Chinese Tattoos

Chinese Character Tattoo for Rock, Rocky or Cliff

2012-01-23T20:07:00.001-08:00

Jennifer sent me the image below of her tattoo with the confirmation request: "We have been trying to figure out what this tattoo means, we have been told it means different things."

Hi Jennifer,

This appears to be a correctly written Chinese traditional character for the word "rock", or "cliff", or "rocky". It means the same thing in Japanese Kanji.

Even if it's not what you're looking for, the script style does look "rocky" and is appropriate for the word.

Hope that helps!

Chinese Tattoo of "Alphabets" KH or Water Stops Flowing?

2012-01-03T21:09:00.000-08:00

Kristina sent me this image below with this message:

"Hi, I am one those people who impulsively got a tatoo and naively believed it said what I wanted it to say. I was young. Now, 20 years later, I really want to know what it says and how I can fix it to say something meaningful. I was told that it was my initials, KH. I later had someone tell me that it said something roughly translated to "never stop flowing" refering to water. I would love to have something that actually did say something about flowing water. I always associated flowing water to seeking truth and knowledge. Water always flows toward a greater body of water. The tatoo is on the back of my neck, just left of center. I plan on getting a back tatoo of the rugged coast line with the ocean at some point in the future. I'd like to tie it all together."

Hi Kristina,

Here are the explanations of the individual characters:

The first character (on the left): A watery waste; famine, barren - simplified character * see more on the differences between traditional and simplified character below
The second character (on the right): To stop; prohibit; to cease, halt; until - simplified and traditional character

The bad news: It does not mean KH (there are no Chinese characters for English alphabet -- we would just use English alphabet). Instead, putting both characters together, it says "barren stop". In other words, it doesn't mean anything at all.

The good news: Both characters are written correctly.

The semi-good news: If you put three more dots on the left character (see attached), it will become the word "a water way", "to flow" or "to drift" among a list of other meanings including "to move or circulate downwards", "to exude" or "class/style". The word will become a traditional character; and it will be okay because the second character on the right is used in both the simplified and traditional writing.

The semi-bad news: It will read something like "flowing ceases" - in Chinese grammar it's still incorrect and does not mean anything.

With situations like this (not uncommon), I usually recommend clients to just forget about getting another Chinese character -- and either accept the current design for its looks alone (is it perhaps better to be a person who really does flow like water, rather than one who just has a tattoo that says they go with the flow?)... OR, if you're super unhappy with what other people might think of the tattoo, then you might talk to a tattooist about covering the whole thing with a pictograph.

* Note: The difference between Traditional and Simplified Chinese characters:
Traditional - used in Hong Kong, Taiwan and other overseas Chinese communities, longer history since 5th century AD.
Simplified - used in Mainland China and Singapore, shorter history, invented by the Communist leader Mao Zedong in China.

Chinese Tattoo Characters - Strong Woman

2011-12-17T20:17:00.000-08:00

Stacy sent in this confirmation request with the image of her tattoo below:

"1) I was told it meant "strong woman".

2) On my forearm.

3) This tattoo is above another tattoo that not any other Chinese characters."

Hi Stacy,

The design says exactly what you were told: "strong woman", but a bit more. The character for "woman" used here is specifically for that of a woman/married woman/wife, so implying that it's an older woman, not a girl.

Hope that's what you're looking for!

---

More info on the Traditional Chinese character 婦: http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E5%A9%A6

Chinese Tattoo Character - Romantic Love

2011-12-05T09:50:00.000-08:00

Jess sent in the confirmation request below with the image:

"I was told that the symbol means love but I have been to other tattoist since and they don't have this one. It is in my wrist. I have since had my name put underneath it!"

Hi Jess,

This is the Simplified Chinese character for "to love" or "to feel attached to" specifically in a romantic sense, and not, say, the love for your parents, your siblings, for your pets, or for the world, but for a romantic partner who you're in love with.

