關 in Chinese / Japanese...

關 is a surname in three languages.
In Chinese, it romanizes as Guan.
In Korean, it's Kwan (or Gwan).
In Japanese it's Seki.

The meaning of the character is mountain pass; to close; to shut; to turn off; barrier; frontier.

關心 means caring in Chinese.

Caring is giving love and attention to people and things that matter to you and anyone who needs help. When you care about people, you help them. You do a careful job, giving your very best effort. You treat people and things gently and respectfully. Caring makes the world a safer place.

Note: 關心 is also a word in Korean Hanja, but in Korean, it means taking interest or concern. In Korean, it's still a good word, but it doesn't quite have the “caring for a person” meaning that it does in Chinese.

關島 is the Chinese name for the island of Guam (overseas territory of the United States).

關帝 is the title, Guandi, the God of War, a deified hero of the Three Kingdoms, and a protector of Buddhism.

關公 is a Chinese title, Guan Gong, that means Lord Guan (The warrior saint of ancient China).

While his real name was Guan Yu / 關羽, he is commonly known by the title of Guan Gong (關公).

Some Chinese soldiers still pray to Guan Gong for protection. They would especially do this before going into battle. Statues of Guan Gong are seen throughout China.

關羽 is the name Guan Yu, Army General for the Kingdom of Shu.

He is also known as Guan Gong (like saying Duke Guan or Sir Guan)

He was immortalized in the novel, “Romance of the Three Kingdoms.”

He was a fearsome fighter, also famous for his virtue and loyalty. He is worshiped by some modern-day soldiers and has the title “Warrior Saint” in China. Some believe he offers safety and protection for military servicemen.

Guan Yu lived until 219 A.D.

無門關 is the ancient title for “The Gateless Barrier.” This has both direct meaning and is the title of a 13th-century collection of koans, compiled by a Chinese Chan Master known as Wumen in China (known in Japan as Zen Master Mumon).

While this is the original title, you may see this written as 無門関 in Japan, where the last character, 關, was simplified to 関 after 1945.

姐妹關繫 is an expression that means “sisterhood.”

Literally, this means “sisters relationship.”

The dictionary definition is:
relation, relationship, connection, participation, involvement, concern, influence, effect, related to, connected to, or as a suffix to sexual it can mean sexual relations or relationship.

But there's more to it...

In Japan, the relationship that you have with certain people can open doors for you. Having this relationship with someone also means they would never rip you off but instead are honor-bound to treat you fairly.

See our Chinese Guanxi entry for more information. This term is used in very similar ways in China, Japan, and Korea.

The dictionary definition is:
Relations/relationship, to concern, to affect, to have to do with, or connection.

But there's more to it...

In China, the relationship that you have with certain people can open doors for you. Having guanxi with someone also means they would never defraud you but are honor-bound to treat you fairly (of course, this goes both ways). Sometimes it is suggested that guanxi is the exchange of favors. 關繫 / 関繫 / 關係 is more about having a relationship that allows you to ask for and expect favors without shame.

There is no concept in western culture that exactly matches guanxi, but perhaps having a social or professional network is similar.

Note that there are some variations common within Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and Korean Hanja for this word...

Japanese tend to use a Chinese alternate form as shown to the right for
the first character.

There's also another alternate form of that first character (currently used as the official Simplified form in mainland China) which looks like the character shown to the right. It's basically the central radical of the alternate version shown above but without the “door radical” around it. In more free-flowing calligraphy styles, this version would be the likely choice for a calligrapher.

In Modern Japanese, they use the character shown to the right.
They also tend to use this same form in Korean Hanja (I've only checked this word in my Korean dictionary, but it has not been confirmed by a translator's review).

If that was not confusing enough, there is another alternate form of that second character. See right.

An Asian calligrapher of any nationality may use these forms at their discretion. However, They would tend to stick to the most common form used in their respective languages.

If you have any preference on any of these issues, please give us a special note with your order, and we'll make sure it's done the way you want.