We have many options to create artwork with the Chinese characters / Asian symbols / Japanese Kanji for Best friends on a wall scroll or portrait.
1. Best Friends / Closest Friend
2. Best Friends
4. Best Love / Most Sincere Love
7. Eternal Friendship / Friends Forever
10. Friend
11. Eternal Friendship / Friends Forever
12. Soul Mates
14. Most Sincere Friend / Honest Friend / Real Friend / Best Friend
15. Soul Mates
17. Together Forever
至友 is one way to say best friend in Chinese.
The first character can mean “most,” “extreme,” or “best.”
The second character means “friend” or “friends” (plural forms work differently in China).
Can also be translated as “close friend” or “most intimate friend.”
See Also: Friendship | Soulmates
至交 is an alternate way to say best friend in Chinese.
The first character can mean “most,” “extreme” or “best.” The second character means “making friends” or “building friendship.” There's sort of a suggestion with the second character that fate caused you to intersect in life and become friends (that character can mean intersection in some context).
This can also mean “most intimate friend,” “very good friend of long-standing,” or “closest friend.”
See Also: Friendship | Soulmates
親友 is the Japanese way to say “best friend.”
The first character can mean “relative” or sometimes “parents.” The second character means “friend.” Think about the close relationship that Japanese people have with their parents and relatives, and this starts to mean “close friends.”
Some Japanese-English dictionaries also translate this as “bosom friend,” “old friend,” “intimate friend,” “buddy,” “crony” or “chum.”
Note that in Chinese, this means “relatives and friends.” It's a good meaning in Chinese, but it's not quite the same as “best friends.”
至愛 can mean the best love or most sincere love of your life.
This could be a romantic love such as your love for your spouse or a boyfriend/girlfriend.
It can also apply to the extreme love you have for your children or a parent and maybe a really good friend.
See Also: I Love You
緣份 specifically represents the fate or destiny that brings two people together.
This is like the chance meeting of two people that leads sometime later to marriage.
This could also be the chance meeting of two business people who become partners and build a huge and successful company.
This idea is often associated with a fateful meeting leading to good fortune.
Some will define this word as “Destiny brings you two together” or “Meant to be.”
Note: The second character can also be written without the left radical, as shown to the right. If you have a preference, please let use know in the special instructions for your project. There is no difference in meaning or pronunciation, just two (alternate) ways to write the same character.
See Also: Soulmates | Good Fortune
永遠の友 is a Japanese phrase about eternal friendship.
The first two characters mean eternal, eternity, perpetuity, forever, immortality, and permanence.
The third character is a possessive article which sort of makes this selection mean “Love, of the eternal kind.”
The last character is “friend” or “Friendship.”
See Also: Best Friends
永遠に私の心の中に means “forever in my heart” or “always in my heart” in Japanese.
The character breakdown:
永遠 (eien) eternity; perpetuity; immortality; permanence.
に (ni) indicates the location of a person or thing.
私の (watashi no) my; mine.
心の中 (kokoro no naka) the middle of one's mind; the midst of one's heart.
に (ni) indicates the location of a person or thing (makes this “in” the middle of one's heart).
Note: There’s more than one way to say "Forever in My Heart" in Japanese, so you’ll find another version in our database. This is the very verbose version.
Note: Because this selection contains some special Japanese Hiragana characters, it should be written by a Japanese calligrapher.
友 is the simplest way to express the idea of friends or friendship in Chinese.
It can mean friend, companion, or pal in Japanese. In Korean, it can mean friend, companion, or associate.
This single character is open to interpretation, so it can mean different things to different people (not necessarily a bad thing, as you can decide what it means to you). If you want a more concisely-defined word, you should probably pick one of our multi-character friendship-related words.
See Also: Best Friends | Friendly | Friendship
友達 is the most common way to say “friend” in Japanese.
See Also: Best Friends | Friendly | Friendship
永遠的朋友 means friends that are eternal or a friendship that will last forever - you will remain the best of friends as long as you live.
