1. Africa
2. Algeria
3. Angola
4. Anguilla
5. Benin
6. Botswana
7. Burundi
8. Cameroon
11. Chad
12. Comoros
13. Djibouti
14. Egypt
15. Ethiopia
16. Falkland Islands
17. Gabon
18. Gambia
19. Ghana
20. Guinea
21. Kenya
22. Kirin / Giraffe / Mythical Creature
23. Lesotho
24. Liberia
25. Madagascar
26. Malawi
27. Mali
28. Mauritania
29. Mauritius
30. Morocco
31. Mozambique
32. Namibia
33. Niger
34. Nigeria
35. Rwanda
36. Senegal
37. Seychelles
38. Sierra Leone
39. Somalia
40. South Africa
41. Sudan
42. Swaziland
43. Tanzania
44. Togo
45. Uganda
46. Zambia
47. Zimbabwe
This is the Chinese name for the country of Egypt.
Note: Egypt rests partially in Asia and Africa.
See Also: Asia
This is the Chinese name for the Falkland Islands (overseas territory of the United Kingdom).
See Also: Great Britain | United Kingdom
麒麟 is the title of a mythical beast of Asia.
The animal is thought to be related to the giraffe, and in some ways, it is a giraffe. However, it is often depicted with the horns of a dragon or deer and sometimes with the body like a horse, but many variations exist.
In Japanese, it is pronounced “Kirin” as in “Kirin Ichiban” beer.
Notes:
1. This is sometimes spelled as “kylin.”
2. In Japanese, this is the only Kanji word for giraffe. Therefore in Japan, this word needs context to know whether you are talking about the mythical creature or the long-necked giraffe of Africa.
3. Apparently, this was the first word used for regular giraffes in China (some were brought from Africa to China during the Ming Dynasty - probably around the year 1400). Though the mythical creature may have existed before, the name “qilin” was given to the “new giraffe.” This is because, more than 600 years ago, giraffes somewhat matched the mythical creature's description when Chinese people saw them for the first time. Later, to avoid such an ambiguous title, a three-character word was devised to mean a “giraffe of Africa.” The characters for “qilin” shown here are only for the mythological version in modern Chinese.
4. More information about the qilin / kirin from Wikipedia.
5. This creature is sometimes translated as the “Chinese Unicorn,” although it is generally portrayed with two horns. I think this is done more for the fantasy aspect of the unicorn and because most westerners don't know what a qilin or kirin is (this avoids a long explanation by the translator).
6. In Korean, this can mean kirin or simply giraffe (usually, the mythological creature is what they would think of when seeing these characters alone on a wall scroll).
The following table may be helpful for those studying Chinese or Japanese...
Title | Characters | Romaji (Romanized Japanese) | Various forms of Romanized Chinese | |
Africa | 阿非利加 | ā fēi lì jiā a1 fei1 li4 jia1 a fei li jia afeilijia | a fei li chia afeilichia |
|
Africa | 非洲 | fēi zhōu / fei1 zhou1 / fei zhou / feizhou | fei chou / feichou | |
Algeria | 阿爾及利亞 阿尔及利亚 | ā ěr jí lì yà a1 er3 ji2 li4 ya4 a er ji li ya aerjiliya | a erh chi li ya aerhchiliya |
|
Angola | 安哥拉 | ān gē lā an1 ge1 la1 an ge la angela | an ko la ankola |
|
Anguilla | 安圭拉島 安圭拉岛 | ān guī lā dǎo an1 gui1 la1 dao3 an gui la dao anguiladao | an kuei la tao ankueilatao |
|
Benin | 貝寧 贝宁 | bèi níng / bei4 ning2 / bei ning / beining | pei ning / peining | |
Botswana | 博茨瓦納 博茨瓦纳 | bó cí wǎ nà bo2 ci2 wa3 na4 bo ci wa na bociwana | po tz`u wa na potzuwana po tzu wa na |
|
Burundi | 布隆迪 | bù lóng dí bu4 long2 di2 bu long di bulongdi | pu lung ti pulungti |
|
Cameroon | 喀麥隆 喀麦隆 | kā mài lóng ka1 mai4 long2 ka mai long kamailong | k`a mai lung kamailung ka mai lung |
|
Central Africa | 中央アフリカ | chuuou a fu ri ka chuuouafurika chuo a fu ri ka | ||
Central African Republic | 中非共和國 中非共和国 | zhōng fēi gòng hé guó zhong1 fei1 gong4 he2 guo2 zhong fei gong he guo zhongfeigongheguo | chung fei kung ho kuo chungfeikunghokuo |
