Chinese Symbols

CHINESE TATTOO SYMBOLS

Tattoos have become an established trend in many parts of the world, especially in the West. People etch tattoos on themselves for many reasons. In many cases, it is a way to stand out from “normal” people. It is also a form of expression. People, especially the young, are keen to express their true feelings to the world. Tattoos are an excellent mode for this. As a result of its popularity, however, tattoos are becoming fairly common. Themes like “love”, “hate”, “peace” or even “war” have become saturated. Variations on themes like these are becoming common, even ordinary. People seeing such a tattoo normally pass them by without much interest. It is therefore difficult to find a tattoo that is out of the ordinary, and attracts the attention of others.

Chinese characters offer a nice alternative to the western alphabet. Chinese calligraphy has always embodied elegance and beauty. As a tattoo they offer the distinctive style that the youth seeks. They are an excellent means of expression because every word has a specific meaning. Feelings like strength, peace, hope and almost any other concept can be expressed through Chinese characters. In fact, since there are so many of them (nearly 80000), one is sure to find a character that truly expresses one’s true self or the message that one wishes to convey. Their markedly exotic appearance is very much different from normal Western tattoos and is sure to attract admiration from onlookers.

A very small tattoo of a Chinese character is often sufficient to express a large number of things. Often the real meaning of the word is hidden. It is deeper than the literal meaning of the character. This is known as “Chengyu”, that is, Chinese proverbs. These typically contain four characters. The meaning of a Chengyu is much different from the meaning of each character and usually hides a historical context, event or story. For example, the term “guo tian bu nu lu” literally means “melon fields under plums” which makes no sense at all. However, it really means that one should not tie one’s shoes in a melon field or tidy one’s hat under a plum tree in order to avoid suspicion of being a thief.

Therefore, one must be cautious when tattooing Chinese characters since they will remain for life. Most Westerners are cannot read or write Chinese. They therefore cannot understand the characters at all. It is therefore easy to make mistakes on the choice of characters and have them inscribed on you forever. Imagine having “I am an ass” written on your arm (or worse on your forehead, as some eccentrics do) for the rest of your life! If someone who reads Chinese sees it, you are certain to be the laughing stock of the world!