Since this "love" is considered a specific kind of love, it's not surprising that you can't find it at the tattoo parlor sample books, which (as seen on this blog) aren't full proof when it comes to getting the correct Chinese characters.

However, adding your name under this existing "romantic love" tattoo would imply that one is "in love with [name; namely oneself]". It isn't an ideal design, but as far as acccuracy goes, your Chinese character tattoo is correctly written.

Hope that makes sense.

---

More on the Simplified Chinese character for 恋: http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E6%81%8B

Chinese Tattoo Symbol for "Beautiful"

2011-11-29T21:58:00.000-08:00

The following email was from MzToya who had forgotten the meaning of the Chinese tattoo she got on the back of her neck, a design chosen from a tattoo parlor book.

"I got this tattoo on my neck maybe eight years ago...picked it out of a book....just got the birds added. I believed it to mean beauty or beautiful....not sure.."

Hi MzToya,

Yes - the character is the formal word for "beautiful" - correctly written in Traditional Chinese. Other meanings include "handsome", "seductive", "fine", "colorful", etc. Although this is not commonly used in the day-to-day language (more literary in a sense), it is a common name for baby girls in China. So no worries if you can't find it in the dictionary, it is absolutely correct.

Thanks!

---

More on the Traditional Chinese character for 妍: http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E5%A6%8D

Chinese Tattoo Character — Longevity

2011-11-13T09:52:00.000-08:00

Sherri sent the following Chinese tattoo confirmation request and the images of her design:

"I got this years ago and have forgotten the meaning. Can you please help me? It is on the inside right ankle."

Hi Sherry,

This looks like a buddha design plus the Chinese character below it in simplified version of the word "longevity" or "long life". Correctly written, culturally non-invasive - not a worry.

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For more information on the differences between Simplified Chinese characters and Traditional Chinese characters, please refer to http://learnchineseez.com/learning-chinese-languages/ under "If you do want to learn Chinese characters, choose the appropriate system".

Strength or Courage... or is it just a Big Mistake?

2011-11-04T20:52:00.000-07:00

Jorg sent the image below and asked the following question for a friend who had the tattoo done in Berlin:

"1) Apparently they were meant to mean: strength, courage or determination, or some such thing.
2) on the back, on the right shoulder blade
3) no further tattoos.

Some Chinese people who saw the tattoo said the two characters mean "dog" and "pass" or "good mannered dog" and "pass", where "pass" by itself makes no sense."

Hi Jorg,

I hate to disappoint you, but unfortunately it doesn't mean "courage". In Chinese, the design consists of two characters that look really smashed together (the dot on top should be in the middle closer to the character to the right; if the dot is read together with the character to the left, it means dog, but then the character on the right without the dot will be incorrect and non-readable). The tattoo reads "major demerits", or "serious mistake".

I've seen this design being misinterpreted a few times before. For reference, please see http://www.starchamber.com/2006/04/tattoos-sacred-and-profane.html and http://www.tattoodonkey.com/chinese-tattoos-that-include-authentic-characters-and-symbols-can-form-/chinasuccessstories.com*wp-content*uploads*big-mistake.jpg/

If you get a chance, please let me know where you found this design (in a book? at a tattoo parlor?) It seems someone is distributing some bad information.

Thank you!

-

I never obtained any information on which parlors are distributing the incorrect information. If anyone has any knowledge of the origin of this design, or has seen it in a sample book at a parlor, please feel free to email me at mail at ChineseTattoos dot com and let me know. Thanks!

Respect John! Chinese, Japanese or Thai character symbol?

2010-06-26T17:01:00.000-07:00

John sent in this picture of his tattoo with the following message:

"Hi, I was told that this tattoo means John. This was done by someone who was Chinese but I would just like my mind to be put at rest. The tattoo was done at the top of my arm. If you could help me with this I would be most grateful."

Hi John,

As far as I know, this is not the name "John." Attached is a copy of the correct version of "John." Your tattoo is a correctly written traditional Chinese character that means "to respect", "to honor", or a character that addresses the senior generation.

