Family Chinese & Japanese Calligraphy Wall Scrolls

This is the single-character that means family in Chinese and Japanese. It can also mean home or household depending on context.

Hanging this on your wall suggests that you put "family first".

Pronunciation varies in Japanese depending on context. When pronounced "uchi" in Japanese, it means home, but when pronounced "ke", it means family.

Note that there is an alternate form of this character. It has an additional radical on the left side, but no difference in meaning or pronunciation. The version shown above is the most universal, and is also ancient/traditional. The image shown to the right is only for reference.

This is a common way to express family, household, or home in Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja.

However, for a wall scroll, we recommend the single-character form (which is just the first character of this two character word). If you want that, just click here: Family Single-Character

The first character means "family" or "home". The second means "courtyard" or "garden". When combined, the meaning is a bit different, as it becomes "household" or "family". The home and/or property traditionally has a strong relationship with family in Asia. Some Chinese, Korean, and Japanese families have lived in the same house for 7 or more generations!

This is a special phrase that we composed for a "family by adoption" or "adoptive family".

It's the dream of every orphan and foster child to be formally adopted and find their "forever family".

The first two characters mean forever, eternal, eternity, perpetuity, immortality, and/or permanence. The third character connects this idea with the last character which means "family" and/or "home".

This phrase can also be translated as "The whole world is one family". It is used to mean that all humans are related under heaven.

The first two characters can be translated as "the world", "whole country", "descended from heaven", "earth under heaven", "the public" or "the ruling power".

The second two characters can mean "one family", "a household", "one's folks", "a house" or "a home". Usually this is read as "a family".

Note: This phrase can be understood in Japanese, though not commonly used.

Characters shown
above are read
vertically, starting
from the right

This could also be translated in English as "No success can compensate for failure in the home".

Also, the word for "home" can be exchanged with "family".

This old Chinese idiom is roughly equal to the English phrase "Home is where the heart is". If you know Chinese, you may recognize the first character as home and the third as heart.

This is how to write "child" in Chinese. There are several ways to write child or offspring in Chinese, but this is the best form for calligraphy, or written (versus oral) form.

If children are important to you, this might be the scroll you want. Or if you are a child at heart, this also works.

In Japanese, they use a slightly-morphed version of the original Chinese first character. If you want the special Japanese version, please click on the Kanji image shown to the right, instead of the button above. Note: Japanese people would still be able to understand the Chinese version and vice versa.

Characters shown
above are read
vertically, starting
from the right

This Japanese phrase can be translated a few different ways:

No man knows what he owes to his parents till he comes to have children of his own.

One knows not what one owes to one's parents till one comes to have children of one's own.

Only after you have a baby, you will appreciate your parents or feel the way they do.

Only after becoming a parent yourself do you realize how much you owe [how indebted you are] to your own parents.

This is the love between siblings. When you love, protect, care for, and have a deep bond that only brothers or sisters can.

The actual translation is "Hand and Foot" but it is said the relationship between brothers or sisters is like that of hands and feet. They belong together, and complete the body. Even though this says "hand and foot", it will always be read with the brotherly and sisterly love meaning in Chinese.

Note: During the past 20 years, the "One child policy" in China is slowly making this term obsolete.

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.

This is the oral way that most Chinese people refer to their mothers. Often, they will put this together twice (two of the same character in a row) to create a word that sounds like "Mama". That's absolutely what little kids call their mothers in China. This Chinese "Mama" is the rough equivalent of "Mommy" in English. Beyond a certain age, Chinese will start to just say "Ma", which is like saying "Mom".

This entry is just here for a language lesson. This would make a strange wall scroll by Chinese standards. In Chinese, there are sometimes oral words that don't seem appropriate when written in calligraphy, and this is one of them. See our entry for "Loving Mother" for a better selection.

See Also...  Loving Mother

This simply means "mother and daughter" kind of as a unit, or as if mother and daughter are a whole together.

This is an unusual selection for a calligraphy wall scroll, and can be read many different ways. Your native Asian friends might wonder what you are trying to say. They might even read it as meaning "a mother and daughter without a dad".

This entry was added to our database for a customer's special request. It has the same meaning in Chinese Characters and Korean Hanja.

See Also...  Mother And Son

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

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

This is what you would call your maternal grandfather (mother's father) in Northern China with the adjective/title "Dear" on the front.

Characters shown
above are read
vertically, starting
from the right

This is "Loving Grandfather" in the formal way that people in Southern China usually call their mother's father (maternal grandfather).

This is "Loving Grandfather" using an informal way to call your maternal grandfather (mother's father) in Southern China.

This is "Loving Grandfather" using the most common way for people in Northern China to refer to their father's father (paternal grandfather).

This is "Loving Grandfather" in the way people in Southern China call their father's father (paternal grandfather).

This is "Loving Grandmother" in the common way to refer to your mother's mother (maternal grandmother) in Northern China.

This is "Loving Grandmother" in a common way to refer to your mother's mother (maternal grandmother) in Southern China.

Characters shown
above are read
vertically, starting
from the right

This is "Loving Grandmother" in the formal way to refer to your mother's mother (maternal grandmother) in Southern China.

This is "Loving Grandmother" in probably the most common way to refer to your father's mother (paternal grandmother) in northern China.

This is "Loving Grandmother" in the most common way to refer to your father's mother (paternal grandmother) in Southern China.

This is what you would call your maternal grandfather (mother's father) in Northern China with the adjective/title "Dear" on the front.

Characters shown
above are read
vertically, starting
from the right

This is the formal way that people in Southern China usually call their mother's father (maternal grandfather) with the adjective/title "Dear" on the front.

This is an informal way to call your maternal grandfather (mother's father) in Southern China with the adjective/title "Dear" on the front.

This is the most common way for people in Northern China to refer to their father's father (paternal grandfather) with the adjective/title "Dear" on the front.

This is the how people in Southern China call their father's father (paternal grandfather) with the adjective/title "Dear" on the front.

This is the common way to refer to your mother's mother (maternal grandmother) in Northern China with the adjective/title "Dear" on the front.

This is a common way to refer to your mother's mother (maternal grandmother) in Southern China with the adjective/title "Dear" on the front.

Characters shown
above are read
vertically, starting
from the right

The formal way to refer to your mother's mother (maternal grandmother) in Southern China with the adjective/title "Dear" on the front.

This is probably the most common way to refer to your father's mother (paternal grandmother) in northern China with the adjective/title "Dear" on the front.

The most common way to refer to your father's mother (paternal grandmother) in Southern China with the adjective/title "Dear" on the front.

This is the colloquial way to say "Daddy" in Chinese. Sometimes Chinese people will refer to their father with just one of these characters, "Ba", which would be like "Dad". With both characters, "Baba", it's more like "Daddy".

This is really a weird selection for a wall scroll, so consider this entry to be for educational purposes only (don't order this).

This is the simple term for "Father and Son". However, we like some of our other tribute phrases to fathers better than this one.

This simply means "mother and son", or the essence of the relationship and bond between mother and son.

This is really a single word that expresses this idea (showing how important or significant this bond is).

This is not the most common choice for a wall scroll, it is acceptable if you feel this term is important to you.

See Also...  Mother And Daughter

This can be translated as "No one knows a son better than his father".

This idiom is based on the idea that after spending many years together, family members know everything about each other. Better than anyone else, a father knows the qualities and shortcomings of his son.

If you are looking for something about "father and son", this is probably the best selection.

This is the original phrase (very old) but others have been composed about various combinations of mothers, sons, daughters, and fathers.