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Personalize your custom “Movie” project by clicking the button next to your favorite “Movie” title below...
1. Avatar
3. Brave Heart
4. Choose Life
5. Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon
7. Gung Ho
8. Hero
9. Hidden Dragon Crouching Tiger
10. Hua Mulan
11. Ikiru / To Live
13. Inner Strength
14. Kourei
15. Lion King
16. Live and Let Die
17. Love
18. Love Forever / Love Eternal
19. Mandy
21. Shadow
22. Shadow Warrior
24. Thumper
25. Trust No One / Trust No Man
27. Tiger
28. Wind Warrior
29. Shinobi No Mono
30. Fallen Angel
化身 is a way to say avatar in Chinese characters, Korean Hanja, and Japanese Kanji.
This is the original Buddhist idea of an avatar (not the movie). This can also mean: incarnation; reincarnation; embodiment; personification; impersonation.
化身 is the Chinese word used for the original Sanskrit, nirmāṇakāya. Alternates for nirmāṇakāya include 應身, 應化身, or 變化身. In the context of Buddhism, this is a Buddha's metamorphosic body, which has the power to assume any shape to propagate the Truth. This title, 化身, is used for the appearance of a Buddha's many forms.
選擇生活 can mean to choose life instead of death (or suicide) or to choose to live life to the fullest.
I think of it as the key phrase used by Renton (Ewan McGregor) in the movie Trainspotting. While Chinese people will not think of Trainspotting when they see this phrase, for me, it will always be what comes near the end of this colorful rant:
Choose life. Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family. Choose a fucking big television. Choose washing machines, cars, compact disc players, and electrical tin can openers. Choose good health, low cholesterol, and dental insurance. Choose fixed-interest mortgage repayments. Choose a starter home. Choose your friends. Choose leisure wear and matching luggage. Choose a three-piece suite on-hire purchase in a range of fucking fabrics. Choose DIY and wondering who the fuck you are on a Sunday morning. Choose sitting on that couch watching mind-numbing, spirit-crushing game shows, stuffing fucking junk food into your mouth. Choose rotting away at the end of it all, pissing your last in a miserable home, nothing more than an embarrassment to the selfish, fucked-up brats you have spawned to replace yourself. Choose your future. Choose life.
臥虎藏龍 is the movie title of the Kung Fu epic that was very popular in the west a few years back.
This is a re-ordering of an ancient Chinese proverb that refers to undiscovered talents.
The movie was one of the most popular Chinese foreign films to ever debut in the USA but received a lukewarm reception in China.
Note: This can be pronounced in Korean, but it's not a commonly used term.
Working Together
工合 is one of those Asian words that is used more in English than in the original Chinese.
Gung Ho was originally used to speak of Carlson's Raiders, a group of “Gung Ho” U.S. Marines who went on an island-hopping campaign of death during WWII.
A movie called Gung Ho came out in the mid-1940s and was later re-released in the 1950s depicting the 2nd Marine Raider Battalion, and brought this word to the mainstream.
It is still sometimes used today within the U.S. Marine Corps brotherhood to refer to a unit or group that works well together or is otherwise efficient and motivated (has good morals).
In 1986, there was a movie called Gung Ho about a Japanese company taking over an American automotive factory. They completely ignored the fact that this was a Chinese title.
It should be noted that this title actually means a condition, state, manner, or the health of something in Japanese.
Language and pronunciation notes:
Like many Asian words absorbed into common use in English, this one is drastically mispronounced. The official Romanization is “gong he” but that doesn't tell you enough. The vowel sound on the first character is like the English word “own,” now just add the g-sounds to the beginning and end. The second character is misleading, as you might think it is like the English word “he.” In reality, the vowel sound is more like the “u” in “up.”
It should also be noted that the current generation in China no longer uses or recognizes this as a common word or slogan.
Note: This can be pronounced and is a word in Japanese, though seldom used. Japanese will use a variation of "具合" instead. But still, not common.
英雄 is the best way to write hero in Chinese and Japanese - especially for calligraphy.
英雄 is also the name of the Chinese movie titled Hero starring Jet Li.
The first character means brave (it can also mean British or English but not in this case).
The second character means heroic but also suggests a male person.
My Japanese dictionary also defines this as “a great man.”
