Buy a Kong calligraphy wall scroll here!
(Used in Japanese version of five elements)
空 is a single character that means empty, void, hollow, vacant, vacuum, blank, nonexistent, vacuity, voidness, emptiness, non-existence, immateriality, unreality, the false or illusory nature of all existence, and being unreal.
In the Buddhist context, this relates to the doctrine that all phenomena and the ego have no reality but are composed of a certain number of skandhas or elements, which disintegrate. The void, the sky, space. The universal, the absolute, complete abstraction without relativity. The doctrine further explains that all things are compounds, or unstable organisms, possessing no self-essence, i.e. are dependent, or caused, come into existence only to perish. The underlying reality, the principle of eternal relativity, or non-infinity, i.e. śūnya, permeates all phenomena making possible their evolution.
From Sanskrit and/or Pali, this is the translation to Chinese and Japanese of the title śūnya or śūnyatā.
In Japanese, when pronounced as “ron” (sounds like “roan”) this can be a given name. It should be noted that this Kanji has about 5 different possible pronunciations in Japanese: kuu, kara, sora, ron, and uro. 空 is also an element in the Japanese version of the five elements.
Below are some entries from our dictionary that may match your kong search...
Characters If shown, 2nd row is Simp. Chinese |
Pronunciation Romanization |
Simple Dictionary Definition |
空 see styles |
kòng kong4 k`ung kung ron ろん |
More info & calligraphy: Sky / Ether / Void / Emptiness / Unreality(1) empty air; sky; (2) {Buddh} shunyata (the lack of an immutable intrinsic nature within any phenomenon); emptiness; (3) (abbreviation) (See 空軍) air force; (noun or adjectival noun) (4) fruitlessness; meaninglessness; (noun or adjectival noun) (5) (See 五大・1) void (one of the five elements); (can be adjective with の) (6) {math} empty (e.g. set); (female given name) Ron śūnya, empty, void, hollow, vacant, nonexistent. śūnyatā, 舜若多, vacuity, voidness, emptiness, non-existence, immateriality, perhaps spirituality, unreality, the false or illusory nature of all existence, the seeming 假 being unreal. The doctrine that all phenomena and the ego have no reality, but are composed of a certain number of skandhas or elements, which disintegrate. The void, the sky, space. The universal, the absolute, complete abstraction without relativity. There are classifications into 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 11, 13, 16, and 18 categories. The doctrine is that all things are compounds, or unstable organisms, possessing no self-essence, i.e. are dependent, or caused, come into existence only to perish. The underlying reality, the principle of eternal relativity, or non-infinity, i.e. śūnya, permeates all phenomena making possible their evolution. From this doctrine the Yogācārya school developed the idea of the permanent reality, which is Essence of Mind, the unknowable noumenon behind all phenomena, the entity void of ideas and phenomena, neither matter nor mind, but the root of both. |
天空 see styles |
tiān kōng tian1 kong1 t`ien k`ung tien kung hirari ひらり |
More info & calligraphy: Sky / Air / Ether / Spacesky; air; ether; firmament; the heavens; (female given name) Hirari |
孔子 see styles |
kǒng zǐ kong3 zi3 k`ung tzu kung tzu yoshiko よしこ |
More info & calligraphy: Confucius(person) Confucius; (female given name) Yoshiko Confucius |
孔雀 see styles |
kǒng què kong3 que4 k`ung ch`üeh kung chüeh kujaku くじゃく |
