国 in Chinese / Japanese...

This is one of a few characters that can be a surname that romanizes as Guo from China.

The meaning of the character is country, nation, state, or kingdom.

This is used in Japan for older signs and texts. You will see the more simple 国 form in Japan, and also China in modern times.

This is the Chinese name for the country of China.

This is the country of China written in Japanese.

帝國 is a Japanese and Chinese word that means empire or imperial.

Note: In modern Japan, they tend to write 帝国 instead of 帝國. Let us know if you want the modern Japanese (which is also the Simplified Chinese) version.

This is the Chinese name for the country of England.

法國 is the most common title for the country of France.

This version is the traditional form in Chinese and Japanese. In Simplified Chinese and modern Japanese, it's written 法国.

法国 is the most common modern Japanese and Simplified Chinese way to write the title for the country of France.

This is the Chinese name for the country of Germany.

This is Great Britain written in Japanese.

天國 is the very Christian way to refer to the “Kingdom of Heaven” in Chinese, old Korean, and Japanese. 天國 is also the translation for “paradise.”

The first character means “Heaven.” The second character means “kingdom” but, in modern times, has been extended to mean “country” (but no one will translate this particular character combination as “Heaven Country”). 天國 is the ancient version of this word, as in modern times (after WWII), the second character was simplified in mainland China and Japan.

天国 is the same meaning and pronunciation as our other entry for “Kingdom of Heaven,” but the second character was simplified in Japan and mainland China to this version.

Choose the appearance that you like best (they will be somewhat universally understood - as most people are aware of this simplification in places where they still use all traditional characters - such as Taiwan and Hong Kong). You can consider the other version to be the “ancient version.”

This is a way to write martial arts in Chinese.

This can be romanized as Kuoshu, Kuo Shu, Guoshu, or Guo Shu.

This is the Chinese name for the country of Russia.

This is South Korea written in Japanese.

This is the Chinese name for the country of Thailand.

三國 is the title for the Three Kingdoms period (220-280 A.D.) in Chinese history.

In Korean Hanja, this can also refer to one of several Three Kingdoms periods in Korean history.

In Japanese, this could refer to the Chinese Three Kingdoms period or be the surname Mitsukuni.

This is the Chinese name for the United States of America (USA).

This is the United States of America (USA) written in Japanese.

美國人 means “American” or literally “American Person” in Chinese.

英國人 is the traditional Chinese and Japanese way to write British person, Briton, English person, Englishman, Englishwoman, etc.

In modern Japan, the middle character has been simplified, making it 英国人. This same simplification is used in mainland China as well.

美國館 is a Korean Hanja title, which roughly means “U.S. School.”

The first two characters mean “USA” (literally: Beautiful Kingdom/Country).

The last character means “school,” “building,” and “schoolroom” in this context.

This “Mi Guk Kwan” title is used to mean “The American School of Tang Soo Do.”

If you want this in modern Korean Hangul, just click the Hangul characters in the pronunciation box next to the Korean flag above.

愛國者 is the most common way to write patriot in Traditional Chinese and old Korean Hanja.

In another context, this can refer to the MIM-104 Patriot surface-to-air missile.

This literally translates as “love [of] country person.”

愛国者 is the most common way to say patriot in Japanese.

The literal translation is “love [of] country person.”

南國拳 means Southern Kingdom Fist in Chinese.

I don't know if this is a widely-known style of martial arts. I added it because people were searching my website for it.

美國軍人 means “American Soldier” or literally “American Military Person.”

This can also be translated as “American military personnel,” or “American serviceman.” Gender is not specified in this title, so it's appropriate for male or female soldiers.

動物王國 is literally what it says.

There is even a TV show in China that is similar to Wild Kingdom or what you would currently see on the Discovery Channel that has this same title.

For your information: In the Chinese way of thinking, the Tiger is the king of the animal kingdom (lions are not native to China, so the tiger took the role that we have given to the lion in our western way of thinking).

The modern Japanese version has a slight variation on the last character (国 instead of 國). Let me know if you want the modern Japanese version (國 would be considered the old or traditional version).

This is the Chinese name for the country of Bangladesh.

三國演義 is the Chinese title for The Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong.

