Custom Inner Peace Chinese & Japanese Calligraphy Wall Scroll

This Chinese and Japanese phrase is a direct translation for the western idea of inner peace.

The first two characters contain the idea of "heart" and "innermost being".

The last two characters mean "tranquil" and "serene".

I have seen this phrase used as "inner peace" for art prints and even on the side of coffee cups. But I think the translation is too literal. It feels like a direct translation from English rather than a nicely composed Chinese or Japanese phrase. See my other entries for "inner peace".

See Also...  Serenity | Simplicity

Looking for Inner Peace? Who isn't?

This is the simplest way to convey the meaning of inner peace.

Literally this word means still, calm, serene, quiet or silent.

In the old days, Chinese, Japanese, or Korean people might hang a wall scroll with this character in their reading room to bring about a sense of peace in the room.

While they once used the same character form in Japan, they now use a slightly-simplified version in modern Japan (after WWII). This version is shown to the right, and can be selected for your wall scroll by clicking on that Kanji instead of the button above.

This is five characters from a longer ten-character phase composed by Zhuge Liang about 1800 years ago. The phrase means "Your inner peace / tranquility / serenity will help you see or reach far (into the world)". The last word means "far", but the deeper meaning is that you will surpass what you can currently see or understand. Perhaps even the idea of opening up vast knowledge and understanding of complex ideas.

This is a single-character that means balance in Chinese, but it's not too direct or too specific about what kind of balance. Chinese people often like calligraphy art that is a little vague or mysterious. In this way, you can decide what it means to you, and you'll be right.

This character is also part of a word that means peace in Chinese, Japanese and old Korean.

Some alternate translations of this single character include: balanced, peaceful, calm, equal, even, level, smooth or flat.

Note that in Japanese, this just means "level" or "flat" by itself (not the best choice if your audience is Japanese).

This term transcends a few religions, including Taoism and Buddhism. This title refers to the inner bliss and peace that you can achieve from meditation. It can also be translated as "joy of the mystic trance" or simply "meditative bliss".

Amazing that such a complex idea can be expressed in just two Chinese characters. Note that the first character is Chan/Zen (Chinese/Japanese) which means "meditation" in both languages.

This means just what it says. It's a word that expresses both the idea of being at peace and healthy at the same time.

Note: This is a bona-fide word in Chinese and Korean, and the characters will at least make sense in Japanese.

The simplest form of peace and harmony.

This can also be translated as the peaceful ideas of gentle, mild, kind, and calm. With the more harmonious context, it can be translated as union, together with, on good terms with, or on friendly terms.

Most people would just translate this character as peace and/or harmony. This is a very popular character in Asian cultures - you can even call it the "peace symbol" of Asia. In fact, this peace and harmony character was seen repeatedly during the opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing (a major theme of the games).

In old Chinese poems and literature, you might see this used as a kind of "and". As in two things summed together. As much as you could say, "the sun and moon", you could say "the sun in harmony with the moon".

See Also...   Patience | Simplicity

This is the Chinese and Japanese way to express "Peace and Love". These are two separate words, so the calligrapher will put a slight space between the first two characters which mean peace, and the last two which represent universal love. This space is not shown on the sample character images for this phrase.

A special note: Word lists may seem okay in English, but feel strange in Chinese and Japanese. We don't offer too many of them, but this one is often-requested, and feels okay in Chinese and Japanese, though a bit uncommon in Korean.

See Also...   Love

This is the longer way to express the idea of "peace of mind" in Chinese.

The first two characters mean heart or "innermost being".
The middle character is a connecting modifier.
The last two characters mean peace, tranquility, or serenity.

Some may also translate this as "inner peace", but I like our other inner-peace options for that idea.

This kind of makes sense in Korean, but will have an archaic read - even by those who can understand Korean Hanja.

This means "peace and tranquility" or "peace and security" in Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja.

The literal translation would be "very balanced" or "very peaceful".

The first character means very, much, too much, or extremely.
The second character means balanced, peaceful, calm, equal, even, level, or smooth.

This means peace and/or tranquility in Japanese and Korean (also understood, but not as common in Chinese).

This is the Chinese order for these two characters which means peace but can also be translated as amicability, pacifically or mildness. This is often translated as a simple way to say "peace of mind". This combination is used in Korean Hanja to mean "peace and harmony".

Alone, the first character means peace and harmony.
The second chracter means balance, when read by itself.

Note: These characters are often seen in the opposite order in Japanese with the same meaning (still a good meaning, but not as common in this order in Japan).

