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Personalize your custom “生活” project by clicking the button next to your favorite “生活” title below...
2. New Life
4. Choose Life
5. Embrace Life / Embrace Living
6. Enjoy Life
9. Life in Harmony / Balanced Life
10. Life is Good / Life is Beautiful
11. Life of Love
12. Life is Fun
13. Live Laugh Love
14. Live Strong
16. Thug Life
17. The Good Life / Beautiful Life
18. Life Goes On
19. This is Life
20. Life is Good
22. Such is Life
24. Life of Love
25. Live Laugh Love
生活 means life, living, to live, or the state of being alive. It can also refer to your daily existence or livelihood. It can also be a suggestion to just “Live life.”
生活 is also the term used in other titles such as “healthy living” or Lance Armstrong's “Livestrong” campaign (Chinese title for Livestrong only).
If you need a reminder that you are alive and to take a breath, this might be the perfect wall scroll for you.
This literally means “new life” or “new livelihood” in Japanese Kanji.
新生活 is most appropriate if you are starting a new career or otherwise are starting a new chapter in your life or a new beginning.
Note: This is not the most common word selection for a calligraphy wall scroll. But if you’re a westerner, you can bend the rules a bit.
生活法 is a Japanese and Chinese title meaning “art of living” or “way of life.”
This can also be translated in a few other ways, such as “rule of life” and “the act of living.”
The “art” title kind of comes from the fact that the last character is the same as the book, “The Art of War.” So when you write your book, this is the title for “The Art of Life,” in Chinese and Japanese.
選擇生活 can mean to choose life instead of death (or suicide) or to choose to live life to the fullest.
I think of it as the key phrase used by Renton (Ewan McGregor) in the movie Trainspotting. While Chinese people will not think of Trainspotting when they see this phrase, for me, it will always be what comes near the end of this colorful rant:
Choose life. Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family. Choose a fucking big television. Choose washing machines, cars, compact disc players, and electrical tin can openers. Choose good health, low cholesterol, and dental insurance. Choose fixed-interest mortgage repayments. Choose a starter home. Choose your friends. Choose leisure wear and matching luggage. Choose a three-piece suite on-hire purchase in a range of fucking fabrics. Choose DIY and wondering who the fuck you are on a Sunday morning. Choose sitting on that couch watching mind-numbing, spirit-crushing game shows, stuffing fucking junk food into your mouth. Choose rotting away at the end of it all, pissing your last in a miserable home, nothing more than an embarrassment to the selfish, fucked-up brats you have spawned to replace yourself. Choose your future. Choose life.
日常生活 simply means everyday life or regular life.
You can also translate it as “Living day to day.”
If you are into healthy living, 健康生活 might be an excellent selection for a wall scroll to hang in your home.
The first two characters speak of health, vitality, vigor, and being of sound body. The second two characters mean living or life (daily existence).
Harmonious Life
This 和諧生活 title suggests that you have, or want to get your life in balance.
The first two characters regard the idea of balance, harmony, and peace.
The second two characters mean “life.” More specifically this refers to your livelihood, career, and the daily activities that comprise your life or living. Some would translate those two characters as “one's daily existence.”
Note: We have a couple of titles for this idea. This version is more of a noun, thus "The Balanced Life" verses a verb form like "Balancing [Your] Life."
調和生活 is a Japanese title that suggests that you have, or want to get your life in balance.
The first two Kanji mean harmonious or in harmony.
The second two Kanji mean “life.” More specifically this refers to your livelihood, career, and the daily activities that comprise your life or living.
愛情生活 is the Chinese proverb for “Loving Life.” Some also translate this as “[your] Loving Life” or “Life full of Love.”
This is about being a loving person (to your spouse and/or family) during your life. This is not the same as loving the state of being alive - not “love of living” but rather “being a loving person during your life.”
Note: Korean pronunciation is included above, though use of this proverb in Korean has not been verified.
This proverb can be understood in Japanese but
it’s
primarily a Chinese proverb (it will "feel" Chinese to a Japanese person).
In English, the word order shown in the title is the most natural or popular. In Chinese, the natural order is a little different:
The first character means laugh (sometimes means smile).
The second character means love.
The last two characters mean “live” as in “to be alive” or “pursue life.”
Please note: 笑愛生活 is not a normal phrase in that it does not have a subject, verb, or object. It is a word list. Word lists are not common in Asian languages/grammar (at least not as normal as in English). We only added this entry because so many people requested it.
We put the characters in the order shown above, as it almost makes a single word with the meaning “A life of laughter and love.” It's a made-up word, but it sounds good in Chinese.
We removed the Japanese pronunciation guide from this entry, as the professional Japanese translator deemed it "near nonsense" from a Japanese perspective. Choose this only if your audience is Chinese and you want the fewest-possible characters to express this idea.
