Japanese & Chinese Love Symbol - Calligraphy Wall Scrolls

愛 universally means love in Chinese, Japanese Kanji, old Korean Hanja, and old Vietnamese.

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

愛 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.

This can also be a pet-name or part of a pet-name in the way we say "dear" or "honey" in English.

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

愛慕 means "adoring love" in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.

I suppose this is the best kind of love to have. 愛慕 has the well-known character for love. But the second character modifies and reinforces the meaning to become adore, adoring love, or to love and adore.

Ancient Chinese warning:
Adoring someone is fine until you are in the shoes of the Prince of the Kingdom of Wu. This Prince adored a certain beautiful woman (Xi Shi) so much that he neglected his duties, and soon let the kingdom fall into ruins.

我愛你 directly translates as "I love you" from English to Chinese characters.

This "I love you" phrase is very commonly used between lovers in China.

It's very uncommon (some will say taboo) to say, "I love you" in Japanese culture. It's especially awkward for a man to tell a woman this in Japanese. Everyone is more likely to say "Watashi wa anata ga suki desu" or "I like you" (literally, "I regarding you, have like".

If you have to say, "I love you" in Japanese, this selection of Kanji and Hiragana shown to the left is the way.

Note: Because this selection contains some special Japanese Hiragana characters, it should be written by a Japanese calligrapher.

愛情 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.

永恆的愛 is the best way to write "Eternal Love" in Chinese.

The first two characters mean eternal, eternally, everlasting, and/or perpetual.

The third character is a possessive article which sort of makes this selection mean "Love of the eternal kind".

The last character is "love".

This version is best if your audience is Chinese. We also have a Japanese version of eternal love.

See Also:  Forever Love | Eternal Love (Japanese)

永遠の愛 is a great way to write "Eternal Love" in Japanese.

The first two characters mean eternal, eternity, perpetuity, forever, immortality, and permanence.

The third character is a possessive article which sort of makes this selection mean "Love, of the eternal kind".

The last character is "love".

Cultural note: Most of the time, it is taboo to use the word "love" in Japanese. For instance, a Japanese man will say, "I like you", rather than, "I love you", to his spouse/girlfriend. However, this entry for eternal love is acceptable because of the way it is composed.

This entry is only appropriate if your audience is Japanese. We also have a Chinese version of this eternal love.

The first character here means "love"

The last two mean eternal, eternally, everlasting, and/or perpetual.

愛永恆 is the shortest way to express the idea of "love eternally" in Chinese.

See Also:  Love Forever

The first character here means "love".

The last two mean forever, eternity, eternal, perpetuity, immortality, and/or permanence.

愛永遠 is the shortest and most universal way to express this idea in Chinese and Japanese.

Japanese note: This sound more like a title than a phrase in Japanese (if that makes any sense). 愛永遠 is a great title for a romantic book, title of a movie, name of a perfume, or even a name for a store.

See Also:  Eternal Love | Forever Love

真愛 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!

熱愛 means love passionately, ardent love, devotion, adoration.

The literal meaning is "hot love", as the first character means heat, fervent, hot and warm. Sometimes it can mean fever, restless, or zeal. The second character is, of course, love. If you adore and are devoted to someone with all your love, this is the title for you.

慈 is the simplest way to express the idea of compassion.

This can also mean love for your fellow humans, humanity, or living creatures. Sometimes this is extended to mean charity.

This term is often used with a Buddhist or Christian context. The concept was also spoken of by Laozi (Lao Tzu) in the Dao De Jing (Tao Te Ching).

慈 is considered the direct translation of the Sanskrit word मैत्री (maitrī) Pali word मेत्ता (mettā). In this context, it means benevolence, loving-kindness, and goodwill.

This Chinese character is understood in Japanese but is usually used in compound words (not seen alone). Also used in old Korean Hanja, so it's very universal.

See Also:  Mercy | Benevolence | Forgiveness | Kindness

神の愛 is "divine love" in Japanese.

You could also translate as "God's Love".

永遠的愛 refers to love that will last forever.

The first two characters mean forever, eternal, eternity, perpetuity, immortality, and/or permanence.

The third character is a possessive article which sort of makes this selection mean "The forever kind of love".

The last character is "love".

See Also:  Eternal Love Always

最偉大的愛 means "the greatest love", in Chinese.

Keeping in mind that Chinese is different than English, the first character is like "-est" or adding "the most" as a modifier to the next word.
The 2nd and 3rd characters are a word meaning great, mighty, and/or large.
The 4th is a possessive article.
The last is the character for love.

When you put it all together, you get a phrase that means, the greatest love, the biggest love, or the mightiest love.

無限大の愛 is a Japanese title meaning infinite great love, unlimited great love, or eternal love.

無 means never, not, or like a prefix "un-".

限 means limited, restricted, or bound.
大 means great or big.
の is a possessive article.
愛 means love or affection.

無限愛 is the Chinese and Japanese title meaning infinite love, unlimited love, or unbounded love.

The first character means never, not, or like a prefix "un-".

The second means limited, restricted, or bound.

The third means love or affection.

These two characters mean, "Destiny that brings lovers together". It can also be translated technically as, "Predestined matrimonial affinity" (wow, talk about taking the romance out of this word - that was from the Oxford C-E dictionary).

Basically, this is talking about the fate (or karma) that brings a husband and wife together. I would translate this as "Together by fate" or "Joined by destiny" but in the context of marriage. You could use this for non-married lovers but the first character has a suggestion that this refers to those that are married.

This Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja title can mean, "love and respect", "kindness and respect", "to love with reverence", "charm", "amiability", "winsomeness", "courtesy", or "ingratiating behavior".

Note: The wide-ranging definitions show that this word is a bit ambiguous without the context of being used in a sentence.

This title refers to the kind of love and devotion you might have to your children, or any loved one. This especially applied to your children but could also be any member of your family - spouse, etc.

This can also be translated as affection, kindness, love, to love affectionately.

慈愛 is also used in a Buddhist context with the same meaning.

In Japanese, this can also be a female given name romanized as Yasue.

兼愛 is a Chinese word that means "universal love", principle advocated by philosopher Mozi (墨子), stressing that people should care for everyone equally.

愛屋及烏 is the Chinese idiom, "Love the house and its crow".

It speaks to the fact that if you are involved an a relationship with somebody, you are also in a relationship with everyone connected to that person. In English, we say, "Love me, love my dog".

愛而無由 is how to write "love without reason" in Mandarin Chinese (using proper grammar, etc).

愛而無由 is not a commonly used, nor ancient phrase in Chinese.

This Japanese phrase means, "love without reason", or "love doesn't need a reason". It's a pretty cool phrase in Japanese

Note: Because this selection contains some special Japanese Hiragana characters, it should be written by a Japanese calligrapher.

情定終身 is a pledge of eternal love in Chinese.

This can also be a colloquial way to refer to the act of exchanging marriage vows.

If you and your mate want to express how committed you are to your life-long love, this will be a great piece of calligraphy for your wall. Also, a nice phrase to celebrate an anniversary.

戀人 means lover, sweetheart or beloved in Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja.

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

In modern Japan and China, the first character has been simplified. We suggest the traditional version, as shown above if your audience is Chinese or Korean. However, this generation of Japanese are more likely to recognize the simplified version. If you want this simple (modern Japanese) version, please click on the image shown to the right, instead of the button above.

母愛 is a way to write a mother's love in Chinese.

Breaking down the characters:
母 means mother.
愛 means love.

永遠愛在一起 is "together forever in love" in Chinese.

It's a nice phrase if you're a couple who plans to stay together and make your love last as long as you live.

無條件的愛 is a common way to write "unconditional love" in Chinese.

無條件の愛 is a common way to write "unconditional love" in Japanese.

真愛忠誠尊敬 is a Chinese word list that means love, loyalty, respect.

愛忠敬 is a Chinese word list that means love, loyalty, respect.

愛忠敬 is the shortest way to express these words/ideas. Word lists are not as natural in Chinese as they are in English - phrases or proverbs are more common.

純愛 means pure love.

純 means pure, simple, unmixed, genuine, innocent, chaste, and/or naive.
愛 means love.

純愛 is also a variety of given names in Japan with these romanizations: Pyua, Hiroe, Sumie, Junai, Ayame, Ayane, or Yasushi.

仁慈 word is used in Chinese, Korean, Japanese, and Asian Buddhism to relay the important idea of loving kindness.

仁慈 can also be defined as: benevolent; charitable; kind; merciful; kind-hearted; benevolence; kindness; humanity; mercy.

In Japanese, this can also be the given name Hitoji. This would also be a good Mandarin Chinese given name romanized as Jentzu (in Taiwan) or Renci (really sounds like ren-tsuh).

See Also:  Altruism | Kindness | Charity

身土不二 (Shindofuni) is originally a Buddhist concept or proverb referring to the inseparability of body-mind and geographical circumstances.

身土不二 literally reads, "Body [and] earth [are] not two".

Other translations or matching ideas include:
Body and land are one.
Body and earth can not be separated.
Body earth sensory curation.
You are what you eat.
Indivisibility of the body and the land (because the body is made from food and food is made from the land).

Going further, this speaks of our human bodies and the land from which we get our food being closely connected. This phrase is used often when talking about natural and organic vegetables coming directly from the farm to provide the healthiest foods in Japan.

Character notes: 身(shin) in this context does not just mean your physical body rather a concept including both body and mind.
土 (do) refers to soil, earth, clay, land, or in some cases, locality. It's not the proper name of Earth, the planet. However, in can refer to the land or realm we live in.

Japanese note: This has been used in Japan, on and off since 1907 as a slogan for a governmental healthy eating campaign (usually pronounced as shindofuji instead of the original shindofuni in this context). It may have been hijacked from Buddhism for this propaganda purpose, but at least this is "healthy propaganda".

Korean note: The phrase 身土不二 was in use by 1610 A.D. in Korea where it can be found in an early medical journal.
In modern South Korea, it's written in Hangul as 신토불이. Korea used Chinese characters (same source for Japanese Kanji) as their only written standard form of the language until about a hundred years ago. Therefore, many Koreans will recognize 身土不二 as a native phrase and concept.

See Also:  Strength and Love in Unity

This literally means "loving heart". It can also be translated as "compassion".

In Chinese, it carries more of a compassion meaning.

愛心 is rarely used in Japanese anymore, so best if your audience is Chinese.

See Also:  Compassion

有緣千里來相會 means that fate or destiny has caused us to meet from a thousand miles away.

The 有緣 part suggests something that is connected as if by a thread due to fate, destiny, or karma.

This romantic phrase is seen in Chinese greeting cards. It relays the idea that your love was meant to be, and that you were destined to meet (regardless of what distance or obstacles might have made such a meeting unlikely).

See Also:  Red Thread