The name Serenity Tranquility in Chinese / Japanese...

平靜 is one of several ways to express “serenity” or “tranquility” in Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja.

It can also be translated as calm, serenity, tranquil, undisturbed, or serene.

See Also:  Peace

寧靜 expresses the idea of tranquility and serenity in Chinese.

See Also:  Peace | Inner Peace | Harmony | Calm

This is the serenity prayer, as used by many 12-step programs and support groups.

In Chinese, this says:
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

This is a Japanese version of the serenity prayer, as used by many 12-step programs and support groups.

In Japanese, this says:
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

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

靜穏 is a Japanese-specific way to express “serenity” or “tranquility.”

Notes: The second Kanji is not a Chinese character - it was morphed or developed in Japan after Chinese characters were absorbed into the Japanese language during the 5th century.
The first character is slightly-simplified from the original Chinese form but still recognizable.

See Also:  Peace

泰平 means peace and/or tranquility in Japanese and Korean (also understood but not as common in Chinese).

太平 means “peace and tranquility” or “peace and security” in Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja.

The literal translation would be “very balanced” or “very peaceful.”

The first character means very, much, too much, or extremely.
The second character means balanced, peaceful, calm, equal, even, level, or smooth.

淡泊以明志寧靜而致遠 is a kind of complex ten-character proverb composed by Zhuge Liang about 1800 years ago.

This is a Chinese proverb that means “Leading a simple life will yield a clear mind, and having inner peace will help you see far (into the world).”

What I have translated as “simple life” means NOT being materialistic and NOT competing in the rat race.

The last word means “far” but the deeper meaning is that you will surpass what you can currently see or understand. Perhaps even the idea of opening up vast knowledge and understanding of complex ideas.

The whole phrase has a theme that suggests if you are NOT an aggressive cut-throat person who fights his way to the top no matter how many people he crushes on the way, and instead seek inner peace, you will have a happier existence and be more likely to understand the meaning of life.

See Also:  Serenity

靜 is the simplest way to convey the meaning of inner peace and serenity.

靜 is often translated as “serenity.” It can also be used to express the ideas of still, calm, serene, quiet, silent, stillness, not moving, or tranquility.

In the old days, Chinese, Japanese, or Korean people might hang a wall scroll with this character in their reading room to bring about a sense of peace in the room.

While they once used the same character form in Japan, they now use a slightly-simplified version in modern Japan (after WWII). This version is shown to the right, and can be selected for your wall scroll by clicking on that Kanji instead of the button above.

See Also:  Peace

冷靜 means calm and cool-headed in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.

Other translations: calmness, composure, coolness, serenity, tranquility.

冷靜 is a good wall scroll for someone that wants to remind themselves to stay calm and level-headed.

See Also:  Sober Calm

寧靜致遠 is an ancient Chinese idiom that means “tranquility yields transcendence.”

This suggests pursuing a quiet life of profound study.

The first two characters mean tranquility. The last two characters mean “go far,” which suggests achieving much in your life or expanding beyond normal limits. The direct translation would read something like, “[With] tranquility [in your life, you'll] go far.”

Compare this to the English idiom: Still waters run deep.

悠悠閑閑 means “life of serenity” in Japanese.

However, it can also have these meanings depending on how it's read: “composed and unhurried,” “easygoing and leisurely,” “in indolence,” or “life of idleness.”

安 is used in a lot of compound words in the CJK world.

Alone, this character has a broad span of possible meanings. These meanings include relaxed, quiet, rested, contented, calm, still, to pacify, peaceful, at peace, soothing, or soothed.

安 and even the pronunciation was borrowed from Chinese and absorbed into both Japanese Kanji and Korean Hanja. In all these languages, this character is pronounced like “an.”

靜 and 謐 both mean quiet. Together, 靜謐 reinforces the meanings, almost creating a word that means “double quiet” or “perfect quiet.”

A good wall scroll for a library, reading room, or another quiet place.

See Also:  Peace | Harmony

This word means “safe and sound” in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.

Can also be translated as well-being, peace, tranquility, quietness, and calmness.

Note: There is also a longer four-character version in our calligraphy database.

See Also:  Tranquility | Peace

內心平靜 is a Chinese and Japanese phrase that is a direct translation of the western idea of inner peace.

The first two characters contain the idea of “heart,” “innermost being,” or “deep in the/your inner mind.”

The last two characters mean “tranquil” and “serene.”

I have seen this phrase used as “inner peace” for art prints and even on the side of coffee cups. But I think the translation is too literal. It feels like a direct translation from English rather than a nicely composed Chinese or Japanese phrase. See my other entries for “inner peace.”

See Also:  Serenity | Simplicity | Peace

內心的寧靜 is the long way to express the idea of “peace of mind” in Chinese.

The first two characters mean heart or “innermost being.”
The middle character is a connecting modifier.
The last two characters mean peace, tranquility, or serenity.

Some may also translate this as “inner peace,” but I like our other inner-peace options for that idea.

This kind of makes sense in Korean but will have an archaic read - even by those who can understand Korean Hanja.

鎮靜 represents the idea of being calm, cool, or relaxed in Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja.

My Korean dictionary further defines this as quiet, calm, tranquility, and pacification.
From my Japanese dictionary: calm, quiet, tranquility, appeasement, pacification.

Note: This term is also used in Korean Hanja but there is a slight deviation in the way they write the second character in Korean. Still, a Korean person who can read Hanja, will be able to read this word. We can write it in the Korean form if you wish (just let us know when you place your order). In Korean, this is the word you might use to tell someone to "calm down" or "take it easy."

寧靜而致遠 is five characters from a longer ten-character proverb composed by Zhuge Liang about 1800 years ago.