In Korean, this would be 소애생활 or "so ae saeng hwar" but I have not confirmed that this makes sense in Korean.
While hard to translate directly, 堅強生活 is the best way to write “Live Strong” in Chinese. If you are a cancer survivor or support Lance Armstrong's ideas, this is a nice selection for a wall scroll.
The first two characters mean strong or staunch. The last two mean living or life (daily existence). While the Chinese version is the reverse order of “Live Strong” it is the only way to write it in a natural form that is grammatically correct.
Note that we are in no way affiliated or connected to Lance or his foundation. This translation is offered because of multiple requests from customers whose philosophies or ideas match those of the Live Strong idea.
生活信條 is a Chinese proverb that means “principles of life” or “The personal obligations and rules that you live by.”
For instance, if you were a vegetarian, the act of not eating meat fits into this category.
This could also be translated as a “Way of living.”
暴徒生活 is probably the best way to say “Thug Life” in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.
It's a strange title, to be sure, so expect native Asian people to be confused when they see your Thug Life calligraphy.
The first two characters mean bandit, thug, ruffian, insurgent, rioter, or mob.
The last two characters mean life, live, or living.
生活在繼續 means “No matter what happens, life goes on” or “For better or worse, life goes on.”
生活在繼續 is kind of modern Chinese proverb, but the meaning is generational.
生活 = to live; life; livelihood.
在 = (used before a verb to indicate an action in progress).
繼續 = to continue; to proceed with; to go on with.
生活于繁榮中 means “live in prosperity.” It's kind of a suggestion to be prosperity the center of your world.
This is the way some people want to live (and you should always live for what you love). However, this phrase does not suggest a peaceful life - rather one that is always busy. It's not for everyone, but it might be for you.
Because a word list of “Live Laugh Love” is not natural in Japanese, this takes the concept and incorporates it into a proper phrase.
愛と笑いの生活 can be translated as “A life of love and laughter” or “Live life with love and laughter.”
Note: Because this selection contains some special Japanese Hiragana characters, it should be written by a Japanese calligrapher.
My life, I call the shots
我的生活我做主 is a Chinese phrase that can be translated as “My life, my rules,” or “My life, I call the shots.”
The first four characters say, “my life.”
The fifth character is I, me, and/or my.
The last two characters can be interpreted in a variety of ways, just as to make the decision, to take charge of, to call the shot, or to make the rule.
生活中的每一次呼吸 means “life in every breath” in Chinese.
This phrase is more like “every breath in life” as if it's a quantity of breaths that makes up your life.
There are many ways to understand this phrase in English, so this is one of a few ways it could be translated into Chinese. If you’re looking for a different meaning, please contact me.
Below are some entries from our dictionary that may match your 生活 search...
Characters If shown, 2nd row is Simp. Chinese |
Pronunciation Romanization |
Simple Dictionary Definition |
生活 see styles |
shēng huó sheng1 huo2 sheng huo seikatsu / sekatsu せいかつ |
More info & calligraphy: Living / Live Life(n,vs,vi) (1) life; living; (2) livelihood; (one's) living one's living |
新生活 see styles |
shinseikatsu / shinsekatsu しんせいかつ |
More info & calligraphy: New Life |
生活法 see styles |
seikatsuhou / sekatsuho せいかつほう |
More info & calligraphy: Way of Life / Art of Life |
日常生活 see styles |
nichijouseikatsu / nichijosekatsu にちじょうせいかつ |
More info & calligraphy: Everyday Life |
