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Tortoise in Chinese / Japanese...

Buy a Tortoise calligraphy wall scroll here!

Personalize your custom “Tortoise” project by clicking the button next to your favorite “Tortoise” title below...

 umigame
Sea Turtle Scroll

海亀 is the Japanese title for sea turtle.

海 literally means sea or ocean.

亀 means turtle or tortoise.

Turtle

...also means tortoise

 guī
 kame
 
Turtle Scroll

龜 is the generic term for turtle in Chinese and old Korean Hanja. It's like saying “turtle” (or “tortoise”) without being specific about the species of turtle.

Please note that there are many special characters in Chinese and a few in Japanese that denote specific species of turtle and do not include this character. We can't possibly cover all of these species, but if you want a certain one, such as “loggerhead” or a “leatherback,” just contact me, and I'll do my best to research your special species.

If you noticed, I said species names that do not include this character. This is because, in much the same way we can do it in English by just saying, “loggerhead” instead of “loggerhead turtle,” the same can be done in Chinese and Japanese.

亀This may be hard to believe, but the image shown to the right is an alternate version of this character, which is currently used in Japan. This was originally an alternate form in ancient China for turtle - but it's so obscure now that most Chinese people would just think this is the Japanese version of turtle (I did a lot of research on this). The version shown in the upper left is traditional Chinese (also used in Korea 100+ years ago). It will generally not be recognized by the new generation of Japanese people. If your audience is Japanese, please click on the Kanji image shown to the right to have the calligrapher write that version (instead of clicking the button above).


Note: In Japanese, this Kanji is also a representation of long life. This is related to the fact that a tortoise can live for hundreds of years.

Xuan Wu / Genbu / Black Tortoise God

 xuán wǔ
 genbu
Xuan Wu / Genbu / Black Tortoise God Scroll

玄武 can refer to the Black Tortoise (an ancient Chinese constellation of stars- part of the seven mansions of the north sky).

In Daoism, this is the God of the North sky.

This also refers to a Black Tortoise god, said to rule over the northern heavens in Japanese. Can also be pronounced/romanized as genmu or when used as a personal name, Hirotake in Japanese.


Not the results for tortoise that you were looking for?

Below are some entries from our dictionary that may match your tortoise search...

Characters

If shown, 2nd row is Simp. Chinese

Pronunciation
Romanization
Simple Dictionary Definition

see styles
cài
    cai4
ts`ai
    tsai
 hanako
    はなこ

More info & calligraphy:

Chay
surname Cai
(female given name) Hanako
chāyā, a shadow, reflection; gnomon, dial.


see styles
biē
    bie1
pieh
 suppon; betsu(ok); suppon
    すっぽん; べつ(ok); スッポン
variant of 鱉|鳖[bie1]
(1) (kana only) Chinese soft-shelled turtle (Pelodiscus sinensis); soft-shelled turtle (Trionychidae); (2) (すっぽん only) trap door located on the walkway in a kabuki theatre; (3) (すっぽん only) bilge pump (used on traditional Japanese ships); (surname) Kame
A turtle, tortoise.


see styles
qiū
    qiu1
ch`iu
    chiu
 ki

More info & calligraphy:

Turtle
used in 龜茲|龟兹[Qiu1 ci2]
Tortoise, turtle. The rareness of meeting a Buddha is compared with the difficulty of a blind sea-turtle finding a log to float on, or a one-eyed tortoise finding a log with a spy-hole through it.

玄武

see styles
xuán wǔ
    xuan2 wu3
hsüan wu
 genbu; genmu
    げんぶ; げんむ

More info & calligraphy:

Xuan Wu / Genbu / Black Tortoise God
Black Tortoise (the seven mansions of the north sky); (in Daoism) God of the north sky
(1) (See 四神) Black Tortoise (god said to rule over the northern heavens); (2) {astron} (See 二十八宿) seven mansions (Chinese constellations) of the northern heavens; (personal name) Hirotake

see styles
guī
    gui1
kuei
 kame(p); kame(p)
    かめ(P); カメ(P)
old variant of 龜|龟[gui1]
(1) tortoise; turtle; (2) heavy drinker; (3) turtle crest; turtle mon; (given name) Minki

see styles
dài
    dai4
tai
 taikou / taiko
    たいこう
tortoise shell; turtle
(given name) Taikou

亀卜

see styles
 kiboku
    きぼく
    kameura
    かめうら
tortoise-shell divination

亀甲

see styles
 kitsukou / kitsuko
    きつこう
tortoise shell; (personal name) Kitsukou

卜定

see styles
 bokujou; bokutei / bokujo; bokute
    ぼくじょう; ぼくてい
(noun, transitive verb) deciding through (tortoise-shell) divination

卜甲

see styles
bǔ jiǎ
    bu3 jia3
pu chia
oracle tortoise shell

四象

see styles
sì xiàng
    si4 xiang4
ssu hsiang
 shishou / shisho
    ししょう
four divisions (of the twenty-eight constellations 二十八宿[er4 shi2 ba1 xiu4] of the sky into groups of seven mansions), namely: Azure Dragon 青龍|青龙[Qing1 long2], White Tiger 白虎[Bai2 hu3], Vermilion Bird 朱雀[Zhu1 que4], Black Tortoise 玄武[Xuan2 wu3]
four images; four symbols; four emblems; four phenomena; four phases; (given name) Shishou