Hope that helps!

~

In a follow-up for further clarification, John emailed and asked:

"Ok thanks, I guess it could be a lot worse. Do you think it could be a different language? Such as Thai, Japanese or something like that. Or is it definitely Chinese?"

-

Hi John,

No - this won't be any other Asian languages (Thai uses a completely different writing system - close to Arabic), except that the Japanese does borrow many Chinese characters in their written language. Most of these borrowed characters are understood by both Chinese and the Japanese, although the Japanese sometimes slightly change the meaning (e.g. the same characters saying "geisha" as understood by a Japanese person are understood as "prostitute" in Chinese). "Respect" is a widely shared virtue in both cultures - as far as any negative meanings are concerned, I would not worry about it at all.

Chinese Proverb for a Tattoo - Never Satisfied?

2010-05-05T09:09:00.000-07:00

Margaret sent in this Chinese tattoo confirmation with the message below:

1) I was told it says 'never satisfied'
2) It is on my left lower leg
3) It is not near any other tattoo

Hi Margaret,

Yes - your tattoo does indeed say what you were told, but with a little more depth than you might expect. It is actually a Chinese proverb that... It is a Chinese proverb that literally refers to the feeling of caring greatly about the gains and losses in one's life. Word by word it reads "to worry about gains; to worry about losses", as in one is worried about not gaining what one wants, and after gaining it one is worried about losing it. Thus, the meaning "never satisfied".

It is correctly written - no worries there.

Hope that's what you're looking for!

A Dragon named "Feist"? Or a crossbreed dog...?

2010-04-18T08:26:00.000-07:00

Tim sent in the Chinese tattoo confirmation below:

"It was part of a dragon, you can see three claws on the picture.
It´s on the left body-side.

Waiting for an answer :)

Thx for translating."

Hi Tim,

According to my research, it looks like the characters are an incorrect version of the name "Feist".

This obviously is a name, as they are merely characters that are close to English sounds, and by themselves don't have any meaning.

If this is, indeed, the name "Feist", please see the attached for the correction version (read from left to right).

Note that Feist in English also refers to a small hunting dog. But I assume that this is a name rather than the name of a croosbreed dog..?

If it's not Feist, let me know what the intended name was and I'll see if it's anywhere close.

(Tim never responded to the above answer. Hope it was what he was looking for!)

The Chinese -Simplified- Characters for the word FRIENDSHIP

2010-04-12T09:00:00.000-07:00

Colton sent a Chinese tattoo confirmation for his tattoo below:

Hi Colton,

This is a correctly written design of the word "friendship" in simplified Chinese characters (as opposed to traditional Chinese characters).

For a brief intro to the differences between SIMPLIFIED Chinese characters and TRADITIONAL Chinese characters:

* Simplified Chinese characters are used in China and Singapore. Traditional characters are used in Hong Kong and Taiwan, and will also be seen on most Chinese menus and newspapers found overseas (US, UK, Australia, Canada, etc).

* Character simplification was part of Mao Ze-Dong's pre-Cultural Revolution in 1960's China, which explains why Hong Kong and Taiwan continue using traditional characters. Because the simplified system is based on the traditional one, many characters are actually exactly the same in both systems.

Source: http://www.learnchineseez.com/learning-chinese-languages/

Therefore, depending on your audience, or if political ideals matter to you, the system of writing does make a difference.

"No Regrets"... or "I don't regret it?"

2010-03-30T11:56:00.000-07:00

Mike sent in this Chinese tattoo confirmation with the following message:

"It is on my arm. In college I looked up No Regrets online (English to Chinese) translator. I have been told at my tai chi class that "Unless you are trying to impress a Chinese linguistics professor" you're fine. I have no idea though, I thought I had done my homework, but who knows. You help is greatly appreciated. I do know the first character appears to be Bu', for no or not.

Thanks so much for the help!!"

