Relationships in Chinese / Japanese...

力愛不二 is a proverb that literally means:
“Strength [and] Love [are] Not Two [separate ideas/concepts/things].”

You'll find this proverb translated from Japanese to English as:
Love and strength are not separate.
Power and love are indivisible.
Strength and love in harmony.
Strength and love stand together.

Old Japanese grammar is quite different than English, and so this proverb says a lot within the brevity of just 4 characters. If you just read these characters directly as “Strength Love Not Two,” you'd probably miss the real meaning.

According to the Swedish Shorinji Kempo Federation, this is the second characteristic of Shorinji Kempo.

This post really explains the concept best in my opinion: Bushido by MS: Riki Ai Fu Ni, which states: "Riki Ai Funi" is the philosophy that power (Riki) and love (Ai) are indivisible. More concretely, a person, who is powerful but does not have love, cannot control and misuse his/her power; on the other hand, a person, who has loved ones but is not powerful enough, cannot protect himself/herself nor loved ones.

It was tough to find the best way to say “soul mates” in Chinese. We settled on 天生一對 as an old way to say, “A couple selected by heaven.”

The first two characters together mean “natural” or “innate.” Separated, they mean “heaven” and “born.” The last two characters mean “couple.” So this can be translated as “A couple that is together by nature,” or “A couple brought together by heaven's decree.” With a slight stretch, you could say, “A couple born together from heaven.”

It's a struggle to find the best way to describe this idea in English but trust me, it is pretty cool, and it is a great way to say “soulmates.”

If you're in a happy relationship or marriage and think you have found your soul mate, this would be a wonderful wall scroll to hang in your home.

This proverb, 爱花连盆爱爱女疼女婿, literally translates as “If one loves a flower, [one will] love its pot; [if one really] loves [one's] daughter, [one will also] love [one's] son-in-law.”

Figuratively, is similar to the English proverbs:
Love me, love my dog.
Love for a person extends even to the crows on his roof.

誰言寸草心報得三春暉 is the last line of a famous poem. It is perceived as a tribute or ode to your parents or mother from a child or children that have left home.

The poem was written by Meng Jiao during the Tang Dynasty (about 1200 years ago). The Chinese title is “You Zi Yin” which means “The Traveler's Recite.”

The last line as shown here speaks of the generous and warm spring sunlight which gives the grass far beyond what the little grass can could ever give back (except perhaps by showing its lovely green leaves and flourishing). The metaphor is that the sun is your mother or parents, and you are the grass. Your parents raise you and give you all the love and care you need to prepare you for the world. A debt that you can never repay, nor is repayment expected.

The first part of the poem (not written in the characters to the left) suggests that the thread in a loving mother's hands is the shirt of her traveling offspring. Vigorously sewing while wishing them to come back sooner than they left.
...This part is really hard to translate into English that makes any sense but maybe you get the idea. We are talking about a poem that is so old that many Chinese people would have trouble reading it (as if it was the King James Version of Chinese).

爱在心里狠在面皮 literally translates as “Love [your] children in [your] heart, [but] be stern [with them] in [your] manner.”

This is a little like saying “Love your child but don't spare the switch.”

破鏡重圓 is about a husband and wife who were separated and reunited.

About 1500 years ago in China, there lived a beautiful princess named Le Chang. She and her husband Xu De Yan loved each other very much. But when the army of the Sui Dynasty was about to attack their kingdom, disposed of all of their worldly possessions and prepared to flee into exile.

They knew that in the chaos, they might lose track of each other, so the one possession they kept was a bronze mirror which is a symbol of unity for a husband and wife. They broke the mirror into two pieces, and each of them kept half of the mirror. They decided that if separated, they would try to meet at the fair during the 15th day of the first lunar month (which is the lantern festival). Unfortunately, the occupation was brutal, and the princess was forced to become the mistress of the new commissioner of the territory, Yang Su.

