輪廻 in Chinese / Japanese...

輪廻 is one of a few ways to express संसार or Saṃsāra in Chinese, Japanese, and old Korean.

The Buddhist term can be translated in several ways, including:
An endless cycle of death and rebirth.
The turning of the wheel.
To revolve.
Transmigration in six ways.
The wheel of transmigration.
The round of existence.

輪回 is a universal word in Japanese and Chinese that expresses the Buddhist idea of “reincarnation,” “transmigration of souls,” or “the eternal cycle of birth and death.”

In some contexts, this can also mean “karma,” and others will say it represents “samsara.”

The first character means wheel, ring, turn, circle, loop, or rotate.
The second character can be thought of as a suffix meaning “-times.” This second character can also refer to something that revolves, returns, goes back, or is a counter of the number of occurrences of some event.
Together the sum supersedes the parts, and it means reincarnation. But knowing the essence of each character may help you understand some of the meaning behind the word.

Shown to the right is the more common way to write the second character in Japanese. it’s an alternate form of this character in Chinese (so neither way is technically wrong in either language). If you select a Japanese calligrapher, expect that is will look like the Kanji to the right.

輪廻転生 is a Japanese Zen quote or proverb that expresses the idea of all things being in flux through the endless circle of birth, death, and rebirth or the circle of transmigration.