Hi Mike,

It could be loosely translated as "no regrets", but the word "regret" (jiu in pinyin) here should really be translated as "remorse". Regret carries no explicit admission that one is responsible for an incident, while remorse implies a sense of guilty responsibility and a greater feeling of personal pain and anguish. So in a way, you're really saying you feel no remorse for something that you directly, depending on different parties' perspectives, may or may not have responsibility in the specific consequence (i.e. you do not regret doing something you have already done).

So it may not be the perfect translation (depending on your intention), but is definitely not an incorrect tattoo.

I have attached in the file the correct translation for "No Regrets" if it had been the sense that prevailed in the English language.

Hope that makes sense!

Chinese Tattoo or Japanese Tattoo?

2010-03-23T15:55:00.000-07:00

Kimberly sent me the Chinese tattoo confirmation below:

"I was told that it meant "Love Hurts." I do not remember what language, but I believe it is Chinese. I want to know if it's correct or not. If not, please send me the correct image because I can't find it anywhere, and if there is a different meaning to the tattoo I have, please let me know what it is.

Sincerly,
~Kimberly"

Hi Kimberly,

As far as I can tell, this is a Japanese Kanji tattoo. Japanese Kanji is derived from the system of writing "with" Chinese characters. Although they look the same (meaning that an average Chinese who does not read or speak any Japanese could understand these characters), their meanings could sometimes vary in the two languages (e.g. the word "geisha" in Japanese means "prostitute" in Chinese).

Unfortunately I am not Japanese and cannot offer any reliable insight. This reads to me as "love" and "pain", and something that is in Japanese that I cannot understand. Although the characters mean "love" and "pain" individually, the grammar is incorrect in Chinese, and I would hardly read it as "love hurts" in the Chinese language.

(I have attached the translation in Japanese for "Love Hurts" below the picture *Click to view Source)

I would suggest that you look for a Japanese translator for further clarification.

Thank you and good luck!

A Chinese Tattoo - More than just Early Morning

2010-01-04T08:38:00.000-08:00

Irakli sent in this Chinese tattoo confirmation email indicating that this tattoo is on his "back right upper side".

Hi Irakli,

Here is a list of all the possible meanings of this Chinese character:

1. the fifth of the twelve Earthly Branches which in combination with the Heavenly Stems were used by the ancients to designate years, months, and days
2. 5th earthly branch; 7-9 a.m.
3. early morning

The character is correctly written (no mistakes at all), and there is not really an other meaning that would risk negative interpretation. Furthermore, the placement you mentioned should not lead to any misunderstandings.

Chinese Tattoo for Hate or Hatred

2009-12-06T20:46:00.000-08:00

Carlos sent in this tattoo confirmation with the following:

"1. I've been told it means hate.
2. Upper back/neck area.
3. The symbol is inside a flaming scroll.

Thank you."

Hi Carlos,

It does, more or less, look like the Chinese character for "hate" or "hatred".

I cannot see very clearly due to the quality of the picture, but it does look a bit off here and there to me (e.g. the left side should be more detailed; the upper right four mouths were not supposed to look like mouths). I have attached the correct character for your own comparison and evaluation as to whether you'd like to have it redone the correct way. Although I am able to see the character and understand what it is, it's definitely better to have an exactly correct version.

3 Chinese Tattoo Characters - A Matter of Symbol Placement

2009-11-27T15:45:00.000-08:00

Regina sent in this Chinese tattoo confirmation with the message and attachment below:

"My tattoo is 3 characters long. The first character is supposed to be eternal, the second one is supposed to be love and the third one is supposed to be happiness. Mine is between my shoulder baldes and my husband has a matching one on his stomach."

Hi Regina,

Individually they do mean what you mentioned. I say "individually" because of the positioning of the three words - which when read in Chinese sounds directly translated from English (it's not authentic to have 3 words next to each other that are not part of the same phrase). But this is a common error with Chinese tattoos -- and most often non-speakers get them as personal reminders. And I bet that no Chinese person will ever say "that's wrong".

