We have many options to create artwork with the Chinese characters / Asian symbols / Japanese Kanji for Heaven on a wall scroll or portrait.
See also these related pages: Angels, God, or Nirvana
1. Heaven
3. Angel / Messenger of Heaven
4. Destiny Determined by Heaven
5. Grace from Heaven / Grace from God
8. Heaven Blesses the Diligent
10. Heaven Sent
14. Oneness of Heaven and Humanity
15. Voice of Heaven / Voices from Heaven
16. Warrior of the Heavenly Realm
17. Heaven Blessing
天 means “heaven” or “sky” in Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja.
The context determines if you are talking about heaven or the sky above (often they are the same concept).
When combined with other characters, words like “today” and “tomorrow” are created. While sometimes the character for “sun” is used to mean “day,” often “sky” represents “day” in Asian languages.
Example: 今天 (this sky) = “today,” 明天 (next sky) = “tomorrow” in modern Chinese and Japanese.
In Chinese culture, regardless of which religion, it's almost always assumed that God (and any other deities) live up above the sky. The concept of God living in the sky is likely the reason heaven is associated with this character.
The equation goes something like this: God's domain is the sky, thus, the sky is heaven.
Note: As a single character, this is a little ambiguous, so you might want to choose our Kingdom of Heaven selection instead.
天國 is the very Christian way to refer to the “Kingdom of Heaven” in Chinese, old Korean, and Japanese. 天國 is also the translation for “paradise.”
The first character means “Heaven.” The second character means “kingdom” but, in modern times, has been extended to mean “country” (but no one will translate this particular character combination as “Heaven Country”). 天國 is the ancient version of this word, as in modern times (after WWII), the second character was simplified in mainland China and Japan.
天使 is the meaning of Angel in Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja.
The first character means heaven. The second means messenger. Together it makes sense that we are talking about angels as Heaven's Messengers.
If you are an “Angel Junkie,” this may be the wall scroll for you.
I also think it's a great choice if your name happens to be Angel.
See Also: Angel
天意 is a way to express destiny in a slightly religious way.
天意 means “Heaven's Wish” or “Heaven's Desire,” with the idea of fate and destiny being derived as well. It suggests that your destiny comes from God / Heaven and that your path has already been chosen by a higher power.
My Japanese dictionary defines this word as “divine will” or “providence,” but it also holds the meaning of “the will of the emperor.” Therefore, I don't suggest this phrase if your audience is Japanese - it feels strange in Japanese anyway.
天恩 is the deepest way to say “Heaven's Grace” or “God's Grace” in Chinese.
The first character means Heaven or sky (referring, in this case, to the domain of God).
The second character means grace, blessings, benevolence, favor/favour, acts of kindness, merits, or beneficial influence.
This title can also be defined as:
Blessings of Heaven, Favor of the Emperor, Divination's luckiest day, or blessings of nature. Note: When you see “Emperor” above, remember that the Emperor, like the Pope, is theoretically chosen by God or seen as an emissary or conduit of God in ancient Asian culture. It would only be read that way in a certain context, such as “The Emperor, in his mercy, bestowed upon him Heaven's Grace, and the prisoner was set free.”
Note: Technically, this is a Japanese word too (pronounced "ten-on") but it’s rarely used in Japan anymore. Therefore, this title is best if your audience is Chinese.
天地 is “Heaven and Earth” in Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja.
This title is used in many different contexts. It can be a general term but is also used by Buddhists and in other religions.
This can also be used to refer to all of nature, the universe, the top and bottom, the realm of life, or the sphere of existence.
天恵 means “Heaven's Blessing,” “Blessings from Heaven,” or “Blessed by Heaven” in Japanese Kanji.
Depending on the context in which this is used, it can also mean “gift of nature,” or even “natural resources” (as in Heaven or God bestowed things like oil, iron, gold, and other natural resources upon mankind).
天道酬勤 can be interpreted in a few different ways:
God blesses those who work hard.
It is the way of Heaven to smile on the diligent.
God will reward those that are worthy.
Heaven blesses those who are diligent.
Whichever translation you like, a scroll like this on your wall may serve as a reminder to work hard because your diligence will pay off both in this life and the next.
Note: This can be pronounced in Korean, but it's not a commonly used term.
天力士 means “Heavenly Warrior,” or “Hero of Heaven,” in Chinese, old Korean, and Japanese.
Often used in a Buddhist context.
天国 is the same meaning and pronunciation as our other entry for “Kingdom of Heaven,” but the second character was simplified in Japan and mainland China to this version.
Choose the appearance that you like best (they will be somewhat universally understood - as most people are aware of this simplification in places where they still use all traditional characters - such as Taiwan and Hong Kong). You can consider the other version to be the “ancient version.”
天下一家 is a proverb that can also be translated as “The whole world is one family.”
It is used to mean that all humans are related by decree of Heaven.
The first two characters can be translated as “the world,” “the 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 proverb can be understood in Japanese, though not commonly used.
