Can you please translate this for me?

[Bella989]

I know that the first two words to the right are chu ru but I do not know the last 2 words to the left.  Can you please urgently help me?

[lips]

平安

[Lu]

出入平安 chūrù píng'ān 'peace to the people who enter or exit'. The translation is rather clunky, but that's the general idea.

[lips]

Safe when entering and leaving.

[Pegasus]

I am learning Chinese and as someone who is learning Chinese, I would like to add my comments. When I was a child I had a coin-like pendant on a necklace that my grandmother gave me that had the characters 出入平安 chūrù píng'ān on it. 

 

First, wow. Interesting that 安 can look like that on the lower left of the image. I would never have recognized it without the other characters around it and the help of the other people on this board who have already translated the characters. 

 

From what I know, 出入平安 chūrù píng'ān is a very common four character expression to wish someone peace. I have also heard some people say it wishes "peace and safety". 

 

As other people have explained, 出入 means "exit and enter", which I like to think of as "coming and going". I think of 平安 as meaning "peace and safety". Together, I think of the four characters as an expression of good wishes for peace and safety wherever you go. 

 

Here are some website pages that you might find useful regarding this expression: 

http://www.yellowbridge.com/chinese/dictionary.php?searchMode=C&word=%E5%87%BA%E5%85%A5%E5%B9%B3%E5%AE%89

http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/dictionary/words/7835/

http://learn-chinese-words.com/detail/chinese/%E5%87%BA%E5%85%A5%E5%B9%B3%E5%AE%89#.V2AEeLsrKUk

https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100511220535AA3rBzt

 

Cheers, 

Pegasus

[889]

"When I was a child I had a coin-like pendant on a necklace that my grandmother gave me that had the characters 出入平安 chūrù píng'ān on it."

 

If you like, think of it as a Chinese St. Christopher medal.

[Publius]

Yes, its a phrase commonly seen written on lintels (门楣), floor mats (outside and inside a door, in an elevator, etc), and pendants (either hang around the neck or from the rear view mirror in your car).

 

I have a doormat that looks exactly like this one:

[lips]

平安 does not carry the notion of "peace".

[889]

I wouldn't use 平安 in terms like "peace treaty" or "world peace," but I would use it in terms like "eternal peace" and "peace and quiet."