This is how Chinese Christians and Jews refer to God. Yes, there are Chinese Jews whose ancestry dates back to Jewish traders on the silk road. Most have left China for I presume, Israel now. There are also plenty of Christians in China of both the Protestant and Catholic variety. However, the churches are basically run by the government, and the Chinese Catholic church does not recognize the Pope.

Oddly, in my experience, I found the Chinese Protestant church to be much less political compared to Baptist and other Protestant churches that I have attended in America.

This is also the typically-used title for God in Japanese.
However, while you may find this term in old Korean dictionaries, it is an obscure, and rarely-used title for God in modern Korean.

See Also...  Christianity | Jesus Christ

Score: 100/100

This is how Chinese Muslims refer to God (it literally means "True Master"). Oddly, in China, two different names for God have emerged. Even though Muslims, Christians, and Jews all worship the same God of Abraham.

In Arabic, the word Allah is just the Arabic way to say God. Arab Christians pray to Allah, just like Arab Muslims. Somehow in China the title of God diverged.

If you are curious, there are millions of Muslims throughout China, but especially in the northwest portion of China known as Xinjiang. Here you will find descendants of Turkmen, Persian, Arab, and other ethnicities. Some are mixed with Han-Chinese blood; others appear to be pure Turkmen. Many have fair complexions, green eyes, and light hair, but all are citizens of China. A visit to Xinjiang will shift your paradigm and blow away all of your stereotypes about what it means to be Chinese.

Score: 100/100

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The direct translation of these Chinese characters is "God Together [with] You Always Exist". Keep in mind that Chinese grammar is sometimes very different from English. This makes perfect sense in Chinese. Note: The title for God is the first two characters - the other words in the direct translation represent one character each.

Score: 100/100

This is the Chinese, Korean and Japanese word for "Gospel" or "Word of God". This is a specifically Christian word in Asia (not used for any other religion).

The first character means "blessing", "good fortune" or "good luck". This first character is a special character used throughout China to bring good tidings and fortune - especially during Chinese New Years. The second character means "sound", "noise" or "news".

Together, these characters create a word that means "The Good News" or "The Sound of Good Fortune".

When read by a Chinese or Japanese person, this word is always perceived as "The Christian Gospel", "Word of God", or even "The Voice of God".

See Also...  Christianity | Jesus Christ | God Of Abraham

Score: 64/100

This is the deepest way to say "Heaven's Grace" or "God's Grace" in Chinese characters and Japanese Kanji.

The first character means Heaven or sky (referring in this case to the domain of God).
The second character means grace, blessings, benevolence, favor / favour, acts of kindness, merits, or beneficial influence.

This title can also be defined as:
Blessings of Heaven, Favor of the Emperor, Divination's luckiest day, or blessings of nature. Note: When you see "Emperor" above, keep in mind that the Emperor, like the Pope is theoretically chosen by God, or seen as an emissary or conduit of God in ancient Asian culture. It would only be read that way in certain context such as, "The Emperor, in his mercy, bestowed upon him Heaven's Grace and the prisoner was set free".

Score: 39/100

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This means, "Only God can judge me" in Chinese.

Score: 39/100

This means "Trust in God", "Faith in God", "Rely upon God" and/or "Believe in God".

Score: 39/100

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This is not a traditional Chinese phrase. We professionally translated it for a customer's request (in proper Chinese grammar).

See Also...  Christ | God | Justice | Impartial

Score: 39/100

This is the title for Jews or the adjective for being Jewish in Chinese.

You may be surprised to learn that there are still a few native Jews in China (though many ethnic Jews moved to Israel). It's believed that they are descendants of traders who traveled the silk road between the Middle East and the Orient.

Score: 34/100

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This is a phrase that was submitted by a customer. I do not have information on the origin of this phrase.

Score: 39/100

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This is a wish or a prayer that you might call out at a desperate time.

Translated by us for a military serviceman in Iraq - obviously he may have a need to use this phrase often, though I am not sure where he's going to find a place to hang a wall scroll.

