute, and lovely.

It also has a similar meaning in Japanese, but it's more often used as the given name Kawai.

In the Buddhist context, it can mean agreeable.

愛慕 means “adoring love” in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.

I suppose this is the best kind of love to have. 愛慕 has the common character for love. But the second character modifies and reinforces the meaning to become adore, adoring love, or to love and adore.

Ancient Chinese warning:
Adoring someone is fine until you are in the shoes of the Prince of the Kingdom of Wu. This Prince adored a certain beautiful woman (Xi Shi) so much that he neglected his duties and soon let the kingdom fall into ruins.

This is a common Mandarin Chinese transliteration for the female French name Adrienne.

冒険 is a common Japanese way to say “Adventure.”

The first character can mean “to risk,” “to defy” or “to dare.” The second character means “inaccessible place” or “impregnable position.” Together, you get the idea of why these two characters mean adventure when put them together in Japanese.

Note: The second character is a morphed Japanese Kanji. The original Chinese version is also available and holds the same root meaning.

冒險 is another Chinese and Korean word for “Adventure.”

This is more of a “risk-taking” version of adventure.

The first character can mean “brave” and “bold.” The second character means “dangerous” and “rugged.” Together they can be defined as a word meaning “adventure” in Chinese and Korean.

Note: Some dictionaries translate these two characters as “take a risk.”

This is a common Mandarin Chinese transliteration for the female French name Agathe.

This is a common Mandarin Chinese transliteration for the male French name Agathon.

This is a common Mandarin Chinese transliteration for the male French name Agobart.

This is the title Aijō-Ryū, Aijou-Ryu or Aijou-Ryuu meaning “style of love and affection” or “flow of love” in Japanese.

This is the most common transliteration to Mandarin Chinese for the name Aimee.

This is a common Mandarin Chinese transliteration for the female French name Aimée or Aimee.

This is a common Mandarin Chinese transliteration for the female French name Aimée or Aimee.

エイミー is the name Aimee in Japanese.

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

This is a short way to write the name Aimee in Katakana (phonetic Japanese).

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

虛空 means void, hollow, empty, space, sky, atmosphere, heaven, or ether.

虛空 is the Chinese and Japanese version of the Sanskrit word ākāśa (or akasa / akash) which, beyond the sky or space meaning can be the immaterial universe behind all phenomena in the Buddhist context.

This is the surname and place name Akiyama in Japanese.

It can be read in Chinese but would be understood to be a Japanese name (no meaning in Chinese).

This is a common Mandarin Chinese transliteration for the male French name Alaric.

This is a common Mandarin Chinese transliteration for the female French name Albane.

This is a common Mandarin Chinese transliteration for the male French name Albéric or Alberic.

This is a common Mandarin Chinese transliteration for the male French name Alcide.

This is a common Mandarin Chinese transliteration for the male French name Aldéric or Alderic.

This is a common Mandarin Chinese transliteration for the female French name Alexandrine.

This is a common Mandarin Chinese transliteration for the female French name Alexane.

This is a common Mandarin Chinese transliteration for the female French name Alexiane.

This is a common Mandarin Chinese transliteration for the female French name Alizée or Alizee.

This is a common Mandarin Chinese transliteration for the female French name Almérinda or Almerinda.

This is a common Mandarin Chinese transliteration for the female French name Aloïs or Alois.

This is a common Mandarin Chinese transliteration for the female French name Amance.

This is a common Mandarin Chinese transliteration for the male French name Amaury.

愕然 is a Chinese and Japanese word meaning amazing, shocking, astonishment, shock, or amazement.

アメイジング・グレイス is the Japanese Katakana for Amazing Grace.

This phonetically sounds like the English, “Amazing Grace” but does not hold that meaning since it is a transliteration versus a translation.

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

This is a common Mandarin Chinese transliteration for the female French name Ambre.

This is a common Mandarin Chinese transliteration for the male French name Amédée or Amedee.

This is a common Mandarin Chinese transliteration for the female French name Amélie or Amelie.

This is a common Mandarin Chinese transliteration for the male French name Amour.

This is a common Mandarin Chinese transliteration for the female French name Anaé or Anae.

This is a common Mandarin Chinese transliteration for the female French name Anaëlle or Anaelle.

This is the msot common Mandarin Chinese transliteration for the male French name Anatole.

This is the second most common Mandarin Chinese transliteration for the male French name Anatole.

This is a common Mandarin Chinese transliteration for the female French name Andréanne or Andreanne.

This is a common Mandarin Chinese transliteration for the French name Ange.

天使 is the meaning of Angel in Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja.

The first character means heaven. The second means messenger. Together it makes sense that we are talking about angels as Heaven's Messengers.

