This is a universal word in Japanese, Korean and Chinese which means love and affection. Some may translate this as "love between a man and a woman". Depending on context, it can mean utter devotion or favorite.

Score: 100/100

This is a very universal character. It means love in Chinese, Japanese Kanji, old Korean Hanja, and old Vietnamese.

This is one of the most recognized Asian symbols in the west, and is often seen on tee-shirts, coffee mugs, tattoos, and more.

This character can also be defined as affection, to be fond of, to like, or to be keen on. It often refers to romantic love, and is found in phrases like, "I love you". But in Chinese, one can say, "I love that movie" using this character as well.

It's very common for couples to say "I love you" in Chinese. However, in Japanese, "love" is not a term used very often. In fact, a person is more likely to say "I like you" rather than "I love you" in Japanese. So this word is well-known, but seldom spoken.

More about this character:

This may be hard to imagine as a westerner, but the strokes at the top of this love character symbolize family & marriage.

The symbol in the middle is a little easier to identify. It is the character for "heart" (it can also mean "mind" or "soul"). I guess you can say that no matter if you are from the East or the West, you must put your heart into your love.

The strokes at the bottom create a modified character that means "friend" or "friendship".

I suppose you could say that the full meaning of this love character is to love your family, spouse, and friends with all of your heart, since all three elements exist in this character.

See Also...  I Love You | Caring | Benevolence | Friendliness | Double Happiness Happy Marriage Wall Scroll

Score: 67/100

This means feelings, emotions, passions, and sometimes refers to the situation you are in (with your emotions). At least, this is the definition in Chinese and Japanese. This word is a bit stronger in Korean Hanja, where it means affection, love, compassion, sympathy, tender feelings, and emotions. Just as in Chinese and Japanese, this can also refer to your circumstances or your facts of life in Korean.

Score: 67/100

This can mean the best love or most sincere love of your life. This could be a romantic love such as the love you have for your spouse or a boyfriend / girlfriend. It can also apply to the extreme love you have for your children or a parent, and maybe a really good friend.

See Also...  I Love You

Score: 50/100

This is a weird selection for a calligraphy wall scroll. But if you really want it, we'll do it.

This version is most appropriate if your audience is Japanese or Korean (for Koreans who can read the ancient Korean Hanja).

The first character means love or affection.
The second character means hate, dislike, detest, or loathe.

Score: 20/100

This word can be defined as lust, sexual desire, sensual desire, carnal desire, carnal passions, sexual desire, and passion.

The first character means feeling, emotions, passionate, sympathy, affection, love, compassion, tender feelings, and sometimes circumstances or facts.

The second character means desire, longing, appetite, wish, covetousness, greed, passion, desire, and craving.

This word is universal in Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and Korean Hanja.

Score: 20/100

This is literally "True Love" in Chinese.

The first character means "real", "true" and "genuine". The second character means "love" and "affection".

During the customization of your calligraphy wall scroll, there is a place to add an inscription. You might want that inscription to be your names in Chinese down the side of your wall scroll, or perhaps just below these two main characters (just $9 extra). A nice gift to celebrate an anniversary or marriage!

Score: 20/100

This means lover, sweetheart or beloved in Chinese and Japanese Kanji.

This term is gender-neutral, so anyone can use it.

Please note that this term can easily be read or used to mean "mistress" or the kind of lover that you have an affair with. The context in which this word is used affects the actual meaning. Husbands and wives or boyfriends and girlfriends can also use this term for each other with no ill-meaning.

Score: 14/100

These characters create the title of loving mother, affectionate mother, or merciful mother. A great gift for your mom.

See Also...  Family

Score: 10/100

Kindness is showing you care, doing some good to make life better for others. Be thoughtful about people's needs. Show love and compassion to someone who is sad or needs your help. When you are tempted to be cruel, to criticize or tease, decide to be kind instead.

This Chinese / Japanese / Korean word can also mean affectionate, cordial, warmly, or close (emotionally).

See Also...  Love | Caring | Benevolence

Score: 10/100

Characters shown
above are read
vertically, starting
from the right

Any woman with affection for Asian art and you will love a gift of this calligraphy on a wall scroll. She will melt in your arms as you tell her the meaning of these characters.

