Chinese Tattoo 天长地久: Meaning & Design Guide
天长地久 means “enduring while the world lasts (idiom)”, pronounced tiān cháng dì jiǔ. Below: each character broken down, and how the phrase works as a tattoo.
Character by character
| Character | Pinyin | Meaning | Strokes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 天 | tiān | sky, heaven; god, celestial | 4 |
| 长 | zhǎng | long; length; excel in; leader | 4 |
| 地 | de dì | earth; soil, ground; region | 6 |
| 久 | jiǔ | long time (ago); time passage, grow late | 3 |
Per-character data: Unihan (Unicode).
Words using these characters
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 今天 | jīn tiān | today | newest-1 |
| 明天 | míng tiān | tomorrow | newest-1 |
| 昨天 | zuó tiān | yesterday | newest-1 |
| 长大 | zhǎng dà | to grow up | new-2 |
| 成长 | chéng zhǎng | to mature | newest-5 |
| 家长 | jiā zhǎng | head of a household | newest-4 |
Words: HSK vocabulary list · meanings: CC-CEDICT.
Related expressions
Placing 天长地久
天长地久 is evenly weighted across its 4 characters (3–6 strokes), so it lays out cleanly in a line or a block without optical correction. It totals 17 strokes, so it needs a placement with room — the inner forearm or upper back rather than a narrow spot. Four-character phrases are usually set 2×2 or in one line; pick one and keep it consistent. Bring the stencil together with the pinyin and the meaning, and ask the artist to follow the stencil rather than redrawing the character freehand — freehand redrawing is the most common way a correct character loses a stroke and becomes a different one.
Design notes for 天长地久
天长地久 is a fixed four-character expression meaning “enduring while the world lasts (idiom)”, read tiān cháng dì jiǔ. Because it is set, swapping any character changes the meaning — have the exact wording checked by a native reader before it goes on skin. Regular script (楷书) keeps every stroke countable, which matters when a Chinese reader checks it. Avoid mirroring or rotating the character, and avoid very fine or cursive styles at small sizes, where strokes merge into a shape that reads as a different character.
Frequently asked questions
What does 天长地久 mean?
天长地久 means “enduring while the world lasts (idiom)”.
How is 天长地久 pronounced?
天长地久 is pronounced tiān cháng dì jiǔ.
Is 天长地久 a fixed expression?
Yes — it is a set phrase, which is safer than assembling characters yourself. Fixed expressions keep their established wording and meaning.
How should 天长地久 be laid out?
A four-character expression is usually written as a 2×2 square block or a single horizontal line. Keep the characters the same size and do not mirror or rotate any of them.
Which style suits 天长地久?
Bold regular script keeps every stroke clear. With multiple characters, avoid very fine or highly cursive styles — the smaller each character gets, the more the strokes merge.
Do I need to verify the phrase?
Yes. Confirm the wording, the meaning and the full context with a native reader, and check that the phrase is not a quotation about misfortune or parting.
How many strokes in total?
天长地久 is written with 17 strokes across 4 characters — which is why it needs more space than a single character.
Want 天长地久 as a ready-to-use stencil with a native-checked meaning card, sized for your tattoo artist?
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Character data: Unihan (Unicode) · words: HSK vocabulary & CC-CEDICT · How we verify this