The meaning of 藏龍臥虎 is that both the tiger and dragon have amazing talents, but if they are out of view, you may not have discovered them.
This old Chinese idiom/proverb is appropriate for someone with an amazing ability that keeps that ability hidden.
You might think this title is in reverse, but actually, this is the original Chinese proverb.
The movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, popularized this alternate version.
花木蘭 is the name of the famous Chinese woman warrior Hua Mulan.
She was made famous in the west by Disney's animated movie, “Mulan.”
Most of the historical information about her comes from an ancient poem. It starts with a concerned Mulan, as she is told a man from each family is to serve conscription in the army. Her father is too old, and her brother is too young. Mulan decides to take the place of her father. After twelve years of war, the army returns, and the best warriors are awarded great posts in the government and riches. Mulan turns down all offers and asks only for a good horse for the long trip home. When Mulan greets visiting comrades wearing her old clothes, they are shocked to find the warrior they rode into battle with for years is actually a woman.
生きる is a Japanese title that means to live, to exist, to make a living, to subsist, to come to life, or to be enlivened.
生きる is also the title of a 1952 Japanese movie that uses the translated English title of “To Live.”
This term, when used in the context of baseball, and some Japanese games such as “go,” can mean “safe.”
Note: Because this selection contains some special Japanese Hiragana characters, it should be written by a Japanese calligrapher.
無限の彼方へ means “to infinity and beyond,” in Japanese.
This is how the slogan/phrase from Toy Story's Buzz Lightyear was translated from the movie into Japanese.
Note: Because this selection contains some special Japanese Hiragana characters, it should be written by a Japanese calligrapher.
內力 is the shorter version of inner strength (can also be translated as “internal force”). The first character holds the meaning of “inner” or “internal.” The second character means “power,” “force,” or “strength.”
內力 is a Kung Fu way of talking about an inner power or strength from within. This is a way to express “inner chi.” This is something that you might hear in a real Chinese Kung Fu movie.
While understood in Chinese and Japanese, this can have a secondary meaning of “inner stress” in Japanese.
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.
This can be a girl’s name “Ai” in both Chinese and Japanese.
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
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, the title of a movie, the name of a perfume, or even a name for a store.
See Also: Eternal Love | Forever Love
Martial arts term
猴子偷桃 is a martial arts term that I find hilarious. I thought Stephen Chow had made this up for his Monkey King movie. After some research, it turns out to be real.
This can be translated as “monkey stealing peaches” or “monkey steals the peach.” It refers to distracting an opponent with one hand and seizing his testicles with the other.
In colloquial Chinese speech, this can refer to grabbing somebody by the balls (without any martial arts technique to the grabbing).
影 means shadow in Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja.
Depending on the context, this can also mean silhouette, reflection, image, or presence.
影武者 is the title for Shadow Warrior in Chinese and Japanese.
This may refer to a few video games that share this English title, or a Japanese movie called Kagemusha.
If you are looking for the Japanese TV show, that was originally 影の軍団 (Kage no Gundan), which more literally means “Army of Shadows,” but was re-titled Shadow Warrior when released outside Japan in English.
In Japan, this title can also refer to a body double or decoy of an army general or leader used to avoid assassination. It can also be somebody who does all the work (or fighting) behind the scenes (not getting much, if any, credit).
忍び (Shinobi) is a term often associated with ninjas of ancient Japan.
忍び really means stealing (into), a spy, a sneaking thief, stealth, or a surreptitious visit to a house of ill repute. However, 忍び is sometimes used to refer to an outcast ninja.
This term was somehow given a better report when various video games, TV series, and even a movie came out with this Shinobi title.
忍び are sometimes Romanized as two words: Shin obi or Shin-obi.
Note: The first character can be written as or .
桑普 is a common transliteration to Mandarin Chinese for the name Thumper.
This is a difficult name to transliterate since there are no initial “th” or final “r” sounds in Chinese. This version sounds like “Sung pu.”
This is the official Chinese name used for Thumper, the rabbit from the Disney movie Bambi.
無法信任 is the kind of thing you expect to hear in a spy movie.
“Trust no one, 007!”
The first two characters express the idea of “no way” or “cannot.”
The last two characters mean “trust.”
The characters must go in this order due to Chinese grammar issues and in order to sound natural.
