殺 is how to write “to kill” or “killing.”

殺 is an absolutely shocking word to have on a wall scroll. It will bewilder, scare, and perhaps offend any Chinese, Korean, or Japanese person who sees it. I do not in any way recommend this for a piece of calligraphy artwork. This entry is only here because our calligraphy search engine received so many requests for “kill.”

Note: In Korean Hanja, this character is not often used alone - see the other two-character entry for “kill.”

殺戮 is how to write “kill” or “massacre.”

殺戮 is an absolutely shocking word to have on a wall scroll. It will bewilder, scare, and perhaps offend any Chinese, Korean or Japanese person who sees it. I do not in any way recommend this for a piece of calligraphy artwork. This entry is only here because our calligraphy search engine received many requests for “kill” and “massacre.”

You are all a bunch of sick puppies!

刺客 is the most sophisticated way to write “assassin” in Chinese, Korean and Japanese.

The unsophisticated way just means murderer.

This controversial Buddhist koan means “On encountering Buddha, you should kill him.”

This is the short concise Japanese version of an original statement by ninth-century Chinese Buddhist monk Linji Yixuan, “If You Meet The Buddha On The Road, Kill Him.”

This takes some explaining... The concept here is that if you think you have seen, experienced, or achieved true enlightenment, the chances that you really have are so slim that you should kill or dismiss that idea.

Another suggestion is that one's path to becoming a Buddha is one's own, and one should not get caught up in religious fervor, and avoid “showing off” that they are a Buddhist.

Helpful references for this concept:
Lion's Roar addresses "If You Meet The Buddha On The Road, Kill Him"
Kill the Buddha

Note: Because this selection contains some special Japanese Hiragana characters, it should be written by a Japanese calligrapher.

可殺不可辱 almost directly matches the idea of “Death Before Dishonor” while also being an ancient Chinese proverb.

The direct meaning is, “[you] can die/kill [but you] cannot [allow] dishonor/disgrace [upon yourself].” Chinese grammar, and especially ancient grammar, is a little different than English. Not nearly as many articles are needed, and a lot is implied.

There are many ways to express ideas similar to “Death Before Dishonor” in Chinese, and I would rate this one in the top two.

士可殺不可辱 almost directly matches the military idea of “Death Before Dishonor,” while also being an ancient Chinese proverb.

The direct meaning is, “[A] soldier/warrior can die/kill [but he/she] cannot [allow] dishonor/disgrace [upon himself/herself].” Chinese grammar, and especially ancient grammar, is a little different than English. Not nearly as many articles are needed, and a lot is implied.

There are a lot of ways to express ideas similar to “Death Before Dishonor” in Chinese, and I would rate this one in the top two.

This is the original form of this proverb with the character for “soldier/warrior” at the beginning. Most of the time, this character is dropped, becoming a five-character proverb (the soldier/warrior part is implied, even without the character being present in the proverb). We also offer a shorter version.

In 632 BC, Duke Wen of the Kingdom of Jin was about to lead an army against the forces of the Kingdom of Chu.
The Duke asked one of his advisers, Jiu Fan, how they could win the impending battle, as they were drastically outnumbered.
Jiu Fan said, “All is fair in war,” and suggested a plan of dishonorable tactics (cheating).
The Duke was unsure of this advice, so he asked another adviser, Yong Ji, who replied, “If you catch fish by draining the pond, you can certainly get all the fish. But there will be no fish the following year. You can cheat this one time in battle, but such tactics can only be used once, as the enemy will be wise in future encounters.”

The Duke heard the words of his wiser adviser but cheated to gain victory in the battle. However, he rewarded Yong Ji more than Jiu Fan at the victory celebration, stating that while Jiu Fan's advice gained one victory, the wise words of Yong Ji would last forever.

This Chinese idiom/proverb is still used, over 2600 years later to remind people not to burn bridges, cheat, or dishonor themselves in exchange for a short-term gain while sacrificing the future.

竭澤而漁 is very similar to the meaning of the English phrase, “Kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.”