Ocean Sea in Chinese / Japanese...

海 is the character often used for sea or ocean in Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja. In some context, this can refer to the beach, or an area near the sea, such as “Shanghai” (same hai is the second character of Shanghai).

If you are looking for a universal word for ocean or sea - or can't decide which character for ocean or sea that you want, pick this one!

海 is also a common female given name in Japan - also a good name for a restaurant as “Umi Sushi” would mean “Ocean Sushi Restaurant.”

Please note that our Japanese master calligrapher will tend to write this character in the form shown to the right (a line instead of two dots). Both versions are correct, and can be read in either language. Let us know if you have a preference when you order.

奧申 is the name Ocean in Chinese (Mandarin).

This sounds like Ocean, but does not mean ocean. It's a transliteration, not a translation.

This is the Chinese and old Korean Hanja word for ocean. This can be pronounced in Japanese, and has the same meaning but is rarely seen alone in Japanese.

Besides ocean or sea, this character can also mean foreign, wide, or vast.

It's more common for Chinese people to use a different word “hai” for ocean or sea.

海洋 is probably the most common word for “ocean” in Japanese. 海洋 is also sometimes used in Chinese and Korean Hanja.

In Japan, this can also be a female given name when pronounced as Miyou or Unami.

浪之道 is a great title for a surfer whose lifestyle is entwined with the surf and waves.

This can be translated a few different ways:
The Way of the Wave
The Dao of the Wave
The Tao of the Waves
Note: Dao and Tao are the same character (道), just sometimes romanized differently.

This is a rarely-used word for ocean in Japanese, Chinese, and Korean. This is here mostly for reference - please order a different ocean for your custom calligraphy wall scroll.

The first character means “big” or “great.”
The second means “ocean” or “body of water” (it can sometimes mean “foreign” but not in this case).
The first character designates that you are talking about a great or huge body of water (certainly a major ocean and not a smaller sea).

諾福克島 is the Chinese name for Norfolk Island.

Note: Sometimes written with one more character that means “ocean” making it Norfolk Ocean Island in Chinese.

See Also:  Oceania

海賊 means pirate in Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja.

Literally, this translates as sea robber or ocean thief.

大洋洲 is the Chinese name for Oceania (sometimes called Oceanica).

The geographical, often geopolitical, region consisting of numerous lands - mostly islands and usually including Australia. Basically, Oceania includes the Pacific Ocean and surrounding area.

This demon title comes from the ancient Sanskrit word Asura.

阿修羅 is often used in Buddhism when describing various demons. Sometimes defined as “Fighting and battling a giant demon.”

In the context of Buddhism: This title originally meant a spirit, spirits, or even the gods (perhaps before 1700 years ago). It now generally indicates titanic demons, enemies of the gods, with whom, especially Indra, they wage constant war. They are defined as “not devas,” “ugly,” and “without wine.” There are four classes of asuras, separated according to their manner of rebirth. They can be egg-born, womb-born, transformation-born, and spawn- or water-born. Their abode is in the ocean, north of Sumeru but certain of the weaker dwell in a western mountain cave. They have realms, rulers, and palaces, as have the devas.

In terms of power, Asuras rank above humans but below most other deities. They live near the coastal foot of Mount Sumeru (on the northern side). Their domain is partially or wholly in the ocean.

漫瀾 is the Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja for “Having no boundaries or limitations.”

This literally talks of the vastness of an ocean or river.

Character breakdown:
漫 = free; unrestrained; to inundate; overflowing; boundless.
澜 = swelling water; large wave.

海亀 is the Japanese title for sea turtle.

海 literally means sea or ocean.

亀 means turtle or tortoise.

海兵隊 is the Japanese and Korean way to express “Marine Corps” or simply “Marines.” It is not specific, so this can be the Marine Corps of any country, such as the British Royal Marines to the U.S. Marines.

Breaking down each character, this means:
“ocean/sea soldiers/army corps/regiment/group.”

See Also:  Military

鮪 is the Chinese and Japanese character for tuna.

