This is the Chinese name for the country of India.

See Also...  Asia

Score: 100/100

This is the transliteration to Mandarin Chinese for the name Lindia

Score: 100/100

This is the Chinese name for the country of Bangladesh

See Also...  Asia

Score: 35/100

This is the Chinese name for the country of Pakistan

See Also...  Afghanistan | Asia

Score: 25/100

This is the Chinese name for the country of Nepal

See Also...  Tibet | China | Asia

Score: 25/100

This is the Chinese name for the continent of Asia.

See Also...  China | Singapore | Hong Kong | Taiwan | Japan | Vietnam | Korea | Mongolia | Pakistan | Iran | Iraq | Saudi Arabia

Score: 24/100

First let's correct something: The Japanese romanization for this character, "zen" has penetrated the English language. In English, it's almost always incorrectly used for phrases like "That's so zen". Nobody says "That's so meditation" - right? As the title of a sect, this would be like saying, "That's soooo Baptist!"

This character by itself just means "meditation". In that context, it should not be confined to use by any one religion or sect.

Regardless of the dictionary definition, more often than not, this character is associated with Buddhism. And here is one of the main reasons:
Zen is used as the title of a branch of Mahayana Buddhism which strongly emphasizes the practice of meditation.
However, it should be noted that Buddhism came from India, and "Chan Buddhism" evolved and developed in medieval China. The Chinese character "Chan" was eventually pronounced as "Zen" in Japanese. Chan Buddhists in China have a lot in common with Zen Buddhists in Japan.

More about the history of Zen Buddhism here.

Please also note that the Japanese Kanji character for zen has evolved a little in Japan, and the two boxes (kou) that you see at the top of the right side of the character have been replaced by three dots with tails. The original character would still be generally understood and recognized in Japanese (it's considered an ancient version in Japan), but if you want the specifically modern Japanese version, please click on the zen Kanji to the right. Technically, there is no difference in Tensho and Reisho versions of zen since they are ancient character styles that existed long before Japan had a written language.

There is also an alternate/shorthand/simplified Chinese version which has two dots or tails above the right-side radical. This version is also popular for calligraphy in China. If you want this version, just click the character to the right.

Further notes: Zen is just one of seven sects of Buddhism practiced in Japan. The others are 律 Ritsu (or Risshū), 法相 Hossō, 論 Sanron 華嚴Kegon, 天台 Tendai, and 眞言 Shingon.

Score: 16/100

We worked on this one for a long time. The effort involved both Chinese and Japanese translators and lengthly discussions. If you have been searching for this term, there is a reason that it's hard to find the way to write "Asian Pride" in Chinese and Japanese - it's because of the inherent difficulties in figuring out a universal combination of characters that can be read in all languages that use forms of Chinese characters.

This final solution that you see to the left creates a reasonable title in Chinese, and an exotic (perhaps unusual) title in Japanese (This could be read as "Eastern Self-Respect" in Japanese").
Although not as natural, it does have the same meaning in Korean Hanja and the older-generation of Vietnamese people will be able to read it too.

The first two characters literally mean "Oriental" and the second two mean "pride", "self-esteem", or "self-respect" (we chose the most non-arrogant way to say "pride"). If you have "Asian Pride" (sometimes spelled Asian Pryde) these are the characters for you.

Note: For those of you that wonder, there is nothing technically wrong with the word "Oriental". It is the most correct word, and any bad meanings were created by so-called "Asian Americans" and Caucasians in the United States. To say "Asian" would not completely correct to the intended meaning, since that would include people from Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, India, and portions of Russia.

For further proof, if you were of East Asian ancestry and born in England, you would be known as a "British Oriental" (The "Oriental stigma" is basically an American creation and therefore applies mostly to the American English language - where they get a bit overzealous with political correctness).

Further, since the Chinese and Japanese word for Oriental is not English, it can not be construed having ill-meaning. One trip to China or Japan, and you will find many things titled with these two characters such as malls, buildings, and business names. These places also use "Oriental" as their English title (much as we do, since our Chinese business name starts with these same two characters).

In short, the first two character have the meaning that Americans attach to "Asian" but is more technically correct.

Score: 16/100

This is the act of greeting someone (can also be done when departing) with hands brought together in a prayerful manner. In India, this would be accompanied by the verbal greeting and blessing of "Namaste". In China, Japan, and Korea, this is how Buddhists will greet each other. Sometimes done by people who are not devout Buddhists in China, Japan and Korea to show respect or great thanks to someone for a gift, forgiveness, or some honor that has been bestowed. In Japan, this is almost always associated with a deep bow. In China where bowing is not an everyday occurrence, there may be a shallow bow but the act will be done with deep feeling. Korean culture seems to have more bowing than China, but less than Japan.

See Also...  Namaste

Score: 16/100

This is the name Siddhartha (as in Siddhartha Gautama) which is sometimes romanized from the original Sanskrit or Pali as Siddhattha (from Siddhattha Gotama).

This same Buddha is also known as "Shakyamuni Gautama", "Gotama Buddha", "Tathagata".

Siddhartha Gautama was a spiritual teacher in the northern region of the Indian subcontinent who founded Buddhism. He is generally seen by Buddhists as the Supreme Buddha (Sammāsambuddha) of known human history.

Score: 6/100

Characters shown
above are read
vertically, starting
from the right

This is a philosophical poem/quote from Indian Poet and Philosopher, Rabindranath Tagore.

Rabindranath Tagore, 1915

This quote is not sourced, and therefore several variations exist in English. Some suggest the original was in the Bengali language.

This of course is the Chinese translation which has the meaning of, "Faith is the bird that feels the light and sings when the dawn is still dark".

Score: 6/100

The word namaste comes from Sanskrit and is a common greeting in the Hindi and Nepali languages exchanged by devout Hindu or Buddhist people in Southern Asia (especially India).

Here you can see the Chinese form of this word which is used describe a Buddhist (or Hindu) greeting with palms closed together in a prayerful manner, generally at chest level. However, this selection of characters describes the act, and is not a word spoken during the greeting. In fact, words or a greeting is seldom spoken when two Chinese Buddhists meet. The greeting is silent, and respectful, but composed completely of body language.

Note that the greeting namaste as well as the act of placing palms together are used both as a hello and goodbye (kind of like the word aloha in Hawaiian).

If you are looking for a welcoming hello and goodbye, you may want to consider gassho or a simple welcome.

Score: 6/100