This is the Japanese and Korean order of these characters used most often to express the idea of peace, tranquility and harmony. It's just the reverse order of the Chinese. In this order in Chinese, it means takes the "mild" definition, rather than "peace". In Korean, the combination keeps the same meaning in either order.

This is a nice word that encompasses great meanings within just two characters. This can be defined as relief, peace of mind, feeling at ease, to be relieved, set one's mind at rest.

The first and second character both mean quiet. Together, they reinforce the meanings almost creating a word that means "double quiet" or "perfect quiet".

A good wall scroll for a library, reading room, or other quiet place.

See Also...  Harmony

Characters shown
above are read
vertically, starting
from the right

This means "To bring flourishing peace and security to the world (our current era)".

It's really a wish that a new door leading to peace and prosperity could be opened to mankind.

These two Chinese characters create a title that means to reach peace and calm through meditation. This is an excellent wall scroll for your relaxation or meditation room.

This is also a Buddhist-related term that encompasses the idea of entering into dhyana meditation.

This means "Peaceful Warrior" in Chinese. This does in fact sound like an oxymoron in Chinese - but many of you have asked for this special title.

Note, this is not the same thing as "warrior for peace".

See Also...   Love

This means "Warrior for Peace" (warrior who fights for peace) in Chinese.

Note, this is not the same thing as "peaceful warrior".

See Also...   Love

This means just what the title suggests. This means antiwar, as in what a pacifist believes in.

China doesn't tend to go to war very often so it's rare to need this word. But it's the kind of word that war protesters would write on their signs. If you add the word for "protest" after this word in Chinese, you have the subject that gets a lot of press lately in China:
Anti-War protests in America.

This word means harmonious, harmony, concordant, or balanced in Chinese and Japanese Kanji.

In Korean Hanja, it sometimes means reconciliation or compromise.

This is a kind of complex ten-character proverb composed by Zhuge Liang about 1800 years ago. The proverb means "Leading a simple life will yield a clear mind, and having inner peace will help you see far (into the world)".

What I have translated as "simple life" means NOT being materialistic and NOT competing in the rat race.

The last word means "far", but the deeper meaning is that you will surpass what you can currently see or understand. Perhaps even the idea of opening up vast knowledge and understanding of complex ideas.

The whole phrase has a theme that suggests if you are NOT an aggressive cut-throat person who fights his way to the top no matter how many people he crushes on the way, and instead seek inner peace, you will have a happier existence and be more likely to understand the meaning of life.

See Also...  Serenity

This is fairly self-explanatory.

The first character means "not", "non-" or "un-"
The middle and last character together mean "violence", "use of force" or simply "violent".

Together, these three characters would normally be translated as "nonviolence". A great gift for your favorite peace-lover.

Patience is quiet hope and trust that things will turn out right. You wait without complaining. You are tolerant and accepting of difficulties and mistakes. You picture the end in the beginning and persevere to meet your goals.

These characters can also mean "to endure", "restrain oneself" and in some context it can mean "perseverance" or "endurance".

This is also used as a tenet of Taekwondo and other Korean martial arts.

Note that when writing this as Kanji, Japanese will tend to write the first character in the form shown to the right. If you select our Japanese master calligrapher, please expect this Kanji form (yes, it's just one stroke that is slightly different in location, crossing another stroke in the Japanese Kanji form).

See Also...   Harmony | Perseverance

Characters shown
above are read
vertically, starting
from the right

This literally translates as: [If one does] not do bad things in the daytime, one need not be alarmed at knocks on the door in the middle of the night.

The meaning is something like, "A quiet conscience sleeps in thunder". Basically, the message is, "don't commit crimes and you won't be jumpy every time the doorbell rings (so don't do anything wrong and your life will have fewer worries and you can sleep at night)".

This word means "safe and sound" in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.

Can also be translated as well-being, peace, tranquility, quietness, and calmness.

Note: There is also a longer four-character version in our calligraphy database.

See Also...  Tranquility

This character is often translated as "serenity". It can also be used to express the ideas of still, calm, quiet, not moving or tranquility.

Note: This is also listed on our website as "Inner Peace" since it also fits that definition.

This is one of several ways to express as "serenity" or "tranquility" in Japanese and Chinese. It can also be translated as calm, serenity, tranquil, undisturbed or serene.

This is a Japanese-specific way to express "serenity" or "tranquility".

Notes: The second Kanji is not a Chinese character - it was morphed or developed in Japan after Chinese characters were absorbed into the Japanese language during the 5th century.
The first character is slightly-simplified from the original Chinese form, but still recognizable.

This is yet another way to express the idea of tranquility and serenity in Chinese.

See Also...  Harmony | Calm