Vietnamese in Chinese / Japanese...

鄭 is the Chinese surname Zheng, Japanese surname Tei, Korean surname Jeong, and Vietnamese surname Trịnh.

This can also refer to the state of Zheng during the Warring States period of China.

In Korea, this can be the original way to write the surname Jeong in the old days (now it's 정 in modern Korea). Can also romanize from Korean as Chung or Jung.

In Japanese, this is the surname Tei. But can romanize as the following Japanese names/surnames: Ti; Te; Tsun; Dziyon; Chiyon; Chon; Chou; Chun; Chuu; Chien; Zen; Jiyon; Jon; Jou; Jun.

In Vietnamese, this is the name Trịnh from the time before Vietnam romanized the language.

王 is wang which means king. It is not pronounced the way you think in Chinese. It is more like English speakers would want to pronounce wong. It has roughly the same vowel sound as tong, song, or long in English.

Note that this means king only, not the emperor. An emperor is higher than a king, and theoretically is chosen by God, according to ancient Chinese culture. However, the definition is often blurred at various points in Asian history.

王 can also be defined as ruler, sovereign, monarch, or magnate. It is also can refer to a game piece in the chess-like Japanese strategic game of shoji.

Note: This can also be a family name in Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese (in Vietnamese it's Vương).

See Also:  Queen

This is a Vietnamese surname Thuan, written here in the original Chinese character.

The meaning is to obey, to follow, favorable, comply, yield, or agreeable.

剛柔 is a term that means hardness and softness or hard and soft.

剛柔 is also the Chinese character origin of the martial arts style known as Cương Nhu.

Cương Nhu or Cuong Nhu was founded by Grandmaster Ngo Dong in 1965 in Hue, Vietnam, and brought to the U.S. in 1971.

剛 means hard, firm, strong, and just.
柔 means soft, flexible, supple, yielding, softness, and/or gentleness.

Until it was romanized in the mid-17th century by Portuguese missionaries with later influence by French missionaries, Vietnamese was exclusively written in Chinese characters. With some research, you can still figure out the original way to write most Vietnamese words and titles in Chinese characters. That is what I did here to figure out that Cuong Nhu would have been 剛柔 if established in ancient Vietnam.

Same characters are used in Japanese for various Goju schools of Okinawan martial arts, though not the same lineage as the Vietnamese style described above.

This is the Vietnamese surname Lam in the original Chinese form.

Before Vietnam romanized, 林 was the way to write Lâm. This is also a surname in Chinese and the meaning is “small forest.”

This is the surname Ng in Chinese.

吳 is sometimes romanized as Ang, Eng, Ing and Ong in the United States and Ung in Australia. In Mandarin, 吳 is usually romanized as Wu, but sometimes Woo. In Vietnamese, 吳 can be the Ngô surname.

Be careful, as 黃/黄 is another surname character that also romanizes as Ng and other variants noted above.

譚 is the surname Tan in Chinese.

The original form is 譚 but generations ago some changed the character to 覃 and some write it 檀 or 談. All of these romanize as tán in Mandarin Chinese and Tam in Cantonese. 覃, 檀, and 談 are rarely used for surnames now, you probably want 譚.

If you are looking for the origin of the Vietnamese name Tan, that came from 秦.

If you need one of these other characters, just copy and paste it into the search bar above, and an "Order Scroll" button will appear for you.

陳 is the Chinese character that was the Vietnamese surname Trần before Vietnam romanized their language.

This can also refer to the Trần Dynasty of Vietnam (1225 to 1400).

This is also the Chinese surname Chen, Chin or Chan, Korean surname Jin, and Japanese Surname Yo or Chin.

秦 is a common character that can be the surname romanized as Qin or Chin in Chinese.

秦 is the same Qin as the Qin dynasty (221-207 BC). The Qin dynasty established the first emperor and the first unification of China (previously a multitude of kingdoms).

秦 is also a surname in Vietnamese where it is romanized as Tần and in Japanese where it is romanized as Yasushi.

林 is the Chinese character for the surname Lim.

The meaning is small forest.

林 is a surname in many dialects but with varying romanizations:
Lín (Mandarin)
Lam, Lum, Lem (Cantonese)
Hayashi (Japanese)
Lim (Thai)
Lâm (Vietnamese)
Ling (Eastern Min, Northern Min, Wu Chinese)
Lim, Liem (Min Nan or Hokkien, Teochew, Korean, Taiwanese Minnan, Indonesian)

南無阿弥陀仏 is the modern Japanese version of “Namu Amida Butsu” or “The Compassionate Amitabha Buddha.”

Some will translate this as “I sincerely believe in Amitabha; Lord have mercy on me.”

This phrase especially applies to Japanese Pure Land Buddhists.

There is a universal version using ancient characters (with more strokes) for the 4th and last characters. That version is also used in Chinese, Korean, and occasionally Vietnamese. This is used to pay homage to Amitabha Buddha.

See Also:  Bodhisattva | Buddhism | Nirvana

自尊 can mean “pride,” “self-respect,” or “self-esteem.” The first character means “oneself,” and the second can mean revered, valuable, precious, noble, exalted, honorable, or simply “pride.”

I have also seen this two-character word translated as “amour propre,” self-regard, and self-pride.

自尊 is universal between Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and Korean Hanja written languages. It may also be understood in old Vietnamese (they once used Chinese characters as well).

磬 means “chime stones,” but I'm including it here for those looking for the original Chinese character for the Vietnamese name Khánh.

Other definitions include ancient percussion instrument made of stone or jade pieces hung in a row and struck as a xylophone, sounding stone, ancient Chinese chime shaped like a chevron.

There is also a possibility that your original character is 慶 which means to celebrate or felicity. Contact me if you need that character.

愛 universally means love in Chinese, Japanese Kanji, old Korean Hanja, and old Vietnamese.

愛 is one of the most recognized Asian symbols in the West and is often seen on tee shirts, coffee mugs, tattoos, and more.

愛 can also be defined as affection, to be fond of, to like, or to be keen on. It often refers to romantic love, and is found in phrases like, “I love you.” But in Chinese, one can say, “I love that movie” using this character as well.

This can also be a pet name or part of a pet name in the way we say “dear” or “honey” in English.

This can be a girl’s name “Ai” in both Chinese and Japanese.

More about this character:

This may be hard to imagine as a westerner but the strokes at the top of this love character symbolize family & marriage.

The symbol in the middle is a little easier to identify. It is the character for "heart" (it can also mean "mind" or "soul"). I guess you can say that no matter if you are from the East or the West, you must put your heart into your love.

The strokes at the bottom create a modified character that means "friend" or "friendship."

I suppose you could say that the full meaning of this love character is to love your family, spouse, and friends with all of your heart, since all three elements exist in this character.

See Also:  I Love You | Caring | Benevolence | Friendliness | Double Happiness Happy Marriage Wall Scroll

福 is pronounced “fu” in Chinese.

The character “fu” is posted by virtually all Chinese people on the doors of their homes during the Spring Festival (closely associated with the Chinese New Year).

One tradition from the Zhou Dynasty (beginning in 256 B.C.) holds that putting a fu symbol on your front door will keep the goddess of poverty away.

福 literally means good fortune, prosperity, blessed, blessedness, happiness, and fulfillment.

You'll also see this character in Vietnam (where Chinese characters were the written form until a romanization reform) where it is pronounced Phúc - a word commonly used in Vietnamese names because of its good meaning.

See Also:  Lucky

阮 is the original Chinese character that represented the Vietnamese surname Nguyễn before Vietnam stopped using Chinese characters and romanized their language. It is probably the most common surname in all of Vietnam. While romanized as Nguyen, it sounds more like the English word “Win” or “When.” 阮 can also represent the Nguyen Dynasty in Vietnam, which lasted from 1802 to 1945.

阮 is also the Chinese surname Ruan, most Chinese with this surname have ancestors from a small state named Ruan during the Shang Dynasty (1600-1046 BC) located in the southeast of modern-day Gansu Province.

In Japanese, this can be the rare surnames pronounced Min, Gen, Ken, Gan, or En.

Besides a surname, this character also represents an ancient musical instrument.

觀世音 is the longer and perhaps more formal title for the Buddhist deity known as the Goddess of Mercy or Bodhisattva of Compassion.

The longer title of this bodhisattva is Romanized in the following ways:
Mandarin Chinese: Guanshi Yin, Kuan-shih Yin.
Japanese: Kanzeon.
Sanskrit: Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara.
Korean: Gwan-se-eum.
Vietnamese: Quan Thế Âm.
Thai: Prah Mae Kuan Eim.
English: Bodhisattva of Mercy and Salvation, Goddess of Compassion, Buddha of Mercy, et al.

Please view our more common and shorter version, “Guan Yin” before you make a decision. Also, note that the first character has a slight variation in Japanese. If your audience is specifically Japanese, you may want to select that version.

See Also:  Buddhism | Goddess

觀音/観音 is the Buddhist deity known as the Goddess of Mercy or Bodhisattva of Compassion.

In Chinese, the proper name of this being is Guan Yin. There is some debate as to whether Guan Yin is female. The argument comes from some scripture that suggests Buddhist deities take on the male form. Others say that Guan Yin has no sex. And still, others are okay with the female representation of Guan Yin.

This bodhisattva is also known or Romanized in the following ways:
Mandarin Chinese: Guan Yin, Kuan Yin, Kwan Yin.
Japanese: Kannon, Kwannon.
Sanskrit: Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara.
Korean: Gwan-eum.
Vietnamese: Quan Âm.
Thai: Kuan Eim.
English: Bodhisattva of Mercy and Salvation, Goddess of Compassion, Buddha of Mercy, et al.

Note: The first character has a slight variation in Japanese. If your audience is specifically Japanese, you may want to select that version.

See Also:  Buddhism | Goddess | Namo Amitabha | Bodhisattva

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.