The word "eternal" is more commonly seen with 2 characters.

But the good news is, none of the characters themselves are wrong. Although, on the word "happiness", I'd suggest that you go back to the parlor and add a dot - like the second character on http://chineseculture.about.com/library/symbol/blcc_happiness.htm . It's probably the font and the drawing of the design that made it disappear. But without the dot, the character is technically incorrect (i.e. kind of like spelling the English word "happiness" with one p).

Steel or Iron?

2009-11-20T15:44:00.000-08:00

Travis sent the following with a picture of his tattoo attached:

"My tattoo is located on my arm. When I was in the store they told me the symbol means "steel". The book I got it out of says the same but I looked up the symbol for steel and its not the same symbol. This is my only tattoo."

Hi Travis,

This is the simplified Chinese character of the word "iron". By itself I would probably not stretch it as far as "steel" - as steel is a byproduct of iron, and the word "steel" consists of one more characters.

The reason you see a different character is most likely because traditional Chinese characters are more commonly used in books outside of China (simplified Chinese is used in the People's Republic of China implemented as part of the pre-revolution (around 1950's), while Taiwan, Hong Kong, and most overseas Chinese communities continue to use traditional Chinese, which dates back much longer).

Love - Mirror-Imaged

2009-11-09T10:01:00.000-08:00

Sabrina sent me this Chinese tattoo confirmation with the following:

"Meaning - Love.
Tattoo is on my wrist and not near any others."

Hi Sabrina,

This appears to be a mirror-imaged version of the character for "love". Although it would be understood by most, it is not correct in Kanji nor in Chinese. (i.e. imagine the English word "love" but spelled backwards and the letter "e" mirror imaged).

* If your camera/computer happened to mirror the image, and the tattoo is actually the reverse of the image you sent, then you're okay.

To avoid getting a mirror-imaged Chinese tattoo, it's a good idea to consult a native Chinese speaker beforehand, or even ask at your local Chinese restaurant. Many Chinese people would be happy to help, provided that you have done your homework and are on the right track.

Chinese Tattoo Meaning: Victory or Triumph?

2009-11-03T09:18:00.000-08:00

Marty sent me a tattoo confirmation question with the following picture:

"The tattoo is on my back and I have no Idea what it means. Any help would be appreciated."

This was the first correspondence.

-
Hi Marty,

The tattoo reads "victory" in Chinese - correctly written, no mistakes at all.

-
I later received a follow-up from Marty: "I was also told that it reads triumph. I there any truth to that?"

-
Hi Marty,

The word "victory" in English is nearly synonymous with "triumph". So yes, there would be truth to that. Note that, much like English, the Chinese language consists of synonyms. That said, the word can also be translated to "win" or "success".

-

Chinese Tattoo Name for Jean or Gene

2009-10-30T09:41:00.000-07:00

Rick sent this chinese tatoo confirmation request of a tattoo his brother asking the following:

"This is my brother's tattoo and he won't give us a straight answer about what it means. It is on the left side of his neck."

Hi Rick,

This is a common translation for the name "Jean" or "Gene" (short for Eugene") -- just like English, it can refer to a male or a female name.

"Fake" Hanna Tattoo in Chinese

2009-10-24T12:35:00.000-07:00

Justin sent in a simple confirmation request for a hanna tattoo: "My friend got this fake chinese tattoo but what does it mean?"

Hi Justin,

In Chinese, the character means somewhere along the lines of "contrary", "opposite", "against" or "opposed to", or "to turn over". Although rarely seen by itself, it would give an average Chinese passerby the connotation of "rebellion" and "opposing forces".

According to the Kanji dictionary, it has the same meanings in Japanese, plus a few others like "to violate" or "to infringe".

Hope that helps!

Chinese Tattoo Confusion - To Respect or To Fear?

