Complicated in Chinese / Japanese...

棋 is the most simple or generic way to write “chess” in Asia.

棋 is part of other more specific words for board games of strategy such as the western version of chess, Chinese chess, Weiqi, or Go.

In Japanese, this single character is pronounced “Go” and often refers to the game known in the west as “Go” (not just the 5-in-a-row version but also the complicated encirclement game of strategy known in China as Weiqi).

In Chinese, this can be more ambiguous as to which game of chess you speak.

If you like any version of chess, or games of intense strategy, this can be the character to hang on the wall in your game room.

緣 represents the fate that brings and bonds people together.

緣 is a complicated single character. It can mean a lot of different things depending on how you read it.

In Japanese, it can mean fate, destiny, a mysterious force that binds two people together, a relationship between two people, bond, link, connection, family ties, affinity, opportunity, or chance (to meet someone and start a relationship). It can also mean “someone to rely on,” relative, reminder, memento, or the female given name, Yori.

It's the same in Chinese, where it's defined as cause, reason, karma, fate, or predestined affinity.

In the Buddhist context, it's Pratyaya. This is the concept of indirect conditions, as opposed to direct causes. It's when something happens (meeting someone) by circumstance or a contributing environment. Instead of a direct cause or act, it is a conditioning cause without direct input or action by the involved people.

Occasionally, this character is used in a facetious way to say hem, seam, or edge of clothing. In this case, it's the seam that brings or holds the clothing together.

Note: Japanese will tend to use the variant of this Kanji shown to the right. If you want this version (and are ordering this from the Japanese master calligrapher), click on the Kanji at the right instead of the button above.

This is the most common Kanji for a surname that romanizes as Hanawa.

This is not the only Kanji that romanizes as Hanawa in Japanese, so make sure you are getting the right one.

The meaning of this character is originally something like truly (has this meaning currently in Chinese and old Korean). This can also be romanizes several other ways in Japanese for other names such as Ban, Han, Hane, Haniwa, Hani, Kou, Kasa, or Kaku. Names are kind of complicated in Japanese, as there are often many ways to pronounce the same Kanji.

This 氣 energy flow is a fundamental concept of traditional Asian culture.

氣 is romanized as “Qi” or “Chi” in Chinese, “Gi” in Korean, and “Ki” in Japanese.
Chi is believed to be part of everything that exists, as in “life force” or “spiritual energy.” It is most often translated as “energy flow” or literally as “air” or “breath.” Some people will simply translate this as “spirit,” but you must consider the kind of spirit we're talking about. I think this is weighted more toward energy than spirit.

The character itself is a representation of steam (or breath) rising from rice. To clarify, the character for rice looks like this:
Steam was apparently seen as visual evidence of the release of “life energy” when this concept was first developed. The Qi / Chi / Ki character is still used in compound words to mean steam or vapor.
The etymology of this character is a bit complicated. It's suggested that the first form of this character from bronze script (about 2500 years ago) looked like these samples:
However, it was easy to confuse this with the character for the number three. So the rice radical was added by 221 B.C. (the exact time of this change is debated). This first version with the rice radical looks like this:
The idea of Qi / Chi / Ki is really a philosophical concept. It's often used to refer to the “flow” of metaphysical energy that sustains living beings. Yet there is much debate that has continued for thousands of years as to whether Qi / Chi / Ki is pure energy or consists partially or fully of matter.

You can also see the character for Qi / Chi / Ki in common compound words such as Tai Chi / Tai Qi, Aikido, Reiki, and Qi Gong / Chi Kung.

In the modern Japanese Kanji, the rice radical has been changed into two strokes that form an X.

The original and traditional Chinese form is still understood in Japanese, but we can also offer that modern Kanji form in our custom calligraphy. If you want this Japanese Kanji, please click on the character to the right instead of the “Select and Customize” button above.

More language notes: This is pronounced like “chee” in Mandarin Chinese, and like “key” in Japanese.
This is also the same way to write this in Korean Hanja where it is Romanized as “gi” and pronounced like “gee” but with a real G-sound, not a J-sound.
Though Vietnamese no longer use Chinese characters in their daily language, this character is still widely known in Vietnam.

See Also:  Energy | Life Force | Vitality | Life | Birth | Soul

一 is “one” or “1” in Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja.

People keep searching for “one” but I'm not sure what you want. This would be a strange selection for a wall scroll, so please don't order it. Post a request on our forum if you want a phrase with “one” in it that you can't find on our site.

The “one” character is really simple, it's just one stroke. Two is two strokes and three is three strokes, from four and above, the characters get more complicated.

In some ways, the “one” character is too simple, it could be a stray mark, or added to a banking document. Therefore, the following banking anti-fraud character for “one” has developed over the last 1500 years in China and Japan:

詞韻波羅蜜大光明 are the Japanese Kanji characters that romanize as “Shikin Haramitsu Daikōmyō.”

This is a complicated proverb. I'm actually going to forgo writing any translation information here. You can figure it out via Google search and at sites like Paramita and the Perfection of Wisdom or Fecastel.Wordpress.com::Shikin Haramitsu Daikōmyō