Contained in this phrase is a reference to the most beautiful woman in Chinese history. Her name was Xi Shi, and she was known to have good looks that need not fine robes or make up. Her charms were so powerful that she brought down an entire kingdom (in a successful effort to bring honor and pride back to her people).

Score: 10/100

This word would often be translated as “heart”. However, because it was believed in Chinese culture thousands of years that your consciousness and thoughts came from the big red organ in the middle of your chest, it also means “mind” or “spirit” and sometimes even “soul”.

In Korean, beyond heart, mind, and spirit, this character can mean moral, nature, mind, affections, intentions, core, and center. In fact, it is used in Chinese to mean "center" as well, but only with another character in front of it. For instance, "medical center" or even "shopping center". Separately and alone, it will not be read with that "center" meaning unless thought of as "the center of your soul".

Score: 10/100

These characters create the title of loving father, affectionate father, or merciful father. A great gift for your dad.

Score: 10/100

A great way to tell your Chinese friends about your lifestyle, while keeping your Anglo friends in the dark.

Kind of a huge bold sign to say "I'm Gay" without anybody knowing.

These characters literally mean "same sex feeling" or "same sex affection" in Chinese.

Score: 10/100

This is the simplest way to express the idea of Karma. This is the Buddhist idea of actions committed in a former life affecting the present and future.

Out of the context of Buddhism, this character means one's profession in life, trade, occupation, business, study, or career.

The karma definition applies to both Chinese and Japanese for this character. This also works as Korean Hanja; although the meaning can vary depending on context (my Korean dictionary gives the definition of profession/occupation).

See Also...  Buddhism

Score: 4/100

The dictionary definition is:
relations / relationship / to concern / to affect / to have to do with / connection.
But there's more to it...

In China, your relationship that you have with certain people can open doors for you. Having guanxi with someone also means they would never defraud you, but instead are honor-bound to treat you fairly (of course, this goes both ways). Sometimes it is suggested that guanxi is the exchange of favors. I would say is is more 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 were not confusing enough, there is another alternate form of that second character. See right.

An Asian calligrapher of any nationality may use any of 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.

Score: 4/100

This is the essence of the Buddha or Buddhism. Depending on context, this word and character can be used to refer to the religion and lifestyle of Buddhism, or in some cases, the Buddha himself.

It is interesting to note that this word is separate from all others in the Chinese language. The sound of "fo" has only this meaning. This is in contrast to many sounds in the Chinese language which can have one of four tones, and more than 20 possible characters and meanings. This language anomaly shows just how significant Buddhism has affected China since the ancient times.

More about Buddhism

This character is also used with the same meaning in Korean Hanja.

It's used in the very religious context of Buddhism in Japan. It should be noted that there are two forms of this Kanji in use in Japan - this is the more formal/ancient version, but it's rarely seen outside of religious artwork, and may not be recognized by all Japanese people.

It also acts as a suffix or first syllable for many Buddhist-related words in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.

See our Buddhism & Zen page

See Also...  Bodhisattva | Enlightenment

Score: 4/100

This concept has existed for thousands of years that humans have the ability to understand right and wrong, then make a decision one way or the other (thus affecting their own fate).

Sources such as Confucius, Buddhist scriptures, the Qur'an and the Bible all address this idea.

As for the characters shown here, the first two mean free, freedom, or liberty. The last two simply mean "will".

See Also...  Freedom | Strong Willed | Fate

Score: 4/100

This is the Chinese word that is the closest to hitting the mark for the English word "inspiration". In a more extended context, I have even seen this translated as "brain wave".

The first character means alert, departed soul, efficacious, quick, effective or intelligence. The second character means to feel, to move, to touch or to affect. The combined meaning of these two characters changes a bit, but I think it's nice to know the individual meanings to give you a better understanding of where a word comes from.

You could describe this word as, "the thought that pops into your head just before you patent the greatest widget ever invented, that everyone in the world will want".
…At least, that's the idea.

This term can also mean "intelligent thought" if you were to translate it directly from each of these characters. If you are looking for inspiration or otherwise need to be inspired, this is the word for you.

When the first character was absorbed into Japanese from Chinese, an alternate form became the standard in Japan. The Kanji shown to the right is the form currently used in Japan. This is still considered an alternate form in China to this day. It's readable by both Chinese and Japanese people, but if your audience is Japanese, I recommend the Kanji shown to the right - just click on that Kanji to order that version.

Score: 4/100