Chinese Symbol Tattoos

But this does not come as a surprise, considering that the Chinese symbols and tattoo designs are some of the most beautiful and exotic ones you’ll ever come across. All thanks to pop culture and of course the movies, most people in the West have now started getting Chinese tattoos done, even though they don’t really understand them. So what makes Chinese symbol tattoos so alluring? Well, for starters Chinese symbol tattoos make an extremely exotic form of self-expression.

But besides this, there are many different reasons, some gender-specific, for the popularity of these designs. The women say that they are attracted to these Chinese symbols because of their subtle meanings and themes that they express like love, hope and freedom. On the other hand, men are drawn to these tattoo designs because they are strongly associated with movies related to the martial arts.

So, if you are planning on getting a tattoo and are incredibly drawn to the Chinese designs, then here is a beginners guide to Chinese symbol tattoos!

A beginners Guide to Chinese Symbol Tattoos
The practice of Chinese tattoos all started more than 4000 years ago. Chinese writing relies heavily on a large number of symbols instead of alphabets and these symbols represent many spoken concepts or ideas. So, each Chinese symbol that you know of today, represents a different spoken idea or word.

In 1710 AD, the Kangxi dictionary was created upon imperial decree and contained in it nearly 50,000 different symbols. Since then, this number has grown to almost 75,000 symbols and is still growing numbers till date.

Having said this, it must be noted that the average Chinese person must only know around 5,000 of these symbols in order to read, understand or write anything in the ancient language.

Because there are so many symbols available today, almost anything can be translated into Chinese. Even the subtlest of all nuances and meanings can be translated by using a combination of these Chinese symbols.

What is Kanji all about?
Kanji is the Chinese term that is used to describe those symbols that have also been adapted to have Japanese meanings to them. The meanings of these symbols in Japanese and Chinese are the same but they will be pronounced differently. What’s more, they could express two completely different ideas or concepts.

Rules to getting a Chinese Symbol Tattoo
If you are interested in getting your name tattooed in Chinese, then you should know that this is possible. But always keep a few things in mind when doing this. Firstly, in Chinese, names are always written in reverse order and that would mean that your last name would appear before your first name. Secondly, if your name happens to be foreign to the Chinese language, then certain symbols will have to be selected in order to represent your name.

As you can see that the whole practice of writing in Chinese is indeed very complicated, so if you are planning on getting a Chinese symbol tattoo, then there are a couple of rules you need to know. These are the rules to getting a Chinese tattoo:

1. Make sure the words that you have chosen are translated accurately – Before you allow any tattoo artist to stick a needle into you, make sure that you discuss your design with him or her. He or she should know about the Chinese symbols and should know what their each individual meaning is. Don’t just go up to the first Chinese person you see and ask for the meaning of your preferred design. Chances are that he might not know what the symbol stands for and could possibly give you a wrong meaning. Always consult with a Chinese tattoo specialist before you get your tattoo and you’ll probably avoid getting embarrassed permanently by a tattoo that doesn’t even mean what you want it to!
2. Get a custom design – If you want the best ever tattoo, your tattoo artist should be given a good design to work from. It is very important to spend some amount if time and money on getting your design custom made so that it is crisper and clearer and your artist will be able to understand it clearly. If you provide your tattoo artist with a poor design, you’ll probably end up with a hazy, blurred mess and the meaning of the symbol will be lost to the world.

Chinese symbol tattoos are a beautiful way of representing individuality and portraying a person’s character and personality. If you follow these rules and guidelines, you’ll surely be rewarded with a beautiful piece of body art that will last you for a whole lifetime!