The name Eastern Europe in Chinese / Japanese...

This is the Chinese, old Korean Hanja, and traditional Japanese name for Eastern Europe.

Please note that Japanese use an alternate/simplified version of the character for Europe - it also happens to be the same simplification used in mainland China. Click on the character to the right if you want the Japanese/Simplified version of this two-character Eastern Europe calligraphy.

This is the Chinese name for the continent of Europe.

Please note that Japanese use an alternate/simplified version of the first character and an alternate form of the second character. Click on the characters to the right if you want the Japanese/Simplified version of this two-character Europe calligraphy.

This is the Chinese, old Korean Hanja, and traditional Japanese name for Western Europe.

Please note that Japanese use an alternate/simplified version of the character for Europe - it also happens to be the same simplification used in mainland China. Click on the character to the right if you want the Japanese/Simplified version of this two-character Western Europe calligraphy.

以色列 is the Chinese name for the country of Israel.

While geographically located in Asia, Israel tends to politically be closer to Europe.

See Also:  Palestine | Asia | Europe

This is the Chinese name for the country of Germany.

See Also:  Europe

This is the Chinese name for the country of Greece.

See Also:  Europe

This is the Chinese name for the country of Poland.

See Also:  Europe

This is the Japanese Katakana name for the country of Spain.

Note: Because this title is entirely Japanese Katakana, it should be written by a Japanese calligrapher.

See Also:  Europe

安道爾 is the Chinese name for the country of Andorra.

See Also:  Europe

This is the Chinese name for the country of Hungary.

See Also:  Europe

This is the Chinese name for the country of Italy.

See Also:  Europe

This is the Chinese name for the country of Lithuania.

See Also:  Europe

This is the Chinese name for the country of Macedonia.

See Also:  Europe

This is the Chinese name for the country of Malta.

See Also:  Europe

This is the Chinese name for the country of Monaco.

See Also:  Europe

This is the Chinese name for the country of Portugal.

See Also:  Europe

西班牙 is the Chinese name for the country of Spain.

This is sometimes used in Japanese too, though in modern times, Japanese tend to use a Katakana version of Spain.

See Also:  Europe

This is the Chinese name for the country of the Ukraine.

See Also:  Europe

This is the Chinese name for the country of Croatia.

See Also:  Europe

This is the Chinese name for the country of Estonia.

See Also:  Europe

イタリア is the Japanese Katakana name for the country of Italy.

This version is the most common way to write Italy, and actually sounds a bit like the real name of Italy which is Italia.

Note: Because this title is entirely Japanese Katakana, it should be written by a Japanese calligrapher.

See Also:  Europe

This is the Chinese name for the country of Latvia.

See Also:  Europe

This is the Chinese name for the country of Moldova.

See Also:  Europe

This is the Chinese name for the country of San Marino.

See Also:  Europe

阿爾巴尼亞 is the Chinese name for the country of Albania.

See Also:  Europe

This is the Chinese name for the country of Liechtenstein.

See Also:  Europe

This is the Chinese name for the country of Slovenia.

See Also:  Europe

This is the Chinese name for the country of Iceland.

See Also:  Greenland | Europe

This is the Chinese name for the country of Russia.

See Also:  Europe | Asia

阿塞拜疆 is the Chinese name for the country of Azerbaijan.

Note: Technically Azerbaijan is in Asia but politically European.

See Also:  Asia | Europe

This is the Chinese name for the country of Bulgaria.

See Also:  Romania | Europe

This is the Chinese name for the country of Romania.

See Also:  Bulgaria | Europe

This is the Chinese name for the Czech Republic.

See Also:  Slovak Republic | Europe

This is the Chinese name for the country of the Netherlands. The name actually sounds like “Holland,” the other common name for this Benelux country.

There is not differentiation between the words Holland and Netherlands in Chinese, the characters shown here represent the only official name for this country in Chinese.

See Also:  Belgium | Luxembourg | Europe

This is the Chinese name for the country of Austria.