In Chinese, this is usually used to mean the “little tunny” (Euthynnus alletteratus), the most common tuna in the Atlantic Ocean. However, it can refer to any fish of the Thunnus genus.

In Japanese, it can refer to the Pacific bluefin tuna (Thunnus orientalis).

海兵 is a way to express “Marine” as in an individual “Soldier of the Sea” in Japanese Kanji and old Korean Hanja characters (not to be confused with Korean Hangul).

Breaking down each character, this means:
“ocean/sea soldier/army/warrior.”

Please note that this Japanese/Korean version kind of means “sailor” or “navy” in Chinese.

See Also:  Military

海軍陸戰隊 is the Chinese way to express “Marine Corps.” This could be the Marine Corps of virtually any country that has an amphibious military force.

Let me know if you want a more specific title, such as British Royal Marines or U.S. Marine Corps.

The Chinese title for Marines is very verbose...
Breaking down each character this means:
“ocean/sea military/arms shore/land fighting/war/battle corps/team/group.”

See Also:  Military

海為龍世界雲是鶴家鄉 is a somewhat poetic way to say that everyone and everything has its place in the world.

The first line (which is the column on the right) says, “The Ocean is the World of the Dragon.” The next column says, “The Clouds are the Domain of the Cranes.”

The image to the right is what this calligraphy can look like in xing-kaishu style by a Master Calligrapher.

海軍陸戰隊員 is the Chinese way to express “Marine.” (as in a member of the Marine Corps). It is not country-specific, so it could be the Royal Marines, U.S. Marines, Chinese Marines, etc.
In Australian English, they would translate this as “Naval Infantryman.”

Breaking down each character this means:
“ocean/sea military/arms shore/land fighting/war/battle corps/team/group person/member.” Note that the first two characters are presented together but outside of this phrase mean “navy” (sea military).

See Also:  Warrior | Military | Navy | Art of War

波の道 is the simple way to write “The Way of the Wave” in Japanese.

I added this at the request of several customers. 波の道 is not a very common Japanese phrase.

波 = Wave
の = Of
道 = Way
The word order is the opposite of English. Most Japanese phrases that end in “の道” are translated to English as “The Way of...”

Technically, you could write “波道” as a shorter version of “The Way of the Wave.” However, without context, 波道 can mean channel or suggest a path to redirect ocean flow.

迷 is one of those characters that can mean a lot of different things depending on context. When written alone, as a single character on a wall scroll, it opens up the possibilities and allows you to decide what it means to you.

The key definition is “to be lost.” This could be physically or mentally lost. It can be someone lost in their thoughts, lost in an ocean, or just confused about where they are. The reason for the confused state may be due to internal or external reasons.

Here are some entries from various Asian dictionaries...

Chinese: lost, confused, bewilder, crazy about, fan, enthusiast, mystery.

Japanese: lost, astray, perplexed, in doubt, err, illusion.

Korean: lost, bewildered, fascinated, deluded.

米海兵隊 is the Japanese way to write “United States Marine Corps” or simply “U.S. Marines.”

Breaking down each Kanji, this means:
“rice (American) ocean/sea soldiers/army/military corps/regiment/group.”

This title will only make sense in Japanese, it is not the same in Chinese! Make sure you know your audience before ordering a custom wall scroll.

If you are wondering about rice, America is known as “rice country” or “rice kingdom” when literally translated. The Kanji for rice is often used as an abbreviation in front of words (like a sub-adjective) to make something “American.” Americans say “rice burner” for a Japanese car and “rice rocket” for a Japanese motorcycle. If you did the same in Japanese, it would have the opposite meaning.

Note: I have not verified this but I’ve found this title used for U.S. Marines in Korean articles, so it’s most likely a normal Korean term as well (but only in Korean Hanja).

See Also:  Marine Corps | Navy | Army | Art of War | Warrior | Military

學海無涯 is a Chinese proverb that reads, “sea of learning, no horizon.”

Colloquially, it means there are no limits to what one still has left to learn.

This would be the Chinese equivalent to the quote from Hippocrates, “ars longa, vita brevis,” meaning “it takes a long time to acquire and perfect one's expertise.”

See Also:  Learning is Eternal