诸葛亮 Zhuge Liang

The proverb means “Your inner peace/tranquility/serenity will help you see or reach far (into the world).”

The last word means “far” but the deeper meaning is that you will surpass what you can currently see or understand. Perhaps even opening up vast knowledge and understanding of complex ideas.

啟盛世開太平 means “To bring flourishing peace and security to the world (our current era).”

It's a wish that a new door leading to peace and prosperity could be opened to mankind.

Character and word breakdown:
啟 to open; to start; to initiate; to enlighten or awaken.
盛世 a flourishing period; period of prosperity; a golden age.
開 to open; to start; to turn on.
太平 peace and security; peace and tranquility; peace; tranquility.
I don't like to do breakdowns like this, as the words altogether create their unique meaning (encompassed in the main title above).

This proverb means “safe and sound without toil or trouble.”

It kind of means that all is well with a feeling of complete safety. The ideas contained in these characters include well-being, peace, tranquility, quietness, calmness, and non-problematic.

大安穏 means great peace, great repose, nirvanic peace, or great tranquility.

寂靜 is the Chinese and old Japanese word for calmness, stillness, and tranquility.

In the Buddhist context, this can refer to the calmness of the heart, enlightenment, or the state of being calm and quiet - free from temptation and distress. This can be thought of as being in a state of earthly nirvāṇa.

Note: The second character is written just slightly differently in modern Japanese (静 instead of 靜). Expect a slight variation if you order this from the Japanese master calligrapher. The version shown here is considered the ancient Japanese and original Chinese form.

静風 means quiet wind, silent wind, or serenity wind.

This can also be a given name often pronounced Seifū in Japanese and can also be pronounced Shizukaze in Japanese.

Some might also write this as 靜風 with a slight difference in the first character.

In Simplified Chinese, it's 静风.
This word is more commonly used in Japanese than Chinese, but it can be read in both languages with the same meaning.

錫安 is the Chinese title for Zion.

While 錫安 is supposed to sound like the western word Zion, it also has meaning.

錫 means to bestow or grant (but can mean tin in chemistry).

安 means peace, calm, safety, and tranquility.

This is a nice word that means peaceful, tranquil, calm, composed, “free from worry,” “public peace,” tranquility, good health, well-being, or welfare in Chinese and Korean.

Note: The definition in Japanese is not so broad but still means peaceful or “public peace.”

和, 敬, 清, 寂 or Wa, Kei, Sei, Jaku are the principles of the way of tea or 茶道.

The meanings are:
Harmony 和 (wa).
Respect 敬 (kei).
Purity 清 (sei).
Tranquility 寂 (jaku).

These principles or tenets were created by tea master Sen Rikyu (1522-1591). More about these ideas: Chanoyu

See Also:  The Way of Tea

靜心 is how to write “peaceful heart” in Chinese.

The first character means peaceful, calm, and quiet. The second means heart but can also mean mind, soul, or spirit.

Because the word for heart/mind/soul is interchangeable in Chinese, this can also be translated as “a peaceful soul” or “a quiet mind.”

I have also seen this translated as “placid temperament” or “spirit of serenity,” especially in Japanese.

While they once used the same first character form in Japan, they now use a slightly-simplified version in modern Japan (after WWII). This version is shown to the right, and can be selected for your wall scroll by clicking on that Kanji instead of the button above.

定 is the single-character way to express the idea of Samadhi in Chinese and Japanese.

A single-character title like this is open to a lot of interpretation. So 定 can mean to set, to fix, to determine, to decide, to order, certainly, truly, settle, or compose the mind.

In the Buddhist context, this means “Perfect absorption of thought into the one object of meditation,” “The mind fixed in one direction,” “Internal state of imperturbability or tranquility,” or “Exempt from all external sensations.”

平和 is the Japanese and Korean order of these characters used most often to express the idea of peace, tranquility, and harmony.

It's just the reverse order of the Chinese. In this order in Chinese, it means takes the “mild” definition rather than “peace.” In Korean, the combination keeps the same meaning in either order.

The second character also means balance, so there is an element of harmony and balance along with peace.

寂 means silent, solitary, quiet, calm, still, rest, or tranquil.

This also has a strong association with Buddhism where it can mean “entering into Nirvana.” In that context, this is sometimes used to refer to the passing of a Buddhist monk (he is silent, as he has entered Nirvana). For the living, this is about tranquility (especially of mind).

Some will also use this to mean “elegant simplicity.”

From Sanskrit, this can represent praśama, vivikta, śānti, or nibbāna (nirvāṇa).

侘び寂び is Wabi-Sabi, the aesthetic sense in Japanese art emphasizing quiet simplicity and subdued refinement.

侘び represents the beauty to be found in poverty and simplicity, subdued taste, quiet refinement, and sober refinement.
寂び conveys solitude, tranquility, silence, quiet, calm, or stillness.

This is the full four-character version of Wabi-Sabi. There is also an abbreviated version, 侘寂, which you may see in logos or when a Kanji-only version of Wabi-Sabi is desired.

More about this subject at Wikipedia: Wabi Sabi

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

無事 is a Zen Buddhist term meaning no problem and no trouble.

無事 is the Zen state of perfect freedom from troubles and leaving secular affairs behind.

Sometimes this is used to describe the state of satori and complete tranquility of mind.

Written as 無事に with an extra Hiragana at the end, this becomes an adverb to describe something in the condition of safety, peace, quietness, and without troubles.

無事 (Buji) can also be a given name in Japan.

This has more meaning in the Japanese Zen Buddhist community than in China or Korea, where it can mean “be free” or “nothing to do or worry about.”