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...also means tortoise
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.
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.
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.
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 |
蔡 see styles |
cài cai4 ts`ai tsai hanako はなこ |
More info & calligraphy: Chay(female given name) Hanako chāyā, a shadow, reflection; gnomon, dial. |
鼈 鳖 see styles |
biē bie1 pieh suppon; betsu(ok); suppon すっぽん; べつ(ok); スッポン |
More info & calligraphy: Japanese Snapping Turtle / Chinese Soft Shell Turtle(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. |
龜 龟 see styles |
qiū qiu1 ch`iu chiu ki |
More info & calligraphy: TurtleTortoise, 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(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 |
亀 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 |
玳 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 |
The following table may be helpful for those studying Chinese or Japanese...
Title | Characters | Romaji (Romanized Japanese) | Various forms of Romanized Chinese | |
Sea Turtle | 海亀 | umigame | ||
Turtle | 龜 龟 / 亀 | kame | guī / gui1 / gui | kuei |
Xuan Wu Genbu Black Tortoise God | 玄武 | genbu | xuán wǔ / xuan2 wu3 / xuan wu / xuanwu | hsüan 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. |
Successful Chinese Character and Japanese Kanji calligraphy searches within the last few hours...
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.
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.
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