At the Lantern Festival the next year, the husband came to the fair to search for his wife. He carried with him his half of the mirror. As he walked through the fair, he saw the other half of the mirror for sale at a junk market by a servant of the commissioner. The husband recognized his wife's half of the mirror immediately, and tears rolled down his face as he was told by the servant about the bitter and loveless life that the princess had endured.

As his tears dripped onto the mirror, the husband scratched a poem into his wife's half of the mirror:

You left me with the severed mirror,
The mirror has returned, but absent are you,
As I gaze in the mirror, I seek your face,
I see the moon, but as for you, I see not a trace.

The servant brought the inscribed half of the mirror back to the princess. For many days, the princess could not stop crying when she found that her husband was alive and still loved her.

Commissioner Yang Su, becoming aware of this saga, realized that he could never obtain the princess's love. He sent for the husband and allowed them to reunite.

This proverb, 破鏡重圓, is now used to describe a couple who has been torn apart for some reason (usually divorce) but have come back together (or remarried).
It seems to be more common these days in America for divorced couples to reconcile and get married to each other again. This will be a great gift if you know someone who is about to remarry their ex.

心の姉妹 is “heart of sisters,” “soul sisters,” or “sisters of the heart.”

This can be used for actual sisters to celebrate the heartfelt love they feel.

It can even be used by two women who feel a connection as if they are sisters.

姐妹關繫 is an expression that means “sisterhood.”

Literally, this means “sisters relationship.”

同病相憐 is a Chinese proverb that means “fellow sufferers empathize with each other” or to match it with a western idiom, “misery loves company.” This is also somewhat known in Korean Hanja.

This could be two people who were just dumped by a girlfriend/boyfriend or just divorced. They're drawn together either by their misery or because of the need to share their miserable experience with someone else.

同病相憐 is probably the saddest proverb in our collection.

Literally, the characters mean:
同 together with
病 illness, sickness, disease (in this case, just the mental anguish after some kind of event or life issue)
相 mutual, reciprocal, each other
憐 pity, sympathize

In Japanese, this is written with two extra Hiragana on the end like this: 同病相憐れむ
If you want the Japanese version, don’t use the button above but click here instead: Misery Loves Company in Japanese

愛別離苦 is a Buddhist term that refers to “the pain of separation from loved ones,” or “the suffering of being separated from those whom one loves.”

If you translate each character separately, you get, “love(s) separated [and] departed [yields] pain.”

The pain character can also be defined as anguish; suffering; distress; anxiety; worry; trouble; difficulty; hardship; bitterness; to suffer; anguish; distress; anxiety; worry; trouble; difficulty; bitterness; unhappiness; or misery.

棒頭出孝子箸頭出忤逆 literally translates as:
A stick (or switch) produces filial sons; chopsticks produce disobedient [ones].

Figuratively, this means:
Strict discipline produces dutiful children, whereas indulgence produces disobedient ones.

This proverb is very similar to this English proverb:
“Spare the rod and spoil the child.”

永駐我心 is one of a few ways to write “always in my heart” or “forever in my heart” in Chinese.

The first character means eternal, forever, or always.

The second character means resides, in, or stationed (in the case of troops).

The third character means me, my, or mine.

The last character means heart (but can also mean mind or soul).

相愛互敬 is a nice way to say “Love and Respect” in Chinese.

This proverb is about the mutual exchange of love and respect within a good relationship.

The first two characters create a word that means “to love each other” or “mutual love.”

The third character means mutual, interlocking, or in some contexts, “to dovetail” (as in how joints are made in fine furniture).

The last character means “to respect,” “to venerate,” “to salute,” “reverence,” or simply “respect.”

一つの愛 is how to write “One Love” in Japanese.

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

金似金挨玉似玉 is a Chinese proverb that literally translates as: [One who is] close to gold [is] like gold [and one who is] close to jade [is] like jade.

Figuratively, this means:
A good environment produces good people.
People are influenced by the company they keep.

Basically, if you hang out with good people, you are likely to become or stay good yourself. The opposite also is true. 挨This is like the moral version of “You are what you eat.”