Score: 39/100

This is simply the name "Jesus" transliterated into Chinese. These characters hold a pronunciation in Mandarin that is closer to the real and original Hebrew Yeshua, instead of the incorrect way we have always pronounced Jesus in English with a hard "J" sound. While this name sounds like the real "Jesus" in Chinese, Christians in China are more likely to say "Christ" (Jidu) which holds more meaning than just sound.

If you are Latino and have been given the name "Jesus", this is also how to write your name in Chinese.

Score: 34/100

This is "goddess" in both Chinese and Japanese.

Score: 34/100

This is how the name for Venus, Goddess of Love is written in Chinese characters.

Score: 34/100

This is the Chinese, Japanese and Korean word for "Christianity". Just as in English, this word is often used to mean "Protestant" but includes Catholics in the true definition.

It is the word used to refer to the whole "Christian religion" or "Christian Faith" and therefore it can be translated as "Christianity". However, used as an adjective in regards to a person, it would translate as "Christian". But more like saying "His religion is Christianity" rather than a noun form.

If you break it apart, the characters mean Base/Foundation Leading/Supervising Religion/Teaching. It makes more sense in Japanese, Chinese, and Korean. The first two characters together are translated as "Christ". So you can also say this means "Christ's Religion" or "Christ's Teachings" when directly translated, or in reverse, "The Religion of Christ" or "The Teaching of Christ".

Notes: The last character has a slight difference in one stroke - however, in calligraphic form, this will not be apparent. This entry can easily be read by any Korean person who knows Hanja characters (Chinese characters used in Korean).

See Also...  Jesus Christ | God Of Abraham

Score: 34/100

This can be interpreted a few different ways:
God blesses those who work hard.
It is the way of Heaven to smile on the diligent.
God will reward those that are worthy.
Heaven blesses those who are diligent.

Whichever translation you like, a scroll like this on your wall may serve as a reminder to work hard because your diligence will pay off both in this life and the next.


Note: This can be pronounced in Korean, but it's not a commonly-used term.

Score: 34/100

This how to write "Christ" in Chinese characters, Korean Hanja, and Japanese Kanji. This is the word used in the Chinese Union Bible (the only readily-available translation of the Bible into Chinese that I know of - published about 100 years ago). For Chinese Christians, this is the most common way to refer to Jesus Christ.

This is also the way that "Christ" is written in Japanese. But since the Japanese language is very flexible about the sounds that can be assigned to various Kanji, these characters have been assigned a pronunciation that sounds a lot like "Christ" or actually closer to the original "Christos". In Japanese (if you don't know how the Romaji shown above in the gray box works) it sounds like "key ree sue toe" using English words/sounds. Say those four words really fast and you'll get it.
It should be noted that only Japanese Christians will be familiar with this word.

This word is best defined, read and understood with the characters together, but if you take this word for Christ apart, the first character means "fundamentals" or "foundation". The second character can mean "leader" or "boss".

Score: 34/100

This is the full version, with the name "Jesus" being the first two characters and the meaning of "Christ" as the last two. You can't get more specific than this when referring to the Messiah.

Score: 34/100

This means exactly what the title suggests. The first two characters mean "trust" or "believe" and the second two mean "God" (as in the God of Abraham and the God of Zion).

This is also how the American phrase "In God We Trust" as seen on U.S. Currency would be translated into Chinese. It would also be correct to say that this means "Believe in God", though in this arrangement/context, one would be more likely to interpret it as "trust".

Score: 32/100

This is the title for a child in which you have a sworn duty to raise, should the child's parents die. This title suggests that it's talking about a son (male child), but this title is universal, and can simply mean God Child (with no gender specified).

Score: 17/100

This is how to write the Japanese "Thunder God". They don't really have separate words for thunder and lightning in Japanese, so this is also the "Lightning God".

These characters make sense in Chinese as well (though not a common title).

This is also the origin of the English name Raiden.

Score: 7/100

This Chinese word is a kind of forgiveness that you would beg for like a servant begging a master. This can also be the forgiveness that a person would beg from the king or God.

This word suggests that this is forgiveness for something really bad (a terrible crime or sin).

Score: 2/100

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This is the first half of John 3:16

This reads roughly as, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son".

Translation taken directly from the Chinese Union Bible first printed in 1919.