See Also:  Germany | Switzerland | Europe

This is the Chinese name for the country of Belgium.

See Also:  Netherlands | Luxembourg | Europe

This is the Chinese name for Greenland (overseas territory of Denmark).

See Also:  Denmark | Iceland | Europe

This is the Chinese name for the country of Luxembourg.

See Also:  Netherlands | Belgium | Europe

斯洛伐克共和國 is the Chinese name for the country of the Slovak Republic.

See Also:  Czech Republic | Europe

This is the Chinese name for the country of Denmark.

See Also:  Sweden | Norway | Finland | Europe

This is the Chinese name for the country of Finland.

See Also:  Sweden | Norway | Denmark | Europe

This is the Chinese name for the country of Norway.

See Also:  Sweden | Denmark | Finland | Europe

This is the Chinese name for the country of Sweden.

See Also:  Norway | Denmark | Finland | Europe

This is the Chinese name for the country of Switzerland.

See Also:  Germany | Austria | France | Europe

This is the Chinese name for Gibraltar (territory of the United Kingdom but also claimed by Spain).

See Also:  Great Britain | Spain | Europe

This is the Chinese name for Great Britain.

See Also:  England | United Kingdom | Scotland | Ireland | Europe

This is the Chinese name for the country of Northern Ireland.

See Also:  Ireland | United Kingdom | Great Britain | Europe

This is the most common Japanese name for the United Kingdom.

See Also:  Great Britain | England | Scotland | Ireland | Europe

大英聯合王國 is the Chinese name for the United Kingdom.

See Also:  Great Britain | England | Scotland | Ireland | Europe

This is the Chinese name for the country of Ireland.

See Also:  Northern Ireland | Great Britain | England | Scotland | United Kingdom | Europe

This is the Chinese name for the country of England.

See Also:  Great Britain | United Kingdom | Ireland | Scotland | Northern Ireland | Europe

蘇格蘭 is the Chinese name for Scotland.

See Also:  Great Britain | United Kingdom | England | Northern Ireland | Ireland | Europe

東 is the direction East in Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja.

Sometimes used as an abbreviation for the Eastern Hemisphere.

This can also be the surname Dong in China.
In Japan, this can be an abbreviation for a kind of six-stringed zither, or the personal name, Yamato.

東 is used as a suffix for many words in Asia. In fact, it's part of the CJK word 東方 meaning Orient or Oriental. The word 東方 more literally translates as “Eastern Kingdoms,” “Eastern Countries,” or simply “The East.”

This is the Chinese name for the territory of American Samoa (formerly known as Eastern Samoa).

This should not be confused with Independent Somoa which is to the west.

If you want just a general “Samoa” title, just use the plain “Samoa” entry, as it does not actually designate western, eastern, American, or independent.

See Also:  Oceania

青龍 is a scholarly title for “Blue Dragon” or “Azure Dragon.”

You'll find this title used in ancient Chinese literature and astronomy. This dragon has dominion over the eastern sky or eastern heavens. The Azure Dragon is also noted for representing the spring season. Also seen as an auspicious omen.

Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty canonized the five colored dragons as “kings.” The Azure Dragon represents the most compassionate of kings.

In Japanese, this title is known with the same meaning but can also be a given name, Seiryuu or Seiryu.

Note, the first character can be written as OR . Same character, just two ways to write it.

海東劍道 is the Korean martial arts style that means Eastern Sea Sword Way.

The character meanings break down this way:
海 = Sea
東 = East/Eastern
劍 = Sword
道 = Way/Path/Style/Method

This can sometimes be romanized as “Hae Dong Kum Do,” “Haidong Kendo,” “Hae Dong Geom Do,” “Haedong Geomdo,” or “Haedong Kumdo.”

If you want this written in modern Korean Hangul (해동검도) instead of Hanja (Chinese), click on the Hangul characters next to the Korean flag above, instead of the regular button.

福如東海壽比南山 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).

This is the most commonly used transliteration into Mandarin Chinese for the Middle Eastern name Yesim or Yeşim.