|
Chad | 乍得 | zhà dé / zha4 de2 / zha de / zhade | cha te / chate | |
Comoros | 科摩羅 科摩罗 | kē mó luó ke1 mo2 luo2 ke mo luo kemoluo | k`o mo lo komolo ko mo lo |
|
Djibouti | 吉布提 | jí bù tí ji2 bu4 ti2 ji bu ti jibuti | chi pu t`i chiputi chi pu ti |
|
Egypt | 埃及 | āi jí / ai1 ji2 / ai ji / aiji | ai chi / aichi | |
Ethiopia | 埃塞俄比亞 埃塞俄比亚 | āi sài é bǐ yà ai1 sai4 e2 bi3 ya4 ai sai e bi ya aisaiebiya | ai sai o pi ya aisaiopiya |
|
Falkland Islands | 福克蘭群島 福克兰群岛 | fú kè lán qún dǎo fu2 ke4 lan2 qun2 dao3 fu ke lan qun dao fukelanqundao | fu k`o lan ch`ün tao fukolanchüntao fu ko lan chün tao |
|
Gabon | 加蓬 | jiā péng / jia1 peng2 / jia peng / jiapeng | chia p`eng / chiapeng / chia peng | |
Gambia | 岡比亞 冈比亚 | gāng bǐ yà gang1 bi3 ya4 gang bi ya gangbiya | kang pi ya kangpiya |
|
Ghana | 加納 加纳 | jiā nà / jia1 na4 / jia na / jiana | chia na / chiana | |
Guinea | 基尼 | jī ní / ji1 ni2 / ji ni / jini | chi ni / chini | |
Kenya | 肯尼亞 肯尼亚 | kěn ní yà ken3 ni2 ya4 ken ni ya kenniya | k`en ni ya kenniya ken ni ya |
|
Kirin Giraffe Mythical Creature | 麒麟 | kirin | qí lǐn / qi2 lin3 / qi lin / qilin | ch`i lin / chilin / chi lin |
Lesotho | 萊索托 莱索托 | lái suǒ tuō lai2 suo3 tuo1 lai suo tuo laisuotuo | lai so t`o laisoto lai so to |
|
Liberia | 利比里亞 利比里亚 | lì bǐ lǐ yà li4 bi3 li3 ya4 li bi li ya libiliya | li pi li ya lipiliya |
|
Madagascar | 馬達加斯加 马达加斯加 | mǎ dá jiā sī jiā ma3 da2 jia1 si1 jia1 ma da jia si jia madajiasijia | ma ta chia ssu chia matachiassuchia |
|
Malawi | 馬拉維 马拉维 | mǎ lā wéi ma3 la1 wei2 ma la wei malawei | ||
Mali | 馬里 马里 | mǎ lǐ / ma3 li3 / ma li / mali | ||
Mauritania | 毛里塔尼亞 毛里塔尼亚 | máo lǐ tǎ ní yà mao2 li3 ta3 ni2 ya4 mao li ta ni ya maolitaniya | mao li t`a ni ya maolitaniya mao li ta ni ya |
|
Mauritius | 毛里求斯 | máo lǐ qiú sī mao2 li3 qiu2 si1 mao li qiu si maoliqiusi | mao li ch`iu ssu maolichiussu mao li chiu ssu |
|
Morocco | 摩洛哥 | mó luò gē mo2 luo4 ge1 mo luo ge moluoge | mo lo ko moloko |
|
Mozambique | 莫桑比克 | mò sāng bǐ kè mo4 sang1 bi3 ke4 mo sang bi ke mosangbike | mo sang pi k`o mosangpiko mo sang pi ko |
|
Namibia | 納米比亞 纳米比亚 | nà mǐ bǐ yà na4 mi3 bi3 ya4 na mi bi ya namibiya | na mi pi ya namipiya |
|
Niger | 尼日爾 尼日尔 | ní rì ěr ni2 ri4 er3 ni ri er nirier | ni jih erh nijiherh |
|
Nigeria | 尼日利亞 尼日利亚 | ní rì lì yà ni2 ri4 li4 ya4 ni ri li ya niriliya | ni jih li ya nijihliya |
|
Rwanda | 盧旺達 卢旺达 | lú wàng dá lu2 wang4 da2 lu wang da luwangda | lu wang ta luwangta |
|
Senegal | 塞內加爾 塞内加尔 | sāi nèi jiā ěr sai1 nei4 jia1 er3 sai nei jia er saineijiaer | sai nei chia erh saineichiaerh |
|
Seychelles | 塞舌爾群島 塞舌尔群岛 | sài shé ěr qún dǎo sai4 she2 er3 qun2 dao3 sai she er qun dao saisheerqundao | sai she erh ch`ün tao saisheerhchüntao sai she erh chün tao |
|
Sierra Leone | 塞拉利昂 | sài lā lì áng sai4 la1 li4 ang2 sai la li ang sailaliang | ||
Somalia | 索馬里 索马里 | suǒ mǎ lǐ suo3 ma3 li3 suo ma li suomali | so ma li somali |
|
South Africa | 南非 | nán fēi / nan2 fei1 / nan fei / nanfei | ||
South Africa | 南アフリカ | minami a fu ri ka minamiafurika | ||
Sudan | 蘇丹 苏丹 | sū dān / su1 dan1 / su dan / sudan | su tan / sutan | |
Swaziland | 斯威士蘭 斯威士兰 | sī wēi shì lán si1 wei1 shi4 lan2 si wei shi lan siweishilan | ssu wei shih lan ssuweishihlan |
|
Tanzania | 坦桑尼亞 坦桑尼亚 | tǎn sāng ní yà tan3 sang1 ni2 ya4 tan sang ni ya tansangniya | t`an sang ni ya tansangniya tan sang ni ya |
|
Togo | 多哥 | duō gē / duo1 ge1 / duo ge / duoge | to ko / toko | |
Uganda | 烏干達 乌干达 | wū gān dá wu1 gan1 da2 wu gan da wuganda | wu kan ta wukanta |
|
Zambia | 贊比亞 赞比亚 | zàn bǐ yà zan4 bi3 ya4 zan bi ya zanbiya | tsan pi ya tsanpiya |
|
Zimbabwe | 津巴布韋 津巴布韦 | jīn bā bù wéi jin1 ba1 bu4 wei2 jin ba bu wei jinbabuwei | chin pa pu wei chinpapuwei |
|
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.