If you are an “Angel Junkie,” this may be the wall scroll for you.
I also think it's a great choice if your name happens to be Angel.

See Also:  Angel

安琪兒 is the most common transliteration to Mandarin Chinese for the name Angel.

It is supposed to sound like Angel but to be honest, this one misses the mark.

I would go with the meaning of Angel if I were you.

安赫爾 is another common transliteration to Mandarin Chinese for the name Angel.

This one misses the mark too - It uses a hard “H” sound to simulate the “J” sound of the “G” in this name. I don't know who transliterated these first and how it became the standard.
Again, I recommend using the meaning of Angel above.

If anything, this is the more masculine form of Angel. This is also the form commonly used for the masculine Latin name Ángel.

This is a common Mandarin Chinese transliteration for the female French name Angèle or Angele.

This is a common Mandarin Chinese transliteration for the female French name Anik.

This is the most common Mandarin Chinese transliteration for the female French name Annabelle.

This is a common Mandarin Chinese transliteration for the female French name Anne-Marie.

This is a common Mandarin Chinese transliteration for the female French name Anne-Claire.

This is a common Mandarin Chinese transliteration for the female French name Anne-France.

This is a common Mandarin Chinese transliteration for the female French name Anne-Laure.

This is a common Mandarin Chinese transliteration for the female French name Anne-Marie or Annemarie.

This is a common Mandarin Chinese transliteration for the female French name Anne-Sophie.

This is a common Mandarin Chinese transliteration for the female French name Anouchka.

This is a common Mandarin Chinese transliteration for the female French name Anouck.

This is a common Mandarin Chinese transliteration for the male French name Antonin.

This is a common Mandarin Chinese transliteration for the female French name Apolline.

This is a common Mandarin Chinese transliteration for the female French name Appoline.

射手 means archer, shooter, or marksman in Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja.

Depending on the context, it can also mean “goal-getter” in Chinese. This would also be the word for a bowman.

射手 is modern in Asia, meaning that it's only been in use for a few hundred years. However, the more ancient version of the archer is often not even recognized by the current generation of Chinese and Japanese people.

The first character means “shoot” or “fire” (in the context of a gun or bow). It's also a suffix for radioactive things (in the context of chemistry) - radioactive things “fire off” electrons. In Japanese, the first Kanji is a short name and suffix for archery.

The second character means “hand,” but the hand can also mean a person, in the same way, that a “farmhand” is a person in English.

弓箭手 is how to write “archer” in modern Chinese.

弓箭手 literally means “bow arrow hand.”

There are other ways to write “archer” in Chinese, but this is probably the most common title for modern China. The other, less-common version of “archer” is also more universal because it has the same meaning in Japanese (this one is not used in Japan).

烈 is a Chinese word that means ardent; intense; fierce; stern; upright; to give one's life for a noble cause.

In another context, this character can refer to one's exploits or achievements.

In the Buddhist context, this is burning, fierce, virtuous, and/or heroic.

While technically, it had the same meaning in Japanese, it's usually a female given name, Retsu in Japanese these days.

熱愛 means love passionately, ardent love, devotion, adoration.

The literal meaning is “hot love,” as the first character means heat, fervent, hot, and warm. Sometimes it can mean fever, restlessness, or zeal. The second character is, of course, love. If you adore and are devoted to someone with all your love, this is the title for you.

This is a common Mandarin Chinese transliteration for the female French name Arielle.

This is a common Mandarin Chinese transliteration for the female French name Arlette.

This is a common Mandarin Chinese transliteration for the female French name Armelle.

This is a common Mandarin Chinese transliteration for the male French name Arsène or Arsene.

東方自尊 is the universal way to write “Asian Pride.”

We worked on this one for a long time. The effort involved both Chinese and Japanese translators and lengthy discussions. If you have been searching for this term, there is a reason that it's hard to find the way to write “Asian Pride” in Chinese and Japanese - it's because of the inherent difficulties in figuring out a universal combination of characters that can be read in all languages that use forms of Chinese characters.

This final solution that you see to the left creates a reasonable title in Chinese and an exotic (perhaps unusual) title in Japanese (This could be read as “Eastern Self-Respect” in Japanese”).
Although not as natural, it does have the same meaning as Korean Hanja, and the older generation of Vietnamese people will be able to read it.

The first two characters literally mean “Oriental” and the second two mean “pride,” “self-esteem,” or “self-respect” (we chose the most non-arrogant way to say “pride”). If you have “Asian Pride” (sometimes spelled Asian Pryde) these are the characters for you.

Note: For those who wonder, there is nothing technically wrong with the word “Oriental.” It is a correct word, and any bad meanings were created by so-called “Asian Americans” and Caucasians in the United States. To say “Asian” would not completely correct the intended meaning since that would include people from Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, India, and portions of Russia.