天人合一 is a title that represents the oneness of heaven and humanity. It conveys the idea that man is an integral part of nature.
You can also read this as “heaven and man in unity,” or “nature and man in unity.” The “man” is really “people” or “humans” and is not gender-specific in Chinese.
天堂之音 is a title that can be translated as either “voice of heaven” or “voices from heaven.”
The first two characters mean heaven.
The third character is a possessive article (kind of like making heaven into heaven's).
The last character means voice but can also mean sound.
Note: This can be pronounced in Korean, but it's not a commonly used term.
天界力士 means “warrior of the heavenly realm” in Chinese, old Korean Hanja, and Japanese Kanji.
This is also known as Narayana in Buddhism.
大天使 is the title Archangel in Chinese characters, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja.
The first character means big or great (in this case, it means “arch”).
The second means heaven (or sky).
The last means messenger.
The second and third characters together make the title for angel, which is literally “Heaven's Messenger.”
This title would be understood as “The Chief of all Angels,” or “The Great Angel.” Some might even say it's the boss of Angels.
See Also: Angel
This in-stock artwork might be what you are looking for, and ships right away...
The following table may be helpful for those studying Chinese or Japanese...
Title | Characters | Romaji (Romanized Japanese) | Various forms of Romanized Chinese | |
Heaven | 天 | ten | tiān / tian1 / tian | t`ien / tien |
Kingdom of Heaven | 天國 天国 | tengoku | tiān guó / tian1 guo2 / tian guo / tianguo | t`ien kuo / tienkuo / tien kuo |
Angel Messenger of Heaven | 天使 | ten shi / tenshi | tiān shǐ / tian1 shi3 / tian shi / tianshi | t`ien shih / tienshih / tien shih |
Destiny Determined by Heaven | 天意 | teni | tiān yì / tian1 yi4 / tian yi / tianyi | t`ien i / tieni / tien i |
Grace from Heaven Grace from God | 天恩 | tiān ēn / tian1 en1 / tian en / tianen | t`ien en / tienen / tien en | |
Grace from Heaven Grace from God | 神の恩恵 | kami no on kei kaminoonkei | ||
Heaven and Earth | 天地 | tenchi | tiān dì / tian1 di4 / tian di / tiandi | t`ien ti / tienti / tien ti |
Blessed by Heaven | 天恵 | ten kei / tenkei | ||
Heaven Blesses the Diligent | 天道酬勤 | tiān dào chóu qín tian1 dao4 chou2 qin2 tian dao chou qin tiandaochouqin | t`ien tao ch`ou ch`in tientaochouchin tien tao chou chin |
|
Heaven Rewards Hard Work | 皇天不負苦心人 皇天不负苦心人 | huáng tiān bù fù kǔ xīn rén huang2 tian1 bu4 fu4 ku3 xin1 ren2 huang tian bu fu ku xin ren huangtianbufukuxinren | huang t`ien pu fu k`u hsin jen huangtienpufukuhsinjen huang tien pu fu ku hsin jen |
|
Heaven Sent | 天来 | tenrai / takara / sora | tiān lái / tian1 lai2 / tian lai / tianlai | t`ien lai / tienlai / tien lai |
Warrior of Heaven | 天力士 | ten riki shi tenrikishi | tiān lì shì tian1 li4 shi4 tian li shi tianlishi | t`ien li shih tienlishih tien li shih |
Kingdom of Heaven | 天國 天国 | tengoku | tiān guó / tian1 guo2 / tian guo / tianguo | t`ien kuo / tienkuo / tien kuo |
One Family Under Heaven | 天下一家 | tenka ikka / tenkaikka / tenka ika | tiān xià yī jiā tian1 xia4 yi1 jia1 tian xia yi jia tianxiayijia | t`ien hsia i chia tienhsiaichia tien hsia i chia |
Oneness of Heaven and Humanity | 天人合一 | tiān rén hé yī tian1 ren2 he2 yi1 tian ren he yi tianrenheyi | t`ien jen ho i tienjenhoi tien jen ho i |
|
Voice of Heaven Voices from Heaven | 天堂之音 | tiān táng zhī yīn tian1 tang2 zhi1 yin1 tian tang zhi yin tiantangzhiyin | t`ien t`ang chih yin tientangchihyin tien tang chih yin |
|
Warrior of the Heavenly Realm | 天界力士 | ten kai riki shi tenkairikishi | tiān jiè lì shì tian1 jie4 li4 shi4 tian jie li shi tianjielishi | t`ien chieh li shih tienchiehlishih tien chieh li shih |
Heaven Blessing | 降福 | jiàng fú / jiang4 fu2 / jiang fu / jiangfu | chiang fu / chiangfu | |
Archangel Arch Angel | 大天使 | dai ten shi daitenshi | dà tiān shǐ da4 tian1 shi3 da tian shi datianshi | ta t`ien shih tatienshih ta 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. |
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.