Buy an 李 calligraphy wall scroll here!
Personalize your custom “李” project by clicking the button next to your favorite “李” title below...
1. Lee / Plum
2. Li
3. Ly
4. Lenell
5. Letta
6. Levi
7. Licon
8. Liman
10. Bruce Lee
11. Galina
12. Leanna
13. Lee-Ella
14. Leeanna
This is the most common Chinese character which sounds like “Lee” or “Li” and is used as a surname / family name in China.
李 actually means “Plum.” So it's really Mr. Plum and Mrs. Plum if you translated the name instead of romanizing.
This is not the only character in Chinese that can be romanized as “Lee” or “Li.” If your family name is “Lee” or “Li” please be sure this is the correct character before you order this scroll (look at your grandparents' Chinese passports or other documents if you are an ABC and are trying to create a heritage wall scroll).
Famous people with this surname include Bruce Lee (Li Xiao-Long), Minister Li Peng, and famous Tang Dynasty poet Li Bai.
In Korea, this is the original character for a surname that romanizes as “Yi.”
Note: This also one version of Lee that is a common Korean surname. However, it’s often romanized as "Yi" and sometimes as "Ri" or "Rhee."
李小龍 is the real full name of Bruce Lee.
Many people have no idea that Bruce Lee had a “real” Chinese name. In Mandarin and Cantonese, he is known as “Lǐ XiǎoLóng” and “Léi SíuLùng” respectively.
He kept his family name pronunciation (Li = Lee). 李 is a common family name that also means “plum.”
His given name 小龍 (Xiao-Long), literally means “little dragon.” 李小龍 is why you often see the character for dragon associated with Bruce Lee on various posters etc.
For a pronunciation lesson, the “X” in Romanized Mandarin is pronounced like a “sh” sound but with your tongue at the bottom of your mouth. The vowel sound in “Long” is like the English “oh,” not like the “ah” sound in the English word “long.”
If you are a big Bruce Lee fan, you should know this information, and you should have this wall scroll hanging in your room or martial arts studio.
Note: Japanese use these same Chinese characters / Kanji to write Bruce Lee's real name (with different pronunciation - which is a bit like how the name “Bruce Lee” sounds in English).
Ōbaidōri or Oubaitori means cherry, apricot, peach, and plum blossoms.
While these four different blossoms look very similar at first glance, they all bloom differently and have their own distinct shapes and smells. Yet despite their differences, each and every blossom is proud and beautiful in its own way.
蔡李何佛雄 is the five families associated with San Soo Kung Fu.
The characters are always the same, but there are several ways these are romanized from Cantonese, Mandarin, and other dialects. Some common ones include Tsoi Li Hoi Fut Hung and Choi Li Ho Fut Hung.
If you are using a different romanization, that does not mean it's wrong. It might just be that your school is using a different dialect or romanization scheme.
Below are some entries from our dictionary that may match your 李 search...
Characters If shown, 2nd row is Simp. Chinese |
Pronunciation Romanization |
Simple Dictionary Definition |
李 see styles |
lǐ li3 li rei / re れい |
More info & calligraphy: Ly(kana only) Japanese plum (Prunus salicina); Chinese plum; (female given name) Rei Plum. |
李子 see styles |
lǐ zi li3 zi5 li tzu riko りこ |
More info & calligraphy: Riko / Momoko(female given name) Riko |
李維 李维 see styles |
lǐ wéi li3 wei2 li wei |
More info & calligraphy: Levi |
李小龍 李小龙 see styles |
lǐ xiǎo lóng li3 xiao3 long2 li hsiao lung |
More info & calligraphy: Bruce Lee |
万李 see styles |
banri ばんり |
(female given name) Banri |
世李 see styles |
seri せり |
(female given name) Seri |
乙李 see styles |
tsuguri つぐり |
(female given name) Tsuguri |
亜李 see styles |
ari あり |
(female given name) Ari |
伯李 see styles |
hakuri はくり |
(female given name) Hakuri |
佳李 see styles |
kari かり |
(female given name) Kari |
侑李 see styles |
yuri ゆり |
(personal name) Yuri |
依李 see styles |
eri えり |
(female given name) Eri |
優李 see styles |
yuri ゆり |
(female given name) Yuri |
入李 see styles |
shiori しおり |
(female given name) Shiori |
全李 see styles |
zenki ぜんき |
(surname) Zenki |
友李 see styles |
yuri ゆり |
(female given name) Yuri |
吏李 see styles |
riri りり |
(female given name) Riri |
和李 see styles |
aeri あえり |
(female given name) Aeri |
咲李 see styles |
saki さき |
(female given name) Saki |
唯李 see styles |
yuirii / yuiri ゆいりい |
(female given name) Yuirii |
壱李 see styles |
ichii / ichi いちい |
(female given name) Ichii |
夕李 see styles |
yuuri / yuri ゆうり |
(female given name) Yūri |
夢李 see styles |
yuri ゆり |
(female given name) Yuri |
姫李 see styles |
himeri ひめり |
(female given name) Himeri |
媛李 see styles |
enri えんり |
(female given name) Enri |
安李 see styles |
anri あんり |
(female given name) Anri |
実李 see styles |
miri みり |
(female given name) Miri |
小李 see styles |
komomo こもも |
(female given name) Komomo |
嶺李 see styles |
nemo ねも |
(female given name) Nemo |
希李 see styles |
mareri まれり |
(female given name) Mareri |
The following table may be helpful for those studying Chinese or Japanese...
