Chinese Tattoos
Perhaps the most well, widely accepted form of tattooing are Chinese Tattoos. Since the mid 1970s when Chinese culture and alternative lifestyle began to spread worldwide, symbols such as ying and yang were popularized shortly after, and even becoming a chic manifestation.
Chinese Tattoos are appealing and the characteristics of the Chinese language allows you to wear whatever name comes to your mind without fearing future embarrassment, except for those who understand Chinese and can read what your tattoo has to say. Ideograms are the name given to Chinese written characters as a sort of symbols looking decorative by themselves.
Visiting a tattooist knowing the language will open the doors to this new experience in Chinese Tattoos. Otherwise, you can find online and in some printed magazines and books, ideograms that represent common names and phrases such as “I love you”, “Good Luck”, etc. or ideograms with no specific translation but representing wealth, well being, and so on.
There are also particular symbols closely related to the Chinese culture, and appropriate for Chinese Tattoos, including Dragons, symbol of Hong Kong and carriers of good luck, Lotus, one of the 8 Buddhist symbols of good fortune, Tigers, and many others. In fact, the tattoo of a Dragon and a Tiger was the indubitable mark of the Shaolin Monks.
The fame of the Shaolin Temple came to America by the hand of Bruce Lee and the TV Show starring David Carradine, however, this Temple has a real association of monks until today, although renewed accordingly.
The original monastery was built around the year 645 AD, but Chinese Tattoos associated to this temple began with the introduction of martial arts by monks in the 6th century. Once applicants were accepted to the Temple, they were enrolled in a rigorous and severe training during their stay that could last for years or a lifetime.
To leave, monks should prove their skills by fighting with mechanical wooden men guarding the exit. Very few succeeded, but even then, the last obstacle was to embrace a burning old pot with a tiger and a dragon to move it out and leave, acquiring automatically and painfully their two new Chinese Tattoos.
You do not need to burn your arms to get these symbols tattooed, although you might prefer a hexagram from I Ching, the Chinese Mutations Book, or a depiction of a typical Chinese scenario, like those observed in Oriental screens. Chinese Tattoos can be colorful or monochrome, and they can be reflective of spirituality, force or frivolity, depending on your choice and taste.