2009-10-19T14:09:00.000-07:00

I received this Chinese tattoo confirmation request from Patrick with the message as follows:

"I am sending you a picture of my tattoo to confirm its meaning. I was told that it means respect, it is located on the middle finger of my right hand (large enough to receive it, that is all). As you can see on the picture, on each side of it there is a design that kind of make it look like a ring, that is not part of the Chinese character.

Thank you kindly for your help,

Patrick"

Hi Patrick,

It looks like part of the character (the part on the finger which is also in the white box on the corner) does have a meaning along the lines of "to respect", although today it is widely interpreted as "to fear". There is a correlation, as someone you respect generally also is someone you have reservations about (or "fear")). This is a verb, and not a noun. Because the character leans more toward "fear" than "respect", it is generally not recommended if someone were specifically looking for the word "respect".

Also, you said the left/right was not part of the design. To the Chinese reader (of the image you sent) it looks like they are two character/radicals to the sides of your main character. They look like the characters for "vision", and as if they were meant to be a radical for the character "to fear". However, when combined, there really is no such word (think of radical as an alphabet, e.g. the word "fear" but spelled like "visionfear", which doesn't mean anything).

But if there's something I'm not seeing about the design that makes them obviously not charactes, then I wouldn't worry about it. You can send another photo of the sides if you wish to confirm.

Hope that helps!

---

And a follow-up from Patrick:

"Thank you so much for your explanation! Well I really am not somebody who inspires fear but at the time I had it printed I felt lack of respect among my peers which I discovered soon had to be earned. It took some time to work out that state of mind but finally I think that if respect can't be gained in reasonable fashion, fear will do the work in those short lapses of time!

Thank you sincerely,
Patrick"

Chinese Tattoo for Karma

2009-10-17T12:06:00.000-07:00

Beez emailed me and with this picture and asked this:

"I was told my tattoo was one from the phrase Karma. More specifically, I was told it means cause and effect; or causality (Punitive Justices, Retribution for Sin, etc). The tattoo is located on my back. There are no other tattoos. Lately, for whatever reason, I have just been paranoid the tattoo means something else - I don't really know why. Thank you!"

Hi Beez,

Nothing to worry about. The tattoo says exactly what you think it means.

And a follow up from Beez:

Thanks so much. You've made my day!

Chinese Symbol Tattoo - A Matter of Stroke Placement Error

2009-10-15T14:21:00.000-07:00

James asked this in a Chinese tattoo confirmation request:

"I have a kanji symbol for good/joy and I want to confirm the meaning... was I right about this one?"

Hi James,

The character is a bit hard to see, but appears to be an incorrectly written one meaning "virtuous", "good" or "kind" in Chinese. Please see the attached .jpeg file for the correct character (the two dots above the horizontal line and the square should be centered, not aligned to the left). Mistakes like this are extremely common when using tattoo parlor samples, etc. The good news is that's it's close enough so that I (and probably most Chinese speakers) would recognize it.

As for Kanji, my dictionary indicates that this character means more or less the same in Japanese.

Example of Chinese symbol tattoo meaning same thing as Japanese Kanji tattoo

2009-10-14T10:21:00.000-07:00

Although there are many differences in meanings between Chinese characters and Japanese Kanji, there are also cases where they are written and used in the same context and that they do mean the same thing.

Here is a Chinese tatooo confirmation request below that illustrates the point:

--

Hi,

I got this tattoo about 10 years ago. The place I went to had a printed/published book which I got the symbol from. The book said the symbol means "Will or determination". I don't remember if it was Chinese or Japanese. I've looked all over the web and cannot find it anywhere.

Thank you very much,

Brian

Hi Brian,

Not a worry - this is exactly what you think it means, both in Chinese character and in Japanese Kanji, and a good choice for a tattoo. * The free samples on my site contain only a very general idea of words, i.e. the word "will/determination" would vary depending on one's target/what one's after. But the design that you have is commonly used as a highly regarded virtue in the Chinese culture, all the way since the School of Confucian began in China.

It's