Lord in Chinese / Japanese...

耶和華是我的牧者 is the first line from Psalms 23 straight out of the Chinese Union Bible.

This reads, "The LORD is my shepherd," or "Jehovah is my shepherd."

The character breakdown:
耶和華 = Jehovah (most English Bibles translate as LORD or God). This Chinese title is meant to sound a bit like the original Hebrew YHWH or Yahweh.
是 = is.
我的 = my.
牧者 = shepherd.

耶穌是主 means, "Jesus is Lord" in Chinese.

大君 is the Japanese word Taikun. It's defined directly as liege, lord, or an alternate title for a shogunate.

The sound of this Japanese word entered the English lexicon by the 1800's but took the spelling of "tycoon." Even President Lincoln was referred to as a Tycoon in the 1860's.

In Japan, this is still understood to be "Great Lord" or "Big Boss." In America, it means, "Bill Gates" and "Warren Buffet."

This means, "Jesus is Lord" in Jesus.

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

上帝 is how Chinese Christians and Jews refer to God, AKA The Judeo-Christian God.

Yes, there are Chinese Jews whose ancestry dates back to Jewish traders on the silk road. They are known as the Kaifeng Jews. Most have left China for Israel now.

There are also plenty of Christians in China of both the Protestant and Catholic variety. However, the churches are basically run by the government, and the Chinese Catholic church does not recognize the Pope.

Oddly, in my experience, I found the Chinese Protestant church to be much less political compared to Baptist and other Protestant churches that I have visited in America.

上帝 is also the typically-used title for God in Japanese.

While you may find this term in old Korean dictionaries, it is an obscure, and rarely-used title for God in modern Korean.

See Also:  Christianity | Jesus Christ

耶穌 is simply the name "Jesus" transliterated into Chinese. 耶穌 hold a pronunciation in Mandarin that is closer to the real and original Hebrew Yeshua, instead of the incorrect way we have always pronounced Jesus in English with a hard "J" sound. While this name sounds like the real "Jesus" in Chinese, Christians in China are more likely to say "Christ" (Jidu) which holds more meaning than just sound.

If you are Latino and have been given the name "Jesus," this is also how to write your name in Chinese.

基督教 is the Chinese, Japanese and Korean word for "Christianity."

Just as in English, this word is often used to mean "Protestant" but includes Catholics in the true definition.

It is the word used to refer to the whole "Christian religion" or "Christian Faith" and therefore, it can be translated as "Christianity." However, used as an adjective in regards to a person, it would translate as "Christian." But more like saying "His religion is Christianity" rather than a noun form.

If you break it apart, the characters mean Base/Foundation Leading/Supervising Religion/Teaching. It makes more sense in Japanese, Chinese, and Korean. The first two characters together are translated as "Christ." So you can also say this means "Christ's Religion" or "Christ's Teachings" when directly translated, or in reverse, "The Religion of Christ" or "The Teaching of Christ."

Notes: The last character has a slight difference in one stroke - however, in calligraphic form, this will not be apparent. This entry can easily be read by any Korean person who knows Hanja characters (Chinese characters used in Korean).

See Also:  Jesus Christ | God of Abraham

This how to write "Christ" in Chinese characters, Korean Hanja, and Japanese Kanji. 基督 is the word used in the Chinese Union Bible (the only readily-available translation of the Bible into Chinese that I know of - published about 100 years ago). For Chinese Christians, this is the most common way to refer to Jesus Christ.

基督 is also the way that "Christ" is written in Japanese. But since the Japanese language is very flexible about the sounds that can be assigned to various Kanji, these characters have been assigned a pronunciation that sounds a lot like "Christ" or actually closer to the original "Christos." In Japanese (if you don't know how the Romaji shown above in the gray box works) it sounds like "key ree sue toe" using English words/sounds. Say those four words really fast and you'll get it.
It should be noted that only Japanese Christians will be familiar with this word.

基督 is best defined, read and understood with the characters together but if you take this word for Christ apart, the first character means "fundamentals" or "foundation." The second character can mean "leader" or "boss."

耶穌基督 is the full version, with the name "Jesus" being the first two characters and the meaning of "Christ" as the last two.

You can't get more specific than this when referring to the Messiah.

私と私の家とは、主に仕える is the last bit of Joshua 24:15 in Japanese.

Joshua 24:15 (KJV) ...as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

Joshua 24:15 (NIV) ...as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.



This came from the Shinkaiyaku Japanese Bible. This is the most commonly-used Bible translation in Japan for both Protestants and Catholic Japanese folks.

I think it is a bit like having a secret code on your wall that quietly expresses to whom your are faithful.

This is a nice gift for a friend, or wonderful expression of faith for your own home.

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

This the last sentence of Joshua 24:15 in Chinese.

What your
calligraphy
might look like
from our
Chinese Master
Calligrapher

Joshua 24:15 (KJV) ...as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

Joshua 24:15 (NIV) ...as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.

We used the only official Christian Chinese Bible that I know of so that the translation would be as accurate and standard as possible. Any Chinese Christian worth their salt will easily be able to identify this verse from the Chinese words on this scroll.

I think it is a bit like having a secret code on your wall that quietly expresses to whom you are faithful.

A great gift for your devout Christian or Jewish friend if they happen to be fond of Asian art.

Or perhaps a wonderful "conversation starter" for your own home.

Note: If you are curious, the last three characters represent they way "LORD" is used in most English Bibles. In Chinese, this is actually the phonetic name in Mandarin Chinese for "Jehovah."