For further proof, if you were of East Asian ancestry and born in England, you would be known as a “British Oriental” (The “Oriental stigma” is basically an American creation and, therefore, applies mainly to the American English language - where they get a bit overzealous with political correctness).

Further, since the Chinese and Japanese word for Oriental is not English, they can not be construed as having ill meaning. On one trip to China or Japan, you will find many things titled with these two characters, such as malls, buildings, and business names. These places also use “Oriental” as their English title (much as we do since our Chinese business name starts with these same two characters).

In short, the first two characters have the meaning that Americans attach to “Asian” but is more technically correct.

This is a common Mandarin Chinese transliteration for the male French name Assetou.

This is a common Mandarin Chinese transliteration for the male French name Aubin.

This is a common Mandarin Chinese transliteration for the male French name Aubouin.

This is a common Mandarin Chinese transliteration for the female French name Aude.

This is a common Mandarin Chinese transliteration for the female French name Audréanne or Audreanne.

This is a common Mandarin Chinese transliteration for the male French name Augustin.

昂 is often used to represent the Burmese surname Aung.

The actual meaning is to lift, raise, high, high spirits, soar, or soaring.

In Japanese, this can be the given name Hisashi.

This is a common Mandarin Chinese transliteration for the female French name Aurane.

This is a common Mandarin Chinese transliteration for the female French name Aurélie or Aurelie.

This is a common Mandarin Chinese transliteration for the male French name Aurélien or Aurelien.

This is a common Mandarin Chinese transliteration for the female French name Auriane.

This is a common Mandarin Chinese transliteration for the female French name Aurore.

This is a common Mandarin Chinese transliteration for the female French name Auxanne.

This is a common Mandarin Chinese transliteration for the female French name Axelle.

This is a common Mandarin Chinese transliteration for the male French name Aymé or Ayme.

愛西亞 is the transliteration to Mandarin Chinese for the name Aysia.

The meaning is “Love West Asia,” although it will be read as a name, rather than this meaning by most.

青龍 is a scholarly title for “Blue Dragon” or “Azure Dragon.”

You'll find this title used in ancient Chinese literature and astronomy. This dragon has dominion over the eastern sky or eastern heavens. The Azure Dragon is also noted for representing the spring season. Also seen as an auspicious omen.

Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty canonized the five colored dragons as “kings.” The Azure Dragon represents the most compassionate of kings.

In Japanese, this title is known with the same meaning but can also be a given name, Seiryuu or Seiryu.

Note, the first character can be written as OR . Same character, just two ways to write it.

八風吹不動 is an ancient Buddhist phrase from about 1000 years ago.

Literal meaning: “The Eight Winds cannot move [me].”

The original famous anecdote is from Song Dynasty China, involving the poet-official 蘇東坡 (Su Dongpo / Su Shi, 1037–1101) and Zen master 佛印 (Foyin).

Su Dongpo wrote 八風吹不動，一屁打過江
“The Eight Winds cannot move me; Yet one fart blows me across the river.”

Foyin’s irreverent reply exposed Su Dongpo’s ego, which is kind of a classic Zen/Chan teaching story.

There is a shorter Japanese Zen version, 八風不動, which drops the middle character. Often romanized as happū fudō. The romanization of 八風吹不動 is arguably happū fukedomo ugokazu or happū sui fudō.

This is a common Mandarin Chinese transliteration for the male French name Barnabé or Barnabe.

This is a common Mandarin Chinese transliteration for the male French name Bastien.

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.

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.

美魂 is a very short or abbreviated way to say “Beautiful Soul” in Japanese.

There is a more extended 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” in Japanese.

Any woman with affection for Asian art 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 have 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.

美しさは見る人の目の中にある means “Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder” in Japanese.

Japanese grammar and word order are different than English, but I will partially break this down for you:
美しさ = Beauty
は = is/relates
見る = to look/see
人の = person's
目の = eye's
中にあ = inside
る = !

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

This is a common Mandarin Chinese transliteration for the female French name Bécassine or Becassine.

碧 is a common transliteration to Mandarin Chinese for the name Bee.

This has nothing to do with the insect bee. The meaning of the character is actually “fresh and green.”

白俄羅斯 is the Chinese name for the country of Belarus or Byelorussia.

The meaning is roughly “White Russia.”

信 can mean to believe, truth, faith, fidelity, sincerity, trust, and confidence in Chinese, old Korean Hanja, and Japanese Kanji.

This single character is often part of other words with similar meanings.

It is one of the five basic tenets of Confucius.

In Chinese, it sometimes has the secondary meaning of a letter (as in the mail) depending on context but it will not be read that way when seen on a wall scroll.

In the Buddhist context, this is śraddhā (faith through hearing or being taught).

See Also:  Faith | Trust | Confucius