Note: In Japanese, they have a similar phrase, 類は友を呼ぶ (rui wa tomo o yobu) Birds of a feather flock together. However, this is not a good meaning, so we’re not offering it for wall scrolls.

天下一家 is a proverb that can also be translated as “The whole world is one family.”

It is used to mean that all humans are related by decree of Heaven.

The first two characters can be translated as “the world,” “the whole country,” “descended from heaven,” “earth under heaven,” “the public,” or “the ruling power.”

The second two characters can mean “one family,” “a household,” “one's folks,” “a house” or “a home.” Usually, this is read as “a family.”

Note: This proverb can be understood in Japanese, though not commonly used.

精神伴侶 means “Spiritual Soul Mates.” The first two characters mean “spiritual” or “soul.” The second two characters mean “mates,” “companions,” or “partners.”

This is more about the spiritual connection between partners rather than a “fate-brought-us-together” kind of soul mates.

Both halves of this title have meaning in Japanese but I've not yet confirmed that this is a commonly used title in Japan.

The first four characters are often translated as “Go ahead as planned regardless of the weather” or, “[Overcome] despite the rain and wind.” The last four characters can mean “Stick together” but literally means “Take the same boat [together].”

風雨無阻同舟共濟 is a Chinese proverb that suggests that you are willing (or should be willing) to overcome any adversity, and accomplish your task at hand. The second part (last four characters) is sometimes left off but this second part strongly suggests that you should overcome that adversity together.

魂の友 is one of a few ways to write “Soul Mates” in Japanese.

The first Kanji means soul, spirit, ghost, immortal soul, the mind, or conscious mind. From Sanskrit, it's Vijñāna.

The middle character is a Japanese Hiragana connecting or possessive article that links the two ideas together.

The last Kanji means friends or friendship.

心の伴侶 is a Japanese-only title for soulmates.

心 means heart, soul, mind, core, or center. In ancient times, the heart was believed to be the mind or center of your soul and being.

の is a possessive article that connects everything here.

伴侶 means mates, companions, partners, and spouses.

This Japanese version of soulmates is about two partners, coupled or joined by their hearts.

靈魂伴侶 is the literal translation of “Soul Mates.”

This is kind of the western way to express “soul mates” but translated into Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja.
The first two characters mean “soul” or “spirit.”
The second two characters mean “mate,” “companion” or “partner.”

Although not the most common title, these characters have good meaning and will be received well in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. It's a universal title!

魂の伴侶 is a Japanese-only title for soulmates.

魂 means soul, spirit, immortal soul (the part of you that lives beyond your physical body), or the conscious mind. In the Buddhist context, this is vijñāna or viññāṇa (consciousness, life force, or mind).

の is a possessive article that connects everything here.

伴侶 means mates, companions, partners, and spouses.

祖先崇拜 means “Appreciation and honor of your ancestors.”

This can refer to anyone from your grandparents and beyond.

The first two characters mean ancestors or forefathers.

The last two characters mean worship, adore/adoration, or admiration.

This is the kind of wall scroll that a filial son or daughter in China or Japan would hang to honor their ancestors who paved the way for the new generation.

Japanese use a slight variation on the last Kanji. If you want this specifically Japanese version, just click on the Kanji image to the right (instead of the button above). Note that Japanese people would easily be able to identify the original Chinese form of that Kanji anyway.

They also have a similar phrase in old Korean but the first two characters are reversed - just let me know if you want that version when you place your order.

子を持って知る親の恩 literally translates as: Only after you have a baby, you would appreciate your parents (feel the way they do, etc).

This is a bit like the “walk a mile in another man's shoes” saying. Basically, it's about you cannot fully understand the plight of others until you experience it yourself. It also shows appreciation for the plight of parents.

This Japanese proverb can also be translated a few more ways:

No man knows what he owes to his parents till he comes to have children of his own.

One knows not what one owes to one's parents till one comes to have children of one's own.

