華 in Chinese / Japanese...

華 means blooming flowers or splendid China.

華 is really open to interpretation. 華 meant flowers or blooming in ancient China. It still has that meaning in Japanese, and Buddhist contexts.

In modern China, this means glorious, beautiful, splendid, magnificent, or the best part of something. It can also refer to the country of China or something Chinese (such as people - overseas Chinese are often called “hua ren”). 華 is also a surname in China.

In Japanese, this can be the female given name “Ririka.” It's also the short name for a certain kind of playing cards in Japan.

In Korean, This can be the surname “Hwa.” While it also means splendid, flowery, or the country of China in Korean.

華立 is the name Holley in Chinese (Mandarin).

華欣 is the name Huahin in Chinese (Mandarin).

華佗 or Hua Tuo was a Chinese physician who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty.

The historical texts Records of the Three Kingdoms and Book of the Later Han record Hua Tuo as the first person in China to use anesthesia during surgery.

Hua Tuo used a general anesthetic combining wine with a herbal concoction called 麻沸散, literally, “cannabis boil powder.” This was in the second century AD, almost 1700 years before western medicine had any form of anesthesia (1846).

華金 is the transliteration to Mandarin Chinese for the Latin / Spanish name Joaquín.

華尼 is the transliteration to Mandarin Chinese for the Latin / Spanish name Juani.

樂華 is the name Leroy in Chinese (Mandarin).

精華 means best feature, most important part of an object, quintessence, essence, soul, glory

精華 is also a personal name (and the name of a company) in Japan, Seika.

華倫 is the name Warren in Chinese (Mandarin).

芝華士 is the name Chivas in Chinese (Mandarin).

愛德華 is the name Eduard in Chinese (Mandarin).

愛德華 is the name Edward in Chinese (Mandarin).

霍華德 is the name Howard in Chinese (Mandarin).

華川郡 is the name Hwacheon or Hwach'ŏn in Korean Hanja.

華川郡 usually refers to the Hwacheon County (Hwacheon-gun) county in Gangwon Province, South Korea.

耶和華 is the Mandarin Chinese name for Jehovah.

This is the biblical name for God. Originally this was YHWH or Yahweh from Hebrew, although Yahweh is usually written 雅威 (Ya-wei) in Mandarin. Also, this is not the same as God which is 上帝 (Shang-di).

基華納 is the name Kijuana in Chinese (Mandarin).

蓮華智 is the lotus or mystic wisdom of Amitābha.

It's one of the five kinds of wisdom in Buddhism.

華萊士 is the name Wallace in Chinese (Mandarin).

華盛頓 is the name Washington in Chinese.

This can refer to George Washington, Washington State, Washington, D.C., or your surname.

This is old enough that it also means Washington in Japanese (likely a borrowed word from Chinese). Most modern words are written in Katakana in Japanese these days.

妙蓮華 means the wonderful lotus and the symbol of the pure wisdom of Buddha.

This lotus is unsullied in the midst of the impurity of the world.

艾德華麗 is the name Adewale in Chinese (Mandarin).

愛德華多 is the name Edoardo in Chinese (Mandarin).

埃德華多 is the transliteration to Mandarin Chinese for the Latin / Spanish name Eduardo.

This is the a common way to transliterate the surname Edwards into Mandarin Chinese.

拈華微笑 is a Chinese, Korean, and Japanese Buddhist title that relays the idea of “heart-to-heart communication,” or “thought transference.”

The literal translation is, “holding a flower and subtly smiling,” or “the holding of a flower with a subtle smile.” It is the visual act and emotion that communicates more volume than words can say.

華倫天奴 is the name Valentino in Chinese (Mandarin).

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.

大蓮華智慧三摩地智 is the title for “The wisdom of the great lotus, samādhi-wisdom.”

This is also the penetrating wisdom of Amitābha.

南無妙法蓮華經 is sometimes translated as the “Devotion to the Law of the Lotus Flower Scripture.”

This is a meditation chant and homage to the Lotus Sutra, used by Nichiren Buddhists in Japan.
This is also a chant used in China by certain sects of Buddhism that celebrate the deity Guanyin.

Also romanized as “Nam Myōhō Renge Kyō” or without accents as “Nam Myoho Renge Kyo.”

Modern
Japanese
Variant

Original
Traditional
Version

The last character was originally written as seen on the left. Sometimes, you will see it written in the Japanese variant form as shown on the right. If you want this Japanese variant, click on the "Modern Japanese Variant" text instead of the button up by the main title of this entry.

至於我和我家我們必定事奉耶和華 is 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 the way “LORD” is used in most English Bibles. In Chinese, this is actually the phonetic name from Mandarin Chinese for “Jehovah.”

Here is the full translation of Joshua 1:9 into Chinese.

The text with punctuation:
我岂没有吩咐你吗？你当刚强壮胆。不要惧怕，也不要惊惶。因为你无论往哪里去，耶和华你的神必与你同在。 Hand-painted calligraphy does not retain punctuation.

This translation comes from the 1919 Chinese Union Bible.

For reference, from the KJV, this reads, “Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.”