This is the second most common transliteration into Mandarin Chinese for the Middle Eastern name Yesim or Yeşim.

班固 is the Japanese surname Hanko.

Note: In Chinese, this title refers to Ban Gu, an Eastern Han dynasty historian who wrote the Dynastic History of Western Han.

老當益壯 is a Chinese proverb that means “old but vigorous” or “hale and hearty despite the years.”

Said of someone who is more spirited when he/she grows older.

The story behind this Chinese proverb:

In the Eastern Han Dynasty, there was a man named Ma Yuan. He had been planning to herd animals on the frontier since he was young. When he grew up, Ma became a minor official of a county.

Once, he was sending some prisoners to another location. He felt pity for them, so he set them free, and then he fled to another county in the north. He herded animals there, and thus his dream came true. He always said: “If you want to be a great man, the poorer you are, the firmer in spirit you have to be; the older you are, the more spirited you should be.”

Later, when he was even older, Ma Yuan became a famous general of the Eastern Han Dynasty and contributed to many battles.

責任 is the Chinese, Japanese, and Korean word for “responsibility.”

責任 can also refer to someone who is willing to take the blame when things go wrong (instead of making excuses or passing the blame to someone else). While this is a noble idea, I think it is getting rare these days in both eastern and western cultures.

Also associated with the idea of "duty."

東山再起 is a Chinese proverb that means “make a comeback” or “resuming after a failure.”

It's sometimes used in terms of losing a job and then getting it back. However, it applies to any kind of comeback after difficulty.

The literal meaning of this Chinese idiom is, “[The] Eastern Mountain Again [will] Rise.”

凰 is another simple way to write “Phoenix” in Chinese. 凰 is the specifically female element of a phoenix, so this is how you write “female phoenix.” 凰 is sometimes used to represent the female empress (many times in history, China was ruled by a woman, in much the same way queens came to power in Europe).

Note that the emperor is always represented as a dragon (not the male version of a phoenix).

If you see yourself as a strong woman, this might be a calligraphy scroll for you to express “woman power” or “powerful woman” in a cool way.

活在今天 is not an eastern concept, so it does not translate into a phrase that seems natural on a wall scroll.

However, if this is your philosophy, the characters shown here do capture your idea of living for today or living in the moment. 活在今天 says “Live in today,” and they are grammatically correct in Chinese.

Note: This kind of makes sense in Korean Hanja but the grammar is Chinese, so it’s not that natural in Korean.

泰山 is Tarzan (a fictional character reared by apes in the jungle) in Mandarin Chinese.

The meaning of 泰山 is large mountain.

泰山 can also represent Taishan township in New Taipei City, Taiwan.

This can also be Mt. Taishan (or Tai Shan) in Shandong, the eastern sacred mountain of China.

In Japanese, this can be the surname Yasuyama or that same Mt. Taishan in China.

林 is the Chinese character for the surname Lim.

The meaning is small forest.

林 is a surname in many dialects but with varying romanizations:
Lín (Mandarin)
Lam, Lum, Lem (Cantonese)
Hayashi (Japanese)
Lim (Thai)
Lâm (Vietnamese)
Ling (Eastern Min, Northern Min, Wu Chinese)
Lim, Liem (Min Nan or Hokkien, Teochew, Korean, Taiwanese Minnan, Indonesian)

華佗 or Hua Tuo was a Chinese physician who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty.

The historical texts Records of the Three Kingdoms and Book of the Later Han record Hua Tuo as the first person in China to use anesthesia during surgery.

Hua Tuo used a general anesthetic combining wine with a herbal concoction called 麻沸散, literally, “cannabis boil powder.” This was in the second century AD, almost 1700 years before western medicine had any form of anesthesia (1846).

狼 is the character used to represent the elusive animal known as the wolf in both Chinese and Japanese.

If you are a fan of the wolf or the wolf means something special to you, this could make a great addition to your wall.

Do keep in mind, that much like our perception of wolves in the history of western culture, eastern cultures do not have a very positive view of wolves (save the scientific community and animal lovers). The wolf is clearly an animal that is misunderstood or feared the world over.