Title | Characters | Romaji (Romanized Japanese) | Various forms of Romanized Chinese | |
Lee Plum | 李 | ri / sumomo | lǐ / li3 / li | |
Li | 李 | lǐ / li3 / li | ||
Ly | 李 | lǐ / li3 / li | ||
Lenell | 李內 李内 | lǐ nèi / li3 nei4 / li nei / linei | ||
Letta | 李達 李达 | lǐ dá / li3 da2 / li da / lida | li ta / lita | |
Levi | 李維 李维 | lǐ wéi / li3 wei2 / li wei / liwei | ||
Licon | 李康 | lǐ kāng / li3 kang1 / li kang / likang | li k`ang / likang / li kang | |
Liman | 李曼 | lǐ màn / li3 man4 / li man / liman | ||
Riko Momoko | 李子 | riko / momoko / satoko | ||
Bruce Lee | 李小龍 李小龙 | bu ruu su ri buruusuri bu ru su ri | lǐ xiǎo lóng li3 xiao3 long2 li xiao long lixiaolong | li hsiao lung lihsiaolung |
Galina | 蓋李娜 盖李娜 | gài lǐ nà gai4 li3 na4 gai li na gailina | kai li na kailina |
|
Leanna | 李安娜 | lǐ ān nà li3 an1 na4 li an na lianna | ||
Lee-Ella | 李艾拉 | lǐ ài lā li3 ai4 la1 li ai la liaila | ||
Leeanna | 李婭娜 李娅娜 | lǐ yà nà li3 ya4 na4 li ya na liyana | ||
Obaidori Oubaitori | 桜梅桃李 | oubaidouri / obaidori | ||
Five Families Tsoi Li Hoi Fut Hung | 蔡李何佛雄 | cài lǐ hé fú xióng cai4 li3 he2 fu2 xiong2 cai li he fu xiong cailihefuxiong | ts`ai li ho fu hsiung tsailihofuhsiung tsai li ho fu hsiung |
|
In some entries above you will see that characters have different versions above and below a line. In these cases, the characters above the line are Traditional Chinese, while the ones below are Simplified Chinese. |
Successful Chinese Character and Japanese Kanji calligraphy searches within the last few hours...
All of our calligraphy wall scrolls are handmade.
When the calligrapher finishes creating your artwork, it is taken to my art mounting workshop in Beijing where a wall scroll is made by hand from a combination of silk, rice paper, and wood.
After we create your wall scroll, it takes at least two weeks for air mail delivery from Beijing to you.
Allow a few weeks for delivery. Rush service speeds it up by a week or two for $10!
When you select your calligraphy, you'll be taken to another page where you can choose various custom options.
The wall scroll that Sandy is holding in this picture is a "large size"
single-character wall scroll.
We also offer custom wall scrolls in small, medium, and an even-larger jumbo size.
Professional calligraphers are getting to be hard to find these days.
Instead of drawing characters by hand, the new generation in China merely type roman letters into their computer keyboards and pick the character that they want from a list that pops up.
There is some fear that true Chinese calligraphy may become a lost art in the coming years. Many art institutes in China are now promoting calligraphy programs in hopes of keeping this unique form
of art alive.
Even with the teachings of a top-ranked calligrapher in China, my calligraphy will never be good enough to sell. I will leave that to the experts.
The same calligrapher who gave me those lessons also attracted a crowd of thousands and a TV crew as he created characters over 6-feet high. He happens to be ranked as one of the top 100 calligraphers in all of China. He is also one of very few that would actually attempt such a feat.
Check out my lists of Japanese Kanji Calligraphy Wall Scrolls and Old Korean Hanja Calligraphy Wall Scrolls.