Note: This is not an ancient Chinese phrase by any means. It's just that we received a lot of requests for this phrase.
This is as close as you can get to the phrase “trust no man,” though technically, no gender is specified.
龍之道 is how the way of the dragon is written in Chinese.
龍之道 is not the same as the Chinese movie that was titled in English as “The Way of the Dragon.” 龍之道 is, rather, the literal meaning of the dragon's way. The first character is dragon, the second is a possessive article, and the third character means way or path.
Year of the Tiger / Zodiac Sign
虎 is the character for tiger in Chinese, old Korean Hanja, and Japanese Kanji.
Since you already know what a tiger is, here's some trivia: If you look at the Japanese pronunciation, you might remember a movie called “Tora Tora Tora” which was the code word used to initiate the attack on Pearl Harbor. It simply means “Tiger Tiger Tiger.”
In Chinese culture, the tiger is considered to be the king of all animals (in much the way we see the lion in western culture).
From the Chinese Zodiac, if you were born in the year of the tiger, you . . .
Have a strong personality.
Are full of self-confidence.
Love adventure
Don't like to obey others.
See also our Chinese Zodiac or Tiger Calligraphy pages.
These search terms might be related to Movie:
If You Cannot Bite, Do Not Show Your Teeth
The following table may be helpful for those studying Chinese or Japanese...
Title | Characters | Romaji (Romanized Japanese) | Various forms of Romanized Chinese | |
Avatar | 化身 | keshin | huà shēn / hua4 shen1 / hua shen / huashen | |
Beautiful Mind | 美麗心靈 美丽心灵 | měi lì xīn líng mei3 li4 xin1 ling2 mei li xin ling meilixinling | mei li hsin ling meilihsinling |
|
Brave Heart | 勇敢的心 | yǒng gǎn de xīn yong3 gan3 de xin1 yong gan de xin yonggandexin | yung kan te hsin yungkantehsin |
|
Choose Life | 選擇生活 选择生活 | xuǎn zé shēng huó xuan3 ze2 sheng1 huo2 xuan ze sheng huo xuanzeshenghuo | hsüan tse sheng huo hsüantseshenghuo |
|
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon | 臥虎藏龍 卧虎藏龙 | wò hǔ cáng lóng wo4 hu3 cang2 long2 wo hu cang long wohucanglong | wo hu ts`ang lung wohutsanglung wo hu tsang lung |
|
Ghost Warrior | 幽靈戰士 幽灵战士 | yōu líng zhàn shì you1 ling2 zhan4 shi4 you ling zhan shi youlingzhanshi | yu ling chan shih yulingchanshih |
|
Gung Ho | 工合 | guai | gōng hé / gong1 he2 / gong he / gonghe | kung ho / kungho |
Hero | 英雄 | ei yuu / eiyuu / ei yu | yīng xióng ying1 xiong2 ying xiong yingxiong | ying hsiung yinghsiung |
Hidden Dragon Crouching Tiger | 藏龍臥虎 藏龙卧虎 | cáng lóng wò hǔ cang2 long2 wo4 hu3 cang long wo hu canglongwohu | ts`ang lung wo hu tsanglungwohu tsang lung wo hu |
|
Hua Mulan | 花木蘭 花木兰 | huā mù lán hua1 mu4 lan2 hua mu lan huamulan | ||
Ikiru To Live | 生きる | ikiru | ||
To Infinity and Beyond | 超越無限 超越无限 | chāo yuè wú xiàn chao1 yue4 wu2 xian4 chao yue wu xian chaoyuewuxian | ch`ao yüeh wu hsien chaoyüehwuhsien chao yüeh wu hsien |
|
To Infinity and Beyond | 無限の彼方へ | mugen no kanata e mugennokanatae | ||
Inner Strength | 內力 内力 | nai ryoku / nairyoku | nèi lì / nei4 li4 / nei li / neili | |
Kourei | 降霊 | kourei / korei | ||
Lion King | 獅子王 狮子王 | shi shi ou / shishiou / shi shi o | shī zǐ wáng shi1 zi3 wang2 shi zi wang shiziwang | shih tzu wang shihtzuwang |
Live and Let Die | 活也讓別人死 活也让别人死 | huó yě ràng bié rén sǐ huo2 ye3 rang4 bie2 ren2 si3 huo ye rang bie ren si huoyerangbierensi | huo yeh jang pieh jen ssu huoyehjangpiehjenssu |
|
Live and Let Die | 死ぬのは奴らだ | shinu no wa yatsuradesu shinunowayatsuradesu | ||