Only after you have a baby, you will appreciate your parents or feel the way they do.

Only after becoming a parent yourself do you realize how much you owe [how indebted you are] to your own parents.

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

知子莫若父 can be translated as “No one knows a son better than his father.”

This idiom is based on the idea that after spending many years together, family members know everything about each other. Better than anyone else, a father knows the qualities and shortcomings of his son.

If you are looking for something about “father and son,” this is probably the best selection.

While this is the original proverb (very old), others have been composed about various combinations of mothers, sons, daughters, and fathers. Let me know if you need a custom version.

永遠の友 is a Japanese phrase about eternal friendship.

The first two characters mean eternal, eternity, perpetuity, forever, immortality, and permanence.

The third character is a possessive article which sort of makes this selection mean “Love, of the eternal kind.”

The last character is “friend” or “Friendship.”

See Also:  Best Friends

永遠的朋友 means friends that are eternal or a friendship that will last forever - you will remain the best of friends as long as you live.

The first two characters mean forever, eternal, eternity, perpetuity, immortality, and/or permanence.

The middle character links the words (it's a possessive article).

The last two characters represent friendship, or simply “friends.”

家內安全 is the Japanese way of saying “Family First.”

It's a Japanese proverb about the safety and well-being of your family and/or peace and prosperity in the household.

Some Japanese will hang an amulet in their home with these Kanji. The purpose is to keep your family safe from harm.

According to Shinto followers, hanging this in your home is seen as an invocation to God to always keep family members free from harm.

We were looking for a way to say “family first” in Japanese when this proverb came up in the conversation and research. While it doesn't say “family first,” it shows that the safety and well-being of your family is your first or most important priority. So, this proverb is the most natural way to express the idea that you put your family first.

See Also:  Peace and Prosperity

永遠在我心 means “forever in my heart” or “always in my heart” in Chinese.

This is the shorter, somewhat lyrical version of this phrase.

永遠 forever/eternal
在 at/in/exists
我 me/myself/my
心 heart/mind/soul

永遠に私の心の中に means “forever in my heart” or “always in my heart” in Japanese.

The character breakdown:
永遠 (eien) eternity; perpetuity; immortality; permanence.
に (ni) indicates the location of a person or thing.
私の (watashi no) my; mine.
心の中 (kokoro no naka) the middle of one's mind; the midst of one's heart.
に (ni) indicates the location of a person or thing (makes this “in” the middle of one's heart).

Note: There’s more than one way to say "Forever in My Heart" in Japanese, so you’ll find another version in our database. This is the very verbose version.

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

いつまでも私の心の中に means “forever in my heart” or “always in my heart” in Japanese.

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

一日千秋 is a Japanese and Chinese proverb about missing someone.

一日千秋 is often used to express how hard it is to wait for someone's return or to be away from someone.

Some will translate this as “one day feels like a very long time” or “waiting for someone (something) is hard.”

You might see this romanized as a single word, Ichijitsusenshuu, or as “Ichijitsu Senshuu” from Japanese.
If you break down the characters one-by-one, we get:
一 = one/a
日 = day/sun (can also represent time or date)
千 = 1000/thousand
秋 = autumn/fall

Together, 千秋 can mean “autumn comes thousand times” (or 1000 years). It can also be read as 1000 periods of time.
However, it relays the idea of heartache as you wait for someone you miss.

愛は全てを完全に結ぶ帯である is a Japanese phrase that suggests we (or a couple) are bound together by love.

I searched the web and found all of these English translation variations for this phrase:

Have love; The only way in which you may be completely joined together.

Love is the sash that perfectly binds us together.

Love is what binds us together

Love binds all things together in perfect unity.

This same Japanese phrase is used as part of Colossians 3:14 in at least one version of the Japanese Bible.

A few Biblical versions include:

...Charity, which is the bond of perfectness. (KJV)

...Love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. (NIV)

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

真実の愛 means “true love” or “genuine affection” in Japanese.