烏龜


乌龟

see styles
wū guī
    wu1 gui1
wu kuei
tortoise; cuckold

王八

see styles
wáng bā
    wang2 ba1
wang pa
tortoise; cuckold; (old) male owner of a brothel; pimp

甲羅

see styles
 koura / kora
    こうら
(1) shell (of crab, tortoise, etc.); carapace; plastron; (2) person's back; (3) years of experience; (surname) Kōra

甲骨

see styles
jiǎ gǔ
    jia3 gu3
chia ku
tortoise shells and animal bones used for divination in the Shang Dynasty (c. 16th to 11th century BC); oracle bones

真武

see styles
zhēn wǔ
    zhen1 wu3
chen wu
 mabu
    まぶ
Lord of profound heaven, major Daoist deity; aka Black Tortoise 玄武 or Black heavenly emperor 玄天上帝
(female given name) Mabu

象亀

see styles
 zougame; zougame / zogame; zogame
    ぞうがめ; ゾウガメ
(kana only) giant tortoise

贔屭


赑屃

see styles
bì xì
    bi4 xi4
pi hsi
Bixi, one of the nine sons of a dragon with the form of a tortoise, also known as 龜趺|龟趺[gui1 fu1]

金龜


金龟

see styles
jīn guī
    jin1 gui1
chin kuei
 kinki
tortoise; scarab beetle
The golden tortoise on which the world rests, idem 金輪.

陸亀

see styles
 rikugame; rikugame
    りくがめ; リクガメ
(kana only) tortoise

陸龜

see styles
lù guī
    lu4 gui1
lu kuei
tortoise

風色


风色

see styles
fēng sè
    feng1 se4
feng se
Wind colour, i.e. nonexistent, like a rabbit's horns, tortoise-hair, or scent of salt.

鶴亀

see styles
 tsurukame
    つるかめ
(See 鶴は千年亀は万年) crane and tortoise (symbol of longevity, artistic motif); (female given name) Tsuruki

龜卜

see styles
 kiboku
    きぼく
    kameura
    かめうら
(out-dated kanji) tortoise-shell divination

龜板


龟板

see styles
guī bǎn
    gui1 ban3
kuei pan
tortoise plastron; turtle shell

龜殼


龟壳

see styles
guī ké
    gui1 ke2
kuei k`o
    kuei ko
tortoise shell

龜毛


龟毛

see styles
guī máo
    gui1 mao2
kuei mao
 kimō
(Tw) (coll.) indecisive; fussy; nitpicking (from Taiwanese, Tai-lo pr. [ku-moo])
The hair on a tortoise, i.e. the non-existent.

龜甲


龟甲

see styles
guī jiǎ
    gui1 jia3
kuei chia
 kikkou / kikko
    きっこう
    kikou / kiko
    きこう
tortoise shell
(out-dated kanji) tortoise shell

龜趺


龟趺

see styles
guī fū
    gui1 fu1
kuei fu
pedestal in the form of a tortoise

龜速


龟速

see styles
guī sù
    gui1 su4
kuei su
as slow as a tortoise

Click here for more tortoise results from our dictionary

The following table may be helpful for those studying Chinese or Japanese...

Title CharactersRomaji (Romanized Japanese)Various forms of Romanized Chinese
Sea Turtle海亀umigame
Turtle
龟 / 亀
kameguī / gui1 / guikuei
Xuan Wu
Genbu
Black Tortoise God
玄武genbuxuán wǔ / xuan2 wu3 / xuan wu / xuanwuhsüan wu / hsüanwu
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.


Dictionary

Lookup Tortoise in my Japanese & Chinese Dictionary


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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.


A nice Chinese calligraphy wall scroll

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.

A professional Chinese Calligrapher

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.

Trying to learn Chinese calligrapher - a futile effort

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.

A high-ranked Chinese master calligrapher that I met in Zhongwei

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.


Check out my lists of Japanese Kanji Calligraphy Wall Scrolls and Old Korean Hanja Calligraphy Wall Scrolls.

Some people may refer to this entry as Tortoise Kanji, Tortoise Characters, Tortoise in Mandarin Chinese, Tortoise Characters, Tortoise in Chinese Writing, Tortoise in Japanese Writing, Tortoise in Asian Writing, Tortoise Ideograms, Chinese Tortoise symbols, Tortoise Hieroglyphics, Tortoise Glyphs, Tortoise in Chinese Letters, Tortoise Hanzi, Tortoise in Japanese Kanji, Tortoise Pictograms, Tortoise in the Chinese Written-Language, or Tortoise in the Japanese Written-Language.

36 people have searched for Tortoise in Chinese or Japanese in the past year.
Tortoise was last searched for by someone else on Feb 28th, 2024