Score: 2/100

This is a way to express destiny in a slightly religious way. Literally this means "Heaven's Wish" or "Heaven's Desire" with the idea of fate and destiny being derived as well. It suggests that your destiny comes from God / Heaven and that your path has already been chosen by a higher power.

My Japanese dictionary defines this word as "divine will" or "providence" but it also holds the meaning of "the will of the emperor". Therefore I don't suggest this phrase if your audience is Japanese - it feels a little strange in Japanese anyway.

Score: 2/100

This is pretty self-explanatory. This is the creature of myth and legend that dominates Chinese, Japanese, and even European folklore. In China, the dragon is the symbol of the Emperor, strength and power, and the Chinese dragon is known as the god of water.

See: More Chinese & Japanese Dragon calligraphy & Dragon information.

Score: 2/100

This is a very strong and direct word in Chinese for "Christian".

The literal translation of the first two characters is "Christ". The last character means apprentice, follower, or disciple. Altogether these three characters mean "Christ's Disciple" or "Christ's Apprentice". This is a pretty cool title to hang on your wall if you are a devout Christian.

Also used by Japanese Christians (but may be unfamiliar to non-Christian Japanese people).

See Also...  Jesus Christ | God Of Abraham

Score: 2/100

This is the title Archangel in Chinese, Japanese, and old Korean Hanja.

The first character means big or great (in this case, it means "arch").
The second means heaven (or sky).
The last means messenger.

The second and third characters together make the title for angel, which is literally "Heaven's Messenger".

This title would be understood as "The Chief of all Angels", or "The Great Angel". Some might even say it's the boss of Angels.

See Also...  Angel

Score: 2/100

The first chapter of Sun Tzu's Art of War lists five key points to analyzing your situation. Sun Tzu says that to sharpen your skills, you must plan. To plan well, you must know your situation. Therefore, you must consider and discuss the following:

1. Philosophy and Politics: Make sure your way or your policy is agreeable among all of your troops (and the citizens of your kingdom as well). For when your soldiers believe in you and your way, they will follow you to their deaths without hesitation, and will not question your orders.

2. Heaven/Sky: Consider climate / weather. This can also mean to consider whether God is smiling on you. In the modern military, this could be waiting for clear skies so that you can have air support for an amphibious landing.

3. Ground/Earth: Consider the terrain in which the battle will take place. This includes analyzing defensible positions, exit routes, and using varying elevation to your advantage. When you plan an ambush, you must know your terrain, and the best location from which to stage that ambush. This knowledge will also help you avoid being ambushed, as you will know where the likely places in which to expect an ambush from your enemy.

4. Leadership: This applies to you as the general, and also to your lieutenants. A leader should be smart and be able to develop good strategies. Leaders should keep their word, and if they break a promise, they should punish themselves as harshly as they would punish subordinates. Leaders should be benevolent to their troops, with almost a fatherly love for them. Leaders must have the ability to make brave and fast decisions. Leaders must have steadfast principles.

5. [Military] Methods: This can also mean laws, rules, principles, model, or system. You must have an efficient organization in place to manage both your troops and supplies. In the modern military, this would be a combination of how your unit is organized, and your SOP (Standard Operating Procedure).

Notes: This is a simplistic translation and explanation. Much more is suggested in the actual text of the Art of War (Bing Fa). It would take a lot of study to master all of these aspects. In fact, these five characters can be compared to the modern military acronyms such as BAMCIS or SMEAC.

CJK notes: I have included the Japanese and Korean pronunciations, but in Chinese, Korean and Japanese, this does not make a typical phrase (with subject, verb and object) it is a list that only someone familiar with Sun Tzu's writings would understand.

Score: 2/100

This is the most verbose (longest) word for "Christian" in the Chinese and Japanese languages.

The literal translation of the first two characters is Christ. Third Character means "Religion" or "Teaching". The last character means "apprentice" or "disciple".

Altogether these three characters mean "Christ's Teaching Disciple" or "Christ's Religion Apprentice".

Note: The last two characters are sometimes translated together as "follower (of a religion)", so you could also say it means "Follower of Christ".

This four-character title makes it very clear what you are talking about in Chinese.

