Question What is the proper way (and shortest?) to write "Peace" in kanji?

[SardonicApricot]

Hey! I've recently been thinking about getting a kanji tattoo that says "Peace". Now... sadly for me I barely know more than a few Hiragana letters and that's that...
I searched a bit in a few different websites and only got confused.
Allegedly, 平和 is peace (Pronounced Hei-wa), However I came around a few others that wrote just 和 (Apparently Wa means peace as well) and some that wrote it the other way around (和平).
So...Which is it? and what is the difference between those?
P.S: I DO NOT mean peace as in diplomatic peace but rather as in inner peace and harmony!
Thanks in advance

 

[mdchachi]

Hey! I've recently been thinking about getting a kanji tattoo that says "Peace". Now... sadly for me I barely know more than a few Hiragana letters and that's that...
I searched a bit in a few different websites and only got confused.
Allegedly, 平和 is peace (Pronounced Hei-wa), However I came around a few others that wrote just 和 (Apparently Wa means peace as well) and some that wrote it the other way around (和平).
So...Which is it? and what is the difference between those?
P.S: I DO NOT mean peace as in diplomatic peace but rather as in inner peace and harmony!
Thanks in advance

和平 is more like the state of "not war."
平和 is closest to traditional "peace" and "harmony" meaning.
和 is more abstract. It can mean "peace" but is often used to mean "Japan" or "Japanese style."
For inner peace you can also consider 心の平穏