狼 is seldom used alone in Korean Hanja but is used in a compound word that means utter failure (as in a wolf getting into your chicken pen - or an otherwise ferocious failure). Not a good choice if your audience is Korean.

西藏 is the Chinese and Japanese name for Tibet.

It is a vast area in southwest China for which the Chinese government has little control (except in the capital of Llasa). During your travels in Tibet (outside of Llasa) you will find it is rough country full of ruthless bandits and honorable and upright Living Buddhas. There are about 2000 Living Buddhas in Tibet, and at least 10 times more bandits ready to ambush you on the road or trail.

On the eastern frontier of Tibet, you will find the place designated to be Shangri-la. It's a friendly village of Tibetans and is the gateway to greater Tibet.

The full official Chinese name is Tibet Autonomous Region or 西藏自治區|西藏自治区. The name here, 西藏 is quite old - from several dynasties ago.

See Also:  China | Nepal | Asia

虚実 is a Japanese word that means “falsehood [and] truth” or “fiction [and] fact.”

This concept is used in warfare, gameplay, and martial arts strategies. 虚実 can be a strategy of real and/or deceptive moves. This gets to some Sun Tzu Art of War stuff where in warfare a strategic move is either a real and serious move or it is a deceptive blow.

Let's explore each character in more depth:

虚 was originally written 虛 (there is a very subtle difference in the strokes at the bottom of the character) and means unpreparedness, falsehood, emptiness, void, abstract theory, empty or unoccupied, diffident or timid, false, humble or modest, virtual, or in vain.
In the Buddhist context, 虛 represents the Pali/Sanskrit word “śūnya,” meaning empty, vacant, unreal, unsubstantial, untrue, space, humble, or in vain.
In ancient Eastern/Chinese astronomy, 虛 represents the “Emptiness” constellation (one of the 28 mansions in the sky).

実 was originally 實 in Chinese (they currently write it as 实 in Simplified Chinese) with the meaning, truth, reality, sincerity, honesty, fidelity, and substance.
The Buddhist context is similar, adding real, true, honest, really, solid, definitely, sincere, solid, fixed, full, to fill, fruit, kernel, verily, in fact, the supreme fact, or ultimate reality to the definition.

克己奉公 is a Chinese proverb that is often used to express how one should act as a government official. Most of us wish our public officials would hold themselves to higher standards. I wish I could send this scroll, along with the meaning to every member of Congress, and the President (or if I was from the UK, all the members of Parliament, and the PM)

This can also mean: “Place Strict Standards on Oneself in Public Service.”
The story behind this ancient Chinese idiom:
Cai Zun was born in China a little over 2000 years ago. In 24 AD, he joined an uprising led by Liu Xiu, who later became the emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty.

Later, the new emperor put Cai Zun in charge of the military court. Cai Zun exercised his power in strict accordance with military law, regardless of the offender's rank or background. He even ordered the execution of one of the emperor's close servants after the servant committed a serious crime.

Cai Zun led a simple life but put great demands on himself to do all things honorably. The emperor rewarded him for his honest character and honorable nature by promoting him to the rank of General and granting him the title of Marquis.

Whenever Cai Zun would receive an award, he would give credit to his men and share the reward with them.
Cai Zun was always praised by historians who found many examples of his selfless acts that served the public interest.
Sometime long ago in history, people began to refer to Cai Zun as “ke ji feng gong.”

See Also:  Unselfish | Selflessness | Altruism

東方自尊 is the universal way to write “Asian Pride.”

We worked on this one for a long time. The effort involved both Chinese and Japanese translators and lengthy 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 as Korean Hanja, and the older generation of Vietnamese people will be able to read it.

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 who wonder, there is nothing technically wrong with the word “Oriental.” It is a 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 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 mainly 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, they can not be construed as having ill meaning. On one trip to China or Japan, 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 characters have the meaning that Americans attach to “Asian” but is more technically correct.