More info & calligraphy: Peacockpeafowl (incl. the male peacock, female peahen, and young peachick); (given name) Kujaku mayūra, 摩裕羅 a peacock; the latter form is also given by Eitel for Mauriya as 'an ancient city on the north-east frontier of Matipura, the residence of the ancient Maurya (Morya) princes. The present Amrouah near Hurdwar'. |
恐龍 恐龙 see styles |
kǒng lóng kong3 long2 k`ung lung kung lung kyouryuu / kyoryu きょうりゅう |
More info & calligraphy: Dinosaurdinosaur |
悟空 see styles |
wù kōng wu4 kong1 wu k`ung wu kung gokuu / goku ごくう |
More info & calligraphy: Wukong / Goku(surname, given name) Gokuu |
空手 see styles |
kōng shǒu kong1 shou3 k`ung shou kung shou sorate そらて |
More info & calligraphy: Karate(1) karate; (2) empty handed; (surname) Sorate |
空氣 空气 see styles |
kōng qì kong1 qi4 k`ung ch`i kung chi |
More info & calligraphy: Air / Atmosphere |
空無 空无 see styles |
kōng wú kong1 wu2 k`ung wu kung wu kūmu |
More info & calligraphy: Nothingness |
空軍 空军 see styles |
kōng jun kong1 jun1 k`ung chün kung chün kuugun / kugun くうぐん |
More info & calligraphy: Air Forceair force |
虛空 虚空 see styles |
xū kōng xu1 kong1 hsü k`ung hsü kung kokū |
More info & calligraphy: Nothingness / Empty / Voidśūnya; empty, void, space; ākāśa, in the sense of space, or the ether; gagana, the sky, atmosphere, heaven; kha, space, sky, ether, 虛 is defined as that which is without shape or substantiality, 空 as that which has no resistance. The immaterial universe behind all phenomena. |
孫悟空 孙悟空 see styles |
sūn wù kōng sun1 wu4 kong1 sun wu k`ung sun wu kung songokuu / songoku そんごくう |
More info & calligraphy: Sun Wukong / Son Goku(1) (char) Sun Wukong (character in the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West); Monkey King; (2) (char) Son Goku (Dragon Ball); (ch) Sun Wukong (character in the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West); Monkey King; (ch) Son Goku (Dragon Ball) |
空想家 see styles |
kōng xiǎng jiā kong1 xiang3 jia1 k`ung hsiang chia kung hsiang chia kuusouka / kusoka くうそうか |
More info & calligraphy: Visionary / Dreamerdreamer; daydreamer; visionary |
空手道 see styles |
kōng shǒu dào kong1 shou3 dao4 k`ung shou tao kung shou tao karatedou / karatedo からてどう |
More info & calligraphy: Karate-Dothe way of karate; karate |
倥 see styles |
kǒng kong3 k`ung kung |
urgent; pressed |
孔 see styles |
kǒng kong3 k`ung kung tooru とおる |
hole; CL:個|个[ge4]; classifier for cave dwellings (n,n-suf) (1) hole; (2) deficit; shortage; missing person (in a team, meeting, etc.); (3) vacancy; opening; (4) flaw; (5) profitable place (or item, etc.) not well known by others; (6) upset victory (with a large payoff); (7) (slang) pit (of a theater); (8) (archaism) hiding place; (9) (archaism) underbelly (of society, etc.); (given name) Tooru A hole: surname of Confucius; great, very; a peacock. |
崆 see styles |
kōng kong1 k`ung kung |
name of a mountain |
恐 see styles |
kǒng kong3 k`ung kung ku こわ |
afraid; frightened; to fear (interjection) (kana only) frightening; terrifying; (expression) (kana only) (feminine speech) yours sincerely (used to sign off on letters); respectfully yours fearful |
悾 see styles |
kōng kong1 k`ung kung |
simple-minded; sincere |
控 see styles |
kòng kong4 k`ung kung |
to control; to accuse; to charge; to sue; to invert a container to empty it; (suffix) (slang) buff; enthusiast; devotee; -phile or -philia |
焢 see styles |
kòng kong4 k`ung kung |
(Tw) to roast; (Tw) to braise until tender |
箜 see styles |
kōng kong1 k`ung kung |