The first two characters mean forever, eternal, eternity, perpetuity, immortality, and/or permanence.
The middle character links the words (it's a possessive article).
The last two characters represent friendship, or simply “friends.”
魂の友 is one of a few ways to write “Soul Mates” in Japanese.
The first Kanji means soul, spirit, ghost, immortal soul, the mind, or conscious mind. From Sanskrit, it's Vijñāna.
The middle character is a Japanese Hiragana connecting or possessive article that links the two ideas together.
The last Kanji means friends or friendship.
This Japanese title can be translated as “for this time only,” “chance meeting,” “one meeting, one opportunity,” “never again,” or “one chance in a lifetime.”
The characters literally mean “one time one meeting” - of course, the Kanji characters have meaning far beyond a direct translation like this.
Some might use this proverb to talk of an opportunity that presents itself just once in your life. It could also be a one-and-only chance meeting with your true soul mate. An expression of any event that might happen once in a lifetime.
This is primarily a Japanese title, however, there is also a Traditional Chinese (and old Korean) version of this proverb. Just the last character is different.
The traditional form was used in Japan before WWII and in Korea prior to 1900. This title is somewhat known in China.
If you want the older traditional form, just click on the character to the right.
摯友 is one way to say best friend in Chinese.
The first character can mean “honest” or “most sincere.” The second character means “friend” or “friends” (plural forms work differently in Chinese).
See Also: Friendship | Soulmates
It was tough to find the best way to say “soul mates” in Chinese. We settled on 天生一對 as an old way to say, “A couple selected by heaven.”
The first two characters together mean “natural” or “innate.” Separated, they mean “heaven” and “born.” The last two characters mean “couple.” So this can be translated as “A couple that is together by nature,” or “A couple brought together by heaven's decree.” With a slight stretch, you could say, “A couple born together from heaven.”
It's a struggle to find the best way to describe this idea in English but trust me, it is pretty cool, and it is a great way to say “soulmates.”
If you're in a happy relationship or marriage and think you have found your soul mate, this would be a wonderful wall scroll to hang in your home.
靈魂伴侶 is the literal translation of “Soul Mates.”
This is kind of the western way to express “soul mates” but translated into Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja.
The first two characters mean “soul” or “spirit.”
The second two characters mean “mate,” “companion” or “partner.”
Although not the most common title, these characters have good meaning and will be received well in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. It's a universal title!
精神伴侶 means “Spiritual Soul Mates.” The first two characters mean “spiritual” or “soul.” The second two characters mean “mates,” “companions,” or “partners.”
This is more about the spiritual connection between partners rather than a “fate-brought-us-together” kind of soul mates.
Both halves of this title have meaning in Japanese but I've not yet confirmed that this is a commonly used title in Japan.
魂の伴侶 is a Japanese-only title for soulmates.
魂 means soul, spirit, immortal soul (the part of you that lives beyond your physical body), or the conscious mind. In the Buddhist context, this is vijñāna or viññāṇa (consciousness, life force, or mind).
の is a possessive article that connects everything here.
伴侶 means mates, companions, partners, and spouses.
ずっと一緒 is “together forever” in Japanese.
The first three characters mean “continuously,” “throughout,” “all along,” “the whole time,” or “all the way.”
The last two Kanji mean “together.”
Note: Because this selection contains some special Japanese Hiragana characters, it should be written by a Japanese calligrapher.
The following table may be helpful for those studying Chinese or Japanese...