Love | 愛 爱 | ai | ài / ai4 / ai | |
Love Forever Love Eternal | 愛永遠 爱永远 | ai ei en / aieien | ài yǒng yuǎn ai4 yong3 yuan3 ai yong yuan aiyongyuan | ai yung yüan aiyungyüan |
Mandy | 曼蒂 | màn dì / man4 di4 / man di / mandi | man ti / manti | |
Monkey Stealing Peaches | 猴子偷桃 | hóu zi tōu táo hou2 zi5 tou1 tao2 hou zi tou tao houzitoutao | hou tzu t`ou t`ao houtzutoutao hou tzu tou tao |
|
Shadow | 影 | kage | yǐng / ying3 / ying | |
Shadow Warrior | 影武者 | kagemusha | yīng wǔ zhǔ ying1 wu3 zhu3 ying wu zhu yingwuzhu | ying wu chu yingwuchu |
Shinobi Ninja Outcast | 忍び | shino-bi | ||
Thumper | 桑普 | sāng pǔ / sang1 pu3 / sang pu / sangpu | sang p`u / sangpu / sang pu | |
Trust No One Trust No Man | 無法信任 无法信任 | wú fǎ xìn rèn wu2 fa3 xin4 ren4 wu fa xin ren wufaxinren | wu fa hsin jen wufahsinjen |
|
The Way of the Dragon | 龍之道 龙之道 | lóng zhī dào long2 zhi1 dao4 long zhi dao longzhidao | lung chih tao lungchihtao |
|
The Way of the Dragon | 猛龍過江 猛龙过江 | měng lóng guò jiāng meng3 long2 guo4 jiang1 meng long guo jiang menglongguojiang | meng lung kuo chiang menglungkuochiang |
|
Tiger | 虎 | tora | hǔ / hu3 / hu | |
Wind Warrior | 風中戰士 风中战士 | fēng zhōng zhàn shì feng1 zhong1 zhan4 shi4 feng zhong zhan shi fengzhongzhanshi | feng chung chan shih fengchungchanshih |
|
Shinobi No Mono | 忍びの者 | shinobi no mono shinobinomono | ||
Fallen Angel | 墮落天使 堕落天使 | duò luò tiān shǐ duo4 luo4 tian1 shi3 duo luo tian shi duoluotianshi | to lo t`ien shih tolotienshih to lo tien shih |
|
In some entries above you will see that characters have different versions above and below a line. In these cases, the characters above the line are Traditional Chinese, while the ones below are Simplified Chinese. |
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All of our calligraphy wall scrolls are handmade.
When the calligrapher finishes creating your artwork, it is taken to my art mounting workshop in Beijing where a wall scroll is made by hand from a combination of silk, rice paper, and wood.
After we create your wall scroll, it takes at least two weeks for air mail delivery from Beijing to you.
Allow a few weeks for delivery. Rush service speeds it up by a week or two for $10!
When you select your calligraphy, you'll be taken to another page where you can choose various custom options.
The wall scroll that Sandy is holding in this picture is a "large size"
single-character wall scroll.
We also offer custom wall scrolls in small, medium, and an even-larger jumbo size.
Professional calligraphers are getting to be hard to find these days.
Instead of drawing characters by hand, the new generation in China merely type roman letters into their computer keyboards and pick the character that they want from a list that pops up.
There is some fear that true Chinese calligraphy may become a lost art in the coming years. Many art institutes in China are now promoting calligraphy programs in hopes of keeping this unique form
of art alive.
Even with the teachings of a top-ranked calligrapher in China, my calligraphy will never be good enough to sell. I will leave that to the experts.
The same calligrapher who gave me those lessons also attracted a crowd of thousands and a TV crew as he created characters over 6-feet high. He happens to be ranked as one of the top 100 calligraphers in all of China. He is also one of very few that would actually attempt such a feat.
Check out my lists of Japanese Kanji Calligraphy Wall Scrolls and Old Korean Hanja Calligraphy Wall Scrolls.
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