used in 箜篌[kong1 hou2] |
鞚 see styles |
kòng kong4 k`ung kung |
(literary) bridle (of a horse) |
一空 see styles |
yī kōng yi1 kong1 i k`ung i kung ikkuu / ikku いっくう |
leaving none left; (sold etc) out (given name) Ikkuu All is empty, or of the void, non-material. |
七孔 see styles |
qī kǒng qi1 kong3 ch`i k`ung chi kung |
the seven apertures of the human head: 2 eyes, 2 ears, 2 nostrils, 1 mouth |
七空 see styles |
qī kōng qi1 kong1 ch`i k`ung chi kung shichikū |
The seven unrealities or illusions,v.空. There are two lists:(1)相空,性自性空,行空,無行空,一切法離言説空,第一義聖智大空 and彼彼空; v.Laṅkāvatāra-sūtra 1.(2) 性空, 自相空, 諸法空, 不可得空,無法空, 有法空, and 有法無法空.智度論36. |
三空 see styles |
sān kōng san1 kong1 san k`ung san kung sankū |
The three voids or immaterialities. The first set of three is (a) 空, (b) 無相, (c) 無願, v. 三三昧. The second, (a) 我空 , (b) 法空 , (c) 倶空 the self, things, all phenomena as "empty" or immaterial. The third relates to charity: (a) giver, (b) receiver, (c) gift, all are "empty". |
上空 see styles |
shàng kōng shang4 kong1 shang k`ung shang kung uesora うえそら |
the skies above a certain place; (aviation) airspace; (Tw) topless sky; the skies; high-altitude sky; upper air; (surname) Uesora |
不空 see styles |
bù kōng bu4 kong1 pu k`ung pu kung fukuu / fuku ふくう |
(given name, person) Fukuu Amogha, Amoghavajra. 不空三藏; 智藏; 阿目佉跋折羅 Not empty (or not in vain) vajra. The famous head of the Yogācāra school in China. A Singhalese of northern brahmanic descent, having lost his father, he came at the age of 15 with his uncle to 東海, the eastern sea, or China, where in 718 he became a disciple of 金剛智 Vajrabodhi. After the latter's death in 732, and at his wish, Eliot says in 741, he went to India and Ceylon in search of esoteric or tantric writings, and returned in 746, when he baptized the emperor Xuan Tsung. He was especially noted for rain-making and stilling storms. In 749 he received permission to return home, but was stopped by imperial orders when in the south of China. In ?756 under Su Tsung he was recalled to the capital. His time until 771 was spent translating and editing tantric books in 120 volumes, and the Yogacara 密教 rose to its peak of prosperity. He died greatly honoured at 70 years of age, in 774, the twelfth year of Tai Tsung, the third emperor under whom he had served. The festival of feeding the hungry spirits 孟蘭勝會 is attributed to him. His titles of 智藏 and 不空三藏 are Thesaurus of Wisdom and Amogha Tripitaka. |
中空 see styles |
zhōng kōng zhong1 kong1 chung k`ung chung kung nakazora なかぞら |
hollow; empty interior (adj-no,n) (1) (ちゅうくう only) hollow; (noun - becomes adjective with の) (2) mid-air; air; sky; (surname) Nakazora |
The following table may be helpful for those studying Chinese or Japanese...
Title | Characters | Romaji (Romanized Japanese) | Various forms of Romanized Chinese | |
Sky Ether Void Emptiness Unreality | 空 | kuu / kara / sora / ron ku / kara / sora / ron | kōng / kong1 / kong | k`ung / kung |
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.
Some people may refer to this entry as Kong Kanji, Kong Characters, Kong in Mandarin Chinese, Kong Characters, Kong in Chinese Writing, Kong in Japanese Writing, Kong in Asian Writing, Kong Ideograms, Chinese Kong symbols, Kong Hieroglyphics, Kong Glyphs, Kong in Chinese Letters, Kong Hanzi, Kong in Japanese Kanji, Kong Pictograms, Kong in the Chinese Written-Language, or Kong in the Japanese Written-Language.
85 people have searched for Kong in Chinese or Japanese in the past year.
Kong was last searched for by someone else on Apr 20th, 2025