生活信条 see styles |
seikatsushinjou / sekatsushinjo せいかつしんじょう |
one's philosophy of life |
住生活 see styles |
juuseikatsu / jusekatsu じゅうせいかつ |
manner of housing |
做生活 see styles |
zuò shēng huó zuo4 sheng1 huo2 tso sheng huo |
to work; to do manual labor |
公生活 see styles |
kouseikatsu / kosekatsu こうせいかつ |
public life |
夜生活 see styles |
yè shēng huó ye4 sheng1 huo2 yeh sheng huo |
night life |
実生活 see styles |
jisseikatsu / jissekatsu じっせいかつ |
real life; actual life; everyday life |
寮生活 see styles |
ryouseikatsu / ryosekatsu りょうせいかつ |
life in a dormitory; dormitory life |
性生活 see styles |
xìng shēng huó xing4 sheng1 huo2 hsing sheng huo seiseikatsu / sesekatsu せいせいかつ |
sex life sex life; sexual activities |
慢生活 see styles |
màn shēng huó man4 sheng1 huo2 man sheng huo |
slow living |
生活力 see styles |
seikatsuryoku / sekatsuryoku せいかつりょく |
vitality; ability to earn a living |
生活史 see styles |
seikatsushi / sekatsushi せいかつし |
{biol} life cycle; life history |
生活圏 see styles |
seikatsuken / sekatsuken せいかつけん |
one's daily milieu; neighbourhood; neighborhood; zone of life; sphere of life |
生活感 see styles |
seikatsukan / sekatsukan せいかつかん |
lived-in feel (e.g. of a room); sense of life; hints of daily life |
生活環 see styles |
seikatsukan / sekatsukan せいかつかん |
life cycle |
生活科 see styles |
seikatsuka / sekatsuka せいかつか |
socio-environmental studies; life environment studies |
生活者 see styles |
seikatsusha / sekatsusha せいかつしゃ |
(1) consumer; ordinary citizen; stakeholder; (suffix) (2) (See 路上生活者) person who lives on (e.g. situation, income, place) |
生活臭 see styles |
seikatsushuu / sekatsushu せいかつしゅう |
(1) household odor; (2) lived-in feeling; true to life atmosphere |
生活苦 see styles |
seikatsuku / sekatsuku せいかつく |
hardships of life (esp. due to lack of money); life's struggles |
生活誌 see styles |
seikatsushi / sekatsushi せいかつし |
lifestyle magazine |
生活語 see styles |
seikatsugo / sekatsugo せいかつご |
{ling} private-sphere language; language used in every day life; dialect |
生活費 生活费 see styles |
shēng huó fèi sheng1 huo2 fei4 sheng huo fei seikatsuhi / sekatsuhi せいかつひ |
cost of living; living expenses; alimony living expenses |
生活難 see styles |
seikatsunan / sekatsunan せいかつなん |
difficulties in living |
生活面 see styles |
seikatsumen / sekatsumen せいかつめん |
(noun - becomes adjective with の) practical side of life |
生活音 see styles |
seikatsuon / sekatsuon せいかつおん |
daily life noise; household noises; noise that arises at home from everyday occurrences |
生活館 生活馆 see styles |
shēng huó guǎn sheng1 huo2 guan3 sheng huo kuan |
living museum |
私生活 see styles |
sī shēng huó si1 sheng1 huo2 ssu sheng huo shiseikatsu / shisekatsu しせいかつ |
private life private life |
The following table may be helpful for those studying Chinese or Japanese...
Title | Characters | Romaji (Romanized Japanese) | Various forms of Romanized Chinese | |
Living Live Life | 生活 | sei katsu / seikatsu | shēng huó sheng1 huo2 sheng huo shenghuo | |
New Life | 新生活 | shin sei katsu shinseikatsu | ||
Way of Life Art of Life | 生活法 | seikatsuhou seikatsuho | shēng huó fǎ sheng1 huo2 fa3 sheng huo fa shenghuofa | |
Choose Life | 選擇生活 选择生活 | xuǎn zé shēng huó xuan3 ze2 sheng1 huo2 xuan ze sheng huo xuanzeshenghuo | hsüan tse sheng huo hsüantseshenghuo |
|
Embrace Life Embrace Living | 擁抱生活 拥抱生活 | yōng bào shēng huó yong1 bao4 sheng1 huo2 yong bao sheng huo yongbaoshenghuo | yung pao sheng huo yungpaoshenghuo |
|
Enjoy Life | 享受生活 | xiǎng shòu shēng huó xiang3 shou4 sheng1 huo2 xiang shou sheng huo xiangshoushenghuo | hsiang shou sheng huo hsiangshoushenghuo |
|
Everyday Life | 日常生活 | nichi jou sei katsu nichijouseikatsu nichi jo sei katsu | rì cháng shēng huó ri4 chang2 sheng1 huo2 ri chang sheng huo richangshenghuo | jih ch`ang sheng huo jihchangshenghuo jih chang sheng huo |
