Chinese symbol tattoo and designs are growing rapidly and popular . Even became a storm all over the world . In fact , there are more than twenty thousands global searches searched the phrase ‘Chinese symbol tattoo ’ , on average , with Google everyday . That means thousands of people who want to get a tattoo willing to get it in Chinese . This makes it the most popular tattoo art now !
But consider that the Chinese symbol and tattoo designs are some of the most beautiful and exotic ones you’ll ever come across , this does not come as a surprise . Western people who have Chinese symbol tattoo even they don’t understand the meaning . That’s all thanks to international culture communication , especially Chinese KongFu movies . So , what makes it so alluring ? The exotic form of self-expression it makes .
But there also are many other different reasons for the popularity of these designs . The women say that they are attracted to Chinese tattoos because of their subtle meanings and themes that they express like love , family , mother , hope and freedom . On the other hand , men are drawn to these tattoo designs because they are strongly associated with movies related to KongFu or zodiac arts .
So, if you are planning on getting a tattoo and are incredibly drawn to the Chinese designs, then here is a beginner’s guide to Chinese symbol or character tattoo!
The practice of Chinese tattoos all started more than 4000 years ago. Chinese symbol tattoo includes character tattoos and pattern tattoos . Thousands of years ago , Chinese people use tattoos in these three typical ways .
1. Totem
People lives in the sea makes dragon tattoos to there family to identity the victims in case of an accident at sea as a sign . They think the dragons can bless the fisher when they fishing in the sea . People lives inland makes sun tattoo or snake tattoo to express their hope and believe .
2. Aesthetic
There is an ancient legends says that a ugly young woman worried about her look , “ you look ugly , making a tattoo on your face would make you beautiful “, a man tried to persuade her . After tattooed a lotus tattoo on her face , she became more beautiful . Tattoos makes effects . Many people have tattoos to hide the ugly inspired with her method .
3. Loyalty , Faith
Yue Fei , a famous general , his mother tattooed ‘精忠报国’ , which means loyalty to serve the country , on his back before he went out of battle . And then , many soldiers make faith tattoos to express the same meaning .
The Chinese characters
Chinese writing characters relies heavily on a large number of symbols instead of alphabets and these characters represent many spoken concepts or ideas. So, each Chinese characters that you know of today, represents a different spoken idea or word.
In 1710 AD, the Kangxi dictionary was created by imperial decree and it contained nearly 51,000 characters . However, since then the number has increased to more than 85,500 characters to represent the modern nuances and meanings .
But even though there tens of thousands of characters or symbols , the ordinary Chinese people only needs to know 4000 of this Chinese symbols to be able to read , write or understand anyting in daily life .
Can I write anything in Chinese ?
Of course you can ! Thanks to the ancients! With these ample characters today, Chinese translation for anything is possible . Even the most subtle nuances and meanings can be interpreted using a combination of these characters .
Rules to get a Chinese Symbol Tattoo
Most people say Chinese symbol tattoo always means Chinese writing tattoos or Chinese name tattoo . If you are interested in getting your name tattooed in Chinese , then you should keep in mind something when you finding a Chinese tattoo symbol . First , names are always written in reverse order in Chinese . It means that your last name would appear before your first name . Second , if your name happens to be foreign in Chinese language , then certain words will have to be chosen to represent your name .
As you can imagine that writing Chinese is complicated . So if you want to get a Chinese writing tattoo , then there are some important rules you must know . Here are the rules :
Rule number 1 , the most important rule , make sure that the words you have chosen for your name are translated correctly . Discuss your tattoo artist before you allow him or her to stick a needle into you . A tattoo artist who serves Chinese symbol tattoo services should know some Chinese culture . He or she should know the exactly meaning of your choice . You also could ask some of your Chinese friends for help , but remember , do not just ask the first person you see on the street . Because he might not know what you really want , and he could possibly give you a wrong meaning . Always consult with a Chinese tattoo specialist before you get your tattoo . It will avoids you from getting embarrassed permanently by a tattoo that doesn’t even mean what you really want it to ! Get the right meaning and print it out on the paper when you go to your artist .
Rule number 2 , Make a custom design . If you want a distinctive tattoo , your tattoo artist or you yourself should make a good design on it . It is very important to spend money and time on designing your tattoo . By designing your tattoo , you or your artist will understand it clearly . If you provide a poor design to your tattoo artist , you’ll probably end up with a hazy , blurred mess . So pay your attention to design a good symbol tattoos . It’s worth to do that .
Chinese symbol tattoo is a beautiful way of portraying a person’s character and personality and representing individuality . Follow the rules and guidelines , you’ll surely be rewarded with a beautiful piece of body art that will last you for a whole lifetime !