See Also...  Jesus Christ | God Of Abraham

Score: 2/100

From times of old, the emperors of Asia ruled under the authority of God himself. In fact, one definition of an emperor is a ruler put in power by God. This definition separates emperors from the various kings in Chinese history (although defining who is a king versus an emperor gets vague sometimes).

Occasionally, the emperor's wife was widowed, and she took the role of empress until her death (see our entry for empress if that is what you are looking for).

See Also...  Empress | King | Queen | Dragon

Score: 2/100

This is a blessing exchanged between Chinese Christians.

The first two characters literally mean God (The God of Zion). The second two characters express the idea of giving protection. Another way to translate this is "May God protect you".

See Also...  Guardian Angel

Score: 39/100

This is the title for a female child in which you have a sworn duty to raise, should the girl's parents die. The second character specifically designates that we are talking about a female child, thus the title God Daughter.

See Also...  Family

Score: 7/100

This is wang which means king. It is not pronounced the way you think in Chinese. It is more like English-speakers would want to pronounce wong. It has roughly the same vowel sound as tong, song, or long in English.

Note that this means king only, not emperor. An emperor is higher than a king, and theoretically is chosen by God, according to ancient Chinese culture. However, the definition is often blurred at various points in Asian history.

This word can also be defined as ruler, sovereign, monarch or magnate. It is also can refer to a game piece in the chess-like Japanese strategic game of shoji.

Note: This can also be a family name in Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese (in Vietnamese it's Vương).

See Also...  Queen

Score: 2/100

This is a phrase that means "May you have good fortune as great as the eastern oceans, and may your life last as long as the southern mountains".

In ancient Chinese mythology, the eastern oceans and southern mountains are where God resides (basically it is the same as saying "heaven"). So it's like saying, "May your good fortune and life be as vast as the heavens".

There is also a longer, 14-character version of this phrase. Also, this can be cut into two scrolls (with half the phrase on each side - great for hanging on either side of a doorway). Just let me know if you'd like a special version (there is an additional cost).

Score: 2/100

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This is one of the key creeds of Islam.

While perhaps more often seen in Arabic as

there are many native Chinese Muslims (especially the Hui ethnicity) that do not speak Arabic.

Instead, they use this Chinese phrase to express this idea or statement of faith.

Score: 2/100

This is the noun that describes the act of praying to God. This term generally applies only to western religions that pray to the God of Abraham (Christians, Jews, and Muslims).

Score: 2/100

This is a second way to write "prayer". It is a little more formal than "dao gao", but the general meaning is the same. This Chinese/Japanese/Korean word can be translated as "to pray", "to say one's prayers" or simply "prayer". Like the other common term for prayer, this term generally applies only to western religions that pray to the God of Abraham (Christians, Jews, and Muslims).

Score: 2/100

This is the more religious and sometimes superstitious word for protection in Chinese. It's sort of a blessing of protection, and is often translated as "bless and protect", "blessing", or "to bless".

This would be used the protection or blessing that a deity (such as God or Buddha) would bestow upon you. It is not religion-specific in the same way that a language itself cannot be specific to any religion.

Note: Sometimes the second character is written in the form shown to the right. Let us know if you have a preference when you place your order.

See Also...  Guardian Angel

Score: 2/100

This is the Chinese, Japanese and Korean word for resurrection or rebirth. Basically this means "return to life".

It is the term used in most Asian Bibles to refer to the resurrection of Christ. In Japanese, it is sometimes used to mean a Christian Revival. In some context it can mean resuscitation.

See Also...  Christianity | Jesus Christ | God Of Abraham

Score: 2/100

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This is the serenity prayer, as used by many 12-step programs and support groups.

In Chinese, this says:
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

Score: 2/100

This is the simplest form of spirit. This single character alone will conjure up ideas of the spiritual world. This character can also be translated as "vital awareness" as in the fact that one must know they exist to exist (I think, therefore I am).

Other translations include:
God, mysterious, divine essence, lively, spiritual being, divinity, supernatural, soul, mind, nerves, and energy. In some extended context it can mean genius or unusual.