Healthy Living | 健康生活 | kenkou seikatsu kenkouseikatsu kenko seikatsu | jiàn kāng shēng huó jian4 kang1 sheng1 huo2 jian kang sheng huo jiankangshenghuo | chien k`ang sheng huo chienkangshenghuo chien kang sheng huo |
Life in Harmony Balanced Life | 和諧生活 和谐生活 | hé xié shēng huó he2 xie2 sheng1 huo2 he xie sheng huo hexieshenghuo | ho hsieh sheng huo hohsiehshenghuo |
|
Life in Harmony Balanced Life | 調和生活 | cho wa sei katsu chowaseikatsu | ||
Life is Good Life is Beautiful | 生活美好 | shēng huó měi hǎo sheng1 huo2 mei3 hao3 sheng huo mei hao shenghuomeihao | ||
Life of Love | 愛情生活 爱情生活 | aijyou seikatsu aijyouseikatsu aijyo seikatsu | ài qíng shēng huó ai4 qing2 sheng1 huo2 ai qing sheng huo aiqingshenghuo | ai ch`ing sheng huo aichingshenghuo ai ching sheng huo |
Life is Fun | 樂在生活 乐在生活 | lè zài shēng huó le4 zai4 sheng1 huo2 le zai sheng huo lezaishenghuo | le tsai sheng huo letsaishenghuo |
|
Live Laugh Love | 笑愛生活 笑爱生活 | xiào ài shēng huó xiao4 ai4 sheng1 huo2 xiao ai sheng huo xiaoaishenghuo | hsiao ai sheng huo hsiaoaishenghuo |
|
Live Strong | 堅強生活 坚强生活 | jiān qiáng shēng huó jian1 qiang2 sheng1 huo2 jian qiang sheng huo jianqiangshenghuo | chien ch`iang sheng huo chienchiangshenghuo chien chiang sheng huo |
|
Principles of Life | 生活信條 生活信条 | shēng huó xìn tiáo sheng1 huo2 xin4 tiao2 sheng huo xin tiao shenghuoxintiao | sheng huo hsin t`iao shenghuohsintiao sheng huo hsin tiao |
|
Thug Life | 暴徒生活 | bou to sei katsu boutoseikatsu bo to sei katsu | bào tú shēng huó bao4 tu2 sheng1 huo2 bao tu sheng huo baotushenghuo | pao t`u sheng huo paotushenghuo pao tu sheng huo |
The Good Life Beautiful Life | 美好的生活 | měi hǎo de shēng huó mei3 hao3 de sheng1 huo2 mei hao de sheng huo meihaodeshenghuo | mei hao te sheng huo meihaoteshenghuo |
|
Life Goes On | 生活在繼續 生活在继续 | shēng huó zài jì xù sheng1 huo2 zai4 ji4 xu4 sheng huo zai ji xu shenghuozaijixu | sheng huo tsai chi hsü shenghuotsaichihsü |
|
This is Life | 這就是生活 这就是生活 | zhè jiù shì shēng huó zhe4 jiu4 shi4 sheng1 huo2 zhe jiu shi sheng huo zhejiushishenghuo | che chiu shih sheng huo chechiushihshenghuo |
|
Life is Good | 生活是美好的 | shēng huó shì měi hǎo de sheng1 huo2 shi4 mei3 hao3 de sheng huo shi mei hao de shenghuoshimeihaode | sheng huo shih mei hao te shenghuoshihmeihaote |
|
Live in Prosperity | 生活于繁榮中 生活于繁荣中 | shēng huó yú fán róng zhōng sheng1 huo2 yu2 fan2 rong2 zhong1 sheng huo yu fan rong zhong shenghuoyufanrongzhong | sheng huo yü fan jung chung shenghuoyüfanjungchung |
|
Such is Life | 生活就是這樣 生活就是这样 | shēng huó jiù shì zhè yàng sheng1 huo2 jiu4 shi4 zhe4 yang4 sheng huo jiu shi zhe yang shenghuojiushizheyang | sheng huo chiu shih che yang shenghuochiushihcheyang |
|
Life Full of Love | 充滿沖愛的生活 充满冲爱的生活 | chōng mǎn ài de shēng huó chong1 man3 ai4 de sheng1 huo2 chong man ai de sheng huo chongmanaideshenghuo | ch`ung man ai te sheng huo chungmanaiteshenghuo chung man ai te sheng huo |
|
Life of Love | 愛に満ちた生活 | aini michita seikatsu ainimichitaseikatsu | ||
Live Laugh Love | 愛と笑いの生活 | ai to warai no seikatsu aitowarainoseikatsu | ||
My Life, My Rules | 我的生活我做主 | wǒ de shēng huó wǒ zuò zhǔ wo3 de sheng1 huo2 wo3 zuo4 zhu3 wo de sheng huo wo zuo zhu wodeshenghuowozuozhu | wo te sheng huo wo tso chu woteshenghuowotsochu |
|
Life is What You Make It | 生活是自己創造的 生活是自己创造的 | shēng huó shì zì jǐ chuàng zào de sheng1 huo2 shi4 zi4 ji3 chuang4 zao4 de sheng huo shi zi ji chuang zao de | sheng huo shih tzu chi ch`uang tsao te sheng huo shih tzu chi chuang tsao te |
|
Life in Every Breath | 生活中的每一次呼吸 | shēng huó zhōng de měi yī cì hū xī sheng1 huo2 zhong1 de mei3 yi1 ci4 hu1 xi1 sheng huo zhong de mei yi ci hu xi | sheng huo chung te mei i tz`u hu hsi sheng huo chung te mei i tzu hu hsi |
|
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.