Chinese Blessing 百年好合: Meaning & Design Guide
百年好合 means “may you live a long and happy life together (wedding greeting)”, pronounced bai3 nian2 hao3 he2. Below: each character broken down, and how the phrase works as a wallpaper.
Character by character
| Character | Pinyin | Meaning | Strokes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 百 | bǎi | one hundred; numerous, many | 6 |
| 年 | nián | year; new-years; person's age | 6 |
| 好 | hǎo | good, excellent, fine; well | 6 |
| 合 | hé | combine, unite, join; gather | 6 |
Per-character data: Unihan (Unicode).
Words using these characters
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 老百姓 | lǎo bǎi xìng | ordinary people | newest-5 |
| 百合 | bǎi hé | lily | newest-7 |
| 百分点 | bǎi fēn diǎn | percentage point | newest-6 |
| 今年 | jīn nián | this year | newest-1 |
| 去年 | qù nián | last year | newest-1 |
| 年轻 | nián qīng | young | newest-3 |
Words: HSK vocabulary list · meanings: CC-CEDICT.
Related expressions
Size and layout for 百年好合
百年好合 is evenly weighted (6–6 strokes across 4 characters), so it holds together well in a straight line or a square block without optical adjustment. With 24 strokes in total it needs more room than a single character: give it a square or A3 ratio rather than a narrow phone crop. A four-character expression is usually set as a 2×2 block or one horizontal line — pick one and keep it consistent.
Using 百年好合
百年好合 is a set phrase meaning “may you live a long and happy life together (wedding greeting)”, pronounced bai3 nian2 hao3 he2. Because it is fixed, changing a character changes the meaning entirely — check the wording with a native reader before it goes on skin or paper. Regular script (楷书) keeps every stroke countable, which matters when someone checks the character. Avoid mirroring or rotating the character, and avoid very fine or cursive styles at small sizes, where strokes merge into shapes that read as a different character.
Frequently asked questions
What does 百年好合 mean?
百年好合 means “may you live a long and happy life together (wedding greeting)”.
How is 百年好合 pronounced?
百年好合 is pronounced bai3 nian2 hao3 he2.
Is 百年好合 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 百年好合 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 百年好合?
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?
百年好合 is written with 24 strokes across 4 characters — which is why it needs more space than a single character.
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Character data: Unihan (Unicode) · words: HSK vocabulary & CC-CEDICT · How we verify this