The first two Kanji mean true, real, genuine, or authentic.
The third Kanji is a connecting possessive article.
The last character is love or affection.

我心真愛 is a slightly poetic way to express this sentiment to someone.

The meaning is “My True Love,” but the characters directly translate as “I/Me/My Heart/Mind True/Real Love.”

Note that Chinese grammar and construction are different, so this sounds very eloquent and artsy in Chinese.
In Korean Hanja, the third character should be written differently. Just let me know when you place your order if you want that version - it will still make sense in Chinese. This phrase makes sense in Korean but is not commonly used.

永遠在一起 is “together forever” in Chinese.

This is a great idea for couples making a commitment of a lifetime.

ずっと一緒 is “together forever” in Japanese.

The first three characters mean “continuously,” “throughout,” “all along,” “the whole time,” or “all the way.”

The last two Kanji mean “together.”

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

永遠愛在一起 is “together forever in love” in Chinese.

It's a nice phrase if you're a couple who plans to stay together and make your love last as long as you live.

残心 is a Japanese Kanji word meaning: continued alertness; unrelaxed alertness; remaining on one's guard; lingering mind, and being prepared for a counterstrike. This context is used in martial arts, which is probably why you are looking up this word.

In archery and golf, it can be the follow-through.

In the context of love and relationships, it can be lingering affection, attachment, regret, regrets, or reluctance.

忠誠 is the written form of loyalty that is universal in Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja.

Loyalty is staying true to someone. It is standing up for something you believe in without wavering. It is being faithful to your family, country, school, friends, or ideals when the going gets tough and when things are good. With loyalty, you build relationships that last forever.

Notes:

1. There is also a Japanese version that is part of the Bushido Code which may be more desirable depending on whether your intended audience is Japanese or Chinese.

2. This version of loyalty is sometimes translated as devotion, sincerity, fidelity, or allegiance.

See Also:  Honor | Trust | Integrity | Sincerity

因緣 is the Buddhist concept of a chance meeting or an opportunity that presents itself by fate.

Sometimes this is used to describe a cosmic chain of events or cause and effect.

It also is used to describe predestined relationships between people - and sometimes married couples (although if you want one about marriage, try this: Fate / Destiny of Lovers.

因緣 can also be translated as origin, karma, destiny, affinity, connection, and relation. This all depends on context - seen alone on a wall scroll, this will be read with a “fate/chance” meaning by a Chinese person or a Korean person who can read Hanja.

The more complex definition of this word would be, “Direct causes and indirect conditions, which underlie the actions of all things.”

This concept is known as nidana in the original Sanskrit. Also sometimes presented as hetupratyaya (or “hetu and prataya”), which I believe is Pali.

Note: Japanese will tend to use this version of the second Kanji:
If you order this from the Japanese master calligrapher, expect that you’ll get this version. However, this word often carries a negative connotation in Japanese (bad things happen), as it is used that way in a certain Japanese idiom. Therefore, this may not be the best choice if Japanese is your target language.

See Also:  Buddhism | Opportunity

柔術 has been somewhat incorrectly spelled and pronounced “Jujitsu” for some time in the English-speaking world. The correct Japanese Romaji is Jujutsu or Juujutsu.

A little background on the word: By combining the Kanji pronounced “Ju” (which means flexible, pliable, gentle, yielding) with the Kanji pronounced “Jutsu” (which means art or technique), we get a meaning that can be translated as “flexible technique,” “gentle art” or “yielding technique.”
柔術 does make sense in Chinese as well, although pronounced “rou shu” in China.

The Jujutsu system has a history in Japan that started well before the 1600s. Some see this style as a variation of the “Empty Hand Method” (Karate-do). Even the samurai of old used some Jujutsu methods in defending themselves with their unarmed hands against weapons that could pierce their heavy armor.

There are convoluted relationships between various schools and systems of martial arts, but it's generally accepted that Jujutsu led to the development of Judo and a few other variations.