Title | Characters | Romaji (Romanized Japanese) | Various forms of Romanized Chinese | |
Best Friends Closest Friend | 至友 | zhì yǒu / zhi4 you3 / zhi you / zhiyou | chih yu / chihyu | |
Best Friends | 至交 | zhì jiāo / zhi4 jiao1 / zhi jiao / zhijiao | chih chiao / chihchiao | |
Best Friends Buddies | 親友 亲友 | shin yuu / shinyuu / shin yu | qīn yǒu / qin1 you3 / qin you / qinyou | ch`in yu / chinyu / chin yu |
Best Love Most Sincere Love | 至愛 至爱 | zhì ài / zhi4 ai4 / zhi ai / zhiai | chih ai / chihai | |
Extremely Good Friends | 莫逆の友 | bakugyakunotomo | ||
Fate Chance Meeting | 緣份 / 緣分 缘份 / 缘分 | yuán fèn / yuan2 fen4 / yuan fen / yuanfen | yüan fen / yüanfen | |
Eternal Friendship Friends Forever | 永遠の友 | ei en no yuu eiennoyuu ei en no yu | ||
Forever In My Heart | 永遠在我心中 永远在我心中 | yǒng yuǎn zài wǒ xīn zhōng yong3 yuan3 zai4 wo3 xin1 zhong1 yong yuan zai wo xin zhong yongyuanzaiwoxinzhong | yung yüan tsai wo hsin chung yungyüantsaiwohsinchung |
|
Forever In My Heart | 永遠在我心 永远在我心 | yǒng yuǎn zài wǒ xīn yong3 yuan3 zai4 wo3 xin1 yong yuan zai wo xin yongyuanzaiwoxin | yung yüan tsai wo hsin yungyüantsaiwohsin |
|
Forever In My Heart | いつまでも私の心の中に | i tsu ma de mo watashi no kokoro no naka ni | ||
Forever In My Heart | 永遠に私の心の中に | ei en ni watashi no kokoro no naka ni | ||
Friend Friendship | 友 | tomo | yǒu / you3 / you | yu |
Friend | 友達 友达 | tomo dachi / tomodachi | ||
Eternal Friendship Friends Forever | 永遠的朋友 永远的朋友 | yǒng yuǎn de péng yǒu yong3 yuan3 de peng2 you3 yong yuan de peng you yongyuandepengyou | yung yüan te p`eng yu yungyüantepengyu yung yüan te peng yu |
|
Soul Mates | 魂の友 | tamashii no tomo tamashiinotomo tamashi no tomo | ||
Once in a Lifetime | 一期一會 一期一会 | ichigo ichie ichigoichie | yī qī yī huì yi1 qi1 yi1 hui4 yi qi yi hui yiqiyihui | i ch`i i hui ichiihui i chi i hui |
Most Sincere Friend Honest Friend Real Friend Best Friend | 摯友 挚友 | zhì yǒu / zhi4 you3 / zhi you / zhiyou | chih yu / chihyu | |
Soul Mates | 天生一對 天生一对 | tiān shēng yí duì tian1 sheng1 yi2 dui4 tian sheng yi dui tianshengyidui | t`ien sheng i tui tienshengitui tien sheng i tui |
|
Soul Mates | 靈魂伴侶 灵魂伴侣 | reikon hanryo reikonhanryo | líng hún bàn lǚ ling2 hun2 ban4 lv3 ling hun ban lv linghunbanlv | ling hun pan lü linghunpanlü |
Spiritual Soul Mates | 精神伴侶 精神伴侣 | sei shin han ryo seishinhanryo | jīng shén bàn lǚ jing1 shen2 ban4 lv3 jing shen ban lv jingshenbanlv | ching shen pan lü chingshenpanlü |
Spiritual Soul Mates | 魂の伴侶 | tamashii no han ryo tamashiinohanryo tamashi no han ryo | ||
Together Forever | 永遠在一起 永远在一起 | yǒng yuǎn zài yī qǐ yong3 yuan3 zai4 yi1 qi3 yong yuan zai yi qi yongyuanzaiyiqi | yung yüan tsai i ch`i yungyüantsaiichi yung yüan tsai i chi |
|
Together Forever | ずっと一緒 | zutto issho zuttoissho zutto isho | ||
Together Forever in Love | 永遠愛在一起 永远爱在一起 | yǒng yuǎn ài zài yī qǐ yong3 yuan3 ai4 zai4 yi1 qi3 yong yuan ai zai yi qi yongyuanaizaiyiqi | yung yüan ai tsai i ch`i yungyüanaitsaiichi yung yüan ai tsai i chi |
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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.