Score: 2/100

This can be translated as "Sword Saint", "God of the Sword" or "Saint of the Sword". This is an ancient Japanese title bestowed on a master with the greatest of skills in swordsmanship.

Keep in mind that this is an antiquated term. It will only be understood in the context of martial arts. The pronunciation "kensei" also applies to other words like "constitutional government" and power (these words have different kanji and are completely unrelated).

Notes: This is sometimes Romanized as "kensei", "ken sei", and incorrectly as "Kensai".

Chinese Note: This title is pronounceable in Chinese, but seldom, if ever used in Chinese. Also, the first character is an alternate character form for sword, currently only used in Japan.

Score: 2/100

This is not the most common thing to say in Chinese, but it is grammatically correct and a cool title.

The first character means "supernatural or saintly". The second is "dragon". The last two mean protection. You could also translate this as something like "Protected by the Dragon God" or more closely "Holy Dragon".

Score: 2/100

This is the character which means "heaven" or "sky" in Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja.

Context of how this character is used determines if you are talking about heaven or the sky above (often they are the same concept anyway).

When combined with other characters, words like "today" and "tomorrow" are created. While sometimes the character for "sun" is used to mean "day", often "sky" represents "day" in Asian languages.
Example: "this sky" = "today", "next sky" = "tomorrow" in modern Chinese and Japanese (they also use "sun" in the same way - but the use of the "sun" character in words like today and tomorrow feels more ancient).

In Chinese culture, regardless of which religion, it's almost always assumed that God (and any other deities) live up above in the sky. This is probably how the idea of heaven being associated with this character began.
The equation goes something like this: God's domain is the sky, thus, the sky is heaven.

Note: As a single character, this is a little ambiguous, so you might want to choose our Kingdom of Heaven selection instead.

See Also...  Heaven | God | Today | Sun

Score: 2/100

This is often translated as "kind act from above", as in "The Grace of God". This doesn't necessarily have to come from God. It could be a favor paid to you, or help that you received (or gave). Of course, you can decide for yourself whether the grace or favor given to you by a friend is actually a gift from God.

Other possible translations of this character:
Favor / favour, acts of kindness, merits, beneficial Influence, kindness, indebtedness, obligation, and benevolent influence.

Score: 2/100

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This is a Japanese version of the serenity prayer, as used by many 12-step programs and support groups.

In Japanese, this says:
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

We've not yet added the Japanese Romaji (pronunciation) in this listing, but hopefully we'll get that done soon.

Score: 2/100

This two-character word of Chinese origin means forgive or forgiveness. This is a deep kind of forgiveness from the bottom of your heart.

In a religious context, this is the kind of forgiveness that you beg God for.

In Korean Hanja, this can also be defined as forbearance or leniency.

In Japanese Kanji, beyond forgiveness, this can also mean magnanimity or generosity.

While we don't actively recommend Asian tattoos, this would be the forgiveness title which is best for a tattoo in most cases.

Note: The first character can also be written in the form shown to the right (especially in Japanese). If you have a preference, please let us know in the "special instructions" when you place your order.

Score: 2/100

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This is the full translation of John 3:16 into Chinese.

This translation comes from the Chinese Union Bible which comes from a revised version of the King James. This Chinese Bible was originally translated and printed in 1919 (several revisions since then).

Because of the origin being the KJV, I'll say that in English, this would be, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life".

As with any translation, there are interesting cultural and linguistic issues. For instance, the word used for "world" in Chinese can also mean "common people". So you could say that it means "For God so loved the common people..."
This does not take away from the text, as it will be understood with the same meaning and connotation.

There is no direct Greek to Chinese translation in print (that I know of), so this is the best available. Of course, you can ask any Greek person of faith, and they will claim that a bit is lost from the original Greek of the New Testament to any of the English versions of the Bible in print.

Score: 2/100

Credit is given that karate started in China, but migrated and became refined, and vastly popular in Japan. The literal meaning of these characters is "empty hand method". Karate is a martial art that uses no blades of weapons other than the "natural weapons" that God gave to humans (fists and feet). The last character somehow became optional, but the meaning of that character is "method" or "the way" as in Taoism / Daoism.

Score: 2/100