Buy an 龜 calligraphy wall scroll here!
...also means tortoise
龜 is the generic term for turtle in Chinese and old Korean Hanja. It's like saying “turtle” (or “tortoise”) without being specific about the species of turtle.
Please note that there are many special characters in Chinese and a few in Japanese that denote specific species of turtle and do not include this character. We can't possibly cover all of these species, but if you want a certain one, such as “loggerhead” or a “leatherback,” just contact me, and I'll do my best to research your special species.
If you noticed, I said species names that do not include this character. This is because, in much the same way we can do it in English by just saying, “loggerhead” instead of “loggerhead turtle,” the same can be done in Chinese and Japanese.
This may be hard to believe, but the image shown to the right is an alternate version of this character, which is currently used in Japan. This was originally an alternate form in ancient China for turtle - but it's so obscure now that most Chinese people would just think this is the Japanese version of turtle (I did a lot of research on this). The version shown in the upper left is traditional Chinese (also used in Korea 100+ years ago). It will generally not be recognized by the new generation of Japanese people. If your audience is Japanese, please click on the Kanji image shown to the right to have the calligrapher write that version (instead of clicking the button above).
Note: In Japanese, this Kanji is also a representation of long life. This is related to the fact that a tortoise can live for hundreds of years.
Below are some entries from our dictionary that may match your 龜 search...
Characters If shown, 2nd row is Simp. Chinese |
Pronunciation Romanization |
Simple Dictionary Definition |
龜 龟 see styles |
qiū qiu1 ch`iu chiu ki |
More info & calligraphy: TurtleTortoise, turtle. The rareness of meeting a Buddha is compared with the difficulty of a blind sea-turtle finding a log to float on, or a one-eyed tortoise finding a log with a spy-hole through it. |
六龜 六龟 see styles |
liù guī liu4 gui1 liu kuei |
Liugui or Liukuei township in Kaohsiung county 高雄縣|高雄县[Gao1 xiong2 xian4], southwest Taiwan |
槓龜 杠龟 see styles |
gàng guī gang4 gui1 kang kuei |
(Tw) to lose one's shirt (gambling); to meet with failure (from Taiwanese 摃龜, Tai-lo pr. [kòng-ku]) |
海龜 海龟 see styles |
hǎi guī hai3 gui1 hai kuei |
turtle; Internet slang for 海歸|海归[hai3 gui1] |
烏龜 乌龟 see styles |
wū guī wu1 gui1 wu kuei |
tortoise; cuckold |
盲龜 盲龟 see styles |
máng guī mang2 gui1 mang kuei mōki |
It is as easy for a blind turtle to find a floating long as it is for a man to be reborn as a man, or to meet with a buddha and his teaching. |
督龜 督龟 see styles |
dū guī du1 gui1 tu kuei |
(Tw) to doze off (from Taiwanese 盹龜, Tai-lo pr. [tuh-ku]) |
金龜 金龟 see styles |
jīn guī jin1 gui1 chin kuei kinki |
tortoise; scarab beetle The golden tortoise on which the world rests, idem 金輪. |
陸龜 陆龟 see styles |
lù guī lu4 gui1 lu kuei |
tortoise |
隱龜 隐龟 see styles |
yǐn guī yin3 gui1 yin kuei |
Mary River turtle (Elusor macrurus) |
龜井 see styles |
kamei / kame かめい |
(personal name) Kamei |
龜公 龟公 see styles |
guī gōng gui1 gong1 kuei kung |
pimp |
龜兹 see styles |
guī zī gui1 zi1 kuei tzu |
Kuche |
龜卜 see styles |
kiboku きぼく kameura かめうら |
(out-dated kanji) tortoise-shell divination |
龜原 see styles |
kamehara かめはら |
(personal name) Kamehara |
龜友 龟友 see styles |
guī yǒu gui1 you3 kuei yu |
turtle enthusiast |
龜山 龟山 see styles |
guī shān gui1 shan1 kuei shan kameyama かめやま |
Guishan or Kueishan township in Taoyuan county 桃園縣|桃园县[Tao2 yuan2 xian4], north Taiwan (personal name) Kameyama Gusan |
龜岡 see styles |
kameoka かめおか |
(surname) Kameoka |
龜板 龟板 see styles |
guī bǎn gui1 ban3 kuei pan |
tortoise plastron; turtle shell |
龜殼 龟壳 see styles |
guī ké gui1 ke2 kuei k`o kuei ko |
tortoise shell |
龜毛 龟毛 see styles |
guī máo gui1 mao2 kuei mao kimō |
(Tw) (coll.) indecisive; fussy; nitpicking (from Taiwanese, Tai-lo pr. [ku-moo]) The hair on a tortoise, i.e. the non-existent. |
龜玆 龟玆 see styles |
guī zī gui1 zi1 kuei tzu |
Kuchā, also 庫車; 屈支 (or屈茨); 丘玆; 倶支 An ancient kingdom and city in Eastern Turkestan, 41°45' N., 83°E. It is recorded as the native place of Kumārajīva. |
龜甲 龟甲 see styles |
guī jiǎ gui1 jia3 kuei chia kikkou / kikko きっこう kikou / kiko きこう |
tortoise shell (out-dated kanji) tortoise shell |
龜縮 龟缩 see styles |
guī suō gui1 suo1 kuei so |
to withdraw; to hole up |
龜船 龟船 see styles |
guī chuán gui1 chuan2 kuei ch`uan kuei chuan |
"turtle ship", armored warship used by Koreans in fighting the Japanese during the Imjin war of 1592-1598 壬辰倭亂|壬辰倭乱[ren2 chen2 wo1 luan4] |
龜茲 龟兹 see styles |
qiū cí qiu1 ci2 ch`iu tz`u chiu tzu Kyūji |
ancient Central Asian city state, flourished in first millennium AD, in modern Aksu 阿克蘇地區|阿克苏地区, Xinjiang Kucha |
龜虫 see styles |
kamemushi かめむし |
(out-dated kanji) (kana only) shield bug; stink bug |
龜裂 龟裂 see styles |
jun liè jun1 lie4 chün lieh kiretsu きれつ |
to crack; cracked; fissured; creviced; (of skin) chapped (out-dated kanji) crack; crevice; fissure; chap; rift |
龜谷 龟谷 see styles |
guī yù gui1 yu4 kuei yü kameya かめや |
(surname) Kameya Gugok |
龜趺 龟趺 see styles |
guī fū gui1 fu1 kuei fu |
pedestal in the form of a tortoise |
The following table may be helpful for those studying Chinese or Japanese...
Title | Characters | Romaji (Romanized Japanese) | Various forms of Romanized Chinese | |
Turtle | 龜 龟 / 亀 | kame | guī / gui1 / gui | kuei |
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.