This is one of the most famous novels of Chinese literature.

This is the most common Japanese name for the United Kingdom.

盡忠報國 is a proverb that is the tattoo worn on the back of Yue Fei, a famous Chinese warrior who lived until 1142 A.D.

The tattoo can be translated as “Serve the country with the utmost loyalty.” More literally, it means “[The] Ultimate Loyalty [is too] Duty [of] Country.”

Legend has it that this tattoo once saved his life when he was accused of treason.

The first two characters have come to create a word that means “serve the country faithfully” or “die for the country.” Note: It's more a willingness to die for one's country than the actual act of dying.

The last two characters have come to mean “Dedicate oneself to the service of one's country.”

Both of these words are probably only in the Chinese lexicon because of this famous tattoo.

If you break it down, character-by-character, here is what you get:
1. To the utmost, to the limit of something, the ultimate.
2. Loyalty or duty (a sense of duty to one's master, lord, country, or job).
3. Report, recompense, give back to (in this case, you are giving yourself to your country as payback).
4. Country, state, nation, kingdom.

More about the famous warrior and army general, Yue Fei

This is the Chinese name for the country of the Central African Republic.

マリ共和國 is The Republic of Mali in Japanese.

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

チェコ共和国 is the title for the Czech Republic in Japanese.

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

大英聯合王國 is the Chinese name for the United Kingdom.

バチカン市國 is the Japanese title for Vatican City.

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

剛果民主共和國 is the Chinese title for the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire).

This is the Chinese name for the Dominican Republic.

斯洛伐克共和國 is the Chinese name for the country of the Slovak Republic.

コンゴ民主共和国 is the Japanese name for the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire).

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

This is the Chinese name for the United Arab Emirates.

This is United Arab Emirates in Japanese.

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

国家忠诚父母孝道朋友有信杀生有择临战无退 are the five codes of Tang Soo Do.

I suggest you have this arranged in five columns when you get to the options page for your custom calligraphy wall scroll.

Here are my translations of each of the five codes:
國家忠誠 Be loyal to your country.
父母孝道 In regards to parents, behave in a filial way.
朋友有信 Be faithful in friendship.
殺生有擇 When fighting for life and death, make noble choices.
臨戰無退 No retreat in battle.

Note: “Tang Soo Do” is a romanization of 唐手道. It's 당수도 in Korean Hangul. It can also be romanized as “Tangsudo” or “Dangsudo.”

爾昌友延嗣捷開文裔光宗傳世澤遠晉本立道隆積善家國重學業廣成芳 is the Tom Clan Generational Poem.

If you are interested in this poem, you probably already know the meaning, so for now we'll forgo including a translation.

This is the Mawangdui version of Daodejing chapter 54.

Here is the Lord's Prayer in Chinese from Mathew 6:9-13.

The Chinese text with punctuation is:
Part of 6:9 ...我们在天上的父，愿人都尊你的名为圣。
6:10 愿你的国降临，愿你的旨意行在地上，如同行在天上。
6:11 我们日用的饮食，今日赐给我们。
6:12 免我们的债，如同我们免了人的债。
6:13 不叫我们遇见试探，救我们脱离凶恶，因为国度，权柄，荣耀，全是你的，直到永远，阿们。
Note that punctuation is not included in traditional Chinese calligraphy artwork.

From KJV, this is:
Part of 6:9 ...Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
6:10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
6:11 Give us this day our daily bread.
6:12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
6:13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.

Here is the Lord's Prayer in Chinese from Luke 11:2-4.

The Chinese text with punctuation is:
Part of 11:2 ...我们在天上的父，有古卷只作父阿愿人都尊你的名为圣。愿你的国降临。愿你的旨意行在地上，如同行在天上。有古卷无愿你的旨意云云。
11:3 我们日用的饮食，天天赐给我们。
11:4 赦免我们的罪，因为我们也赦免凡亏欠我们的人。不叫我们遇见试探。救我们脱离凶恶。有古卷无末句。
Note that punctuation is not included in traditional Chinese calligraphy artwork.

From KJV, this is:
Part of 11:2 ...Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.
11:3 Give us day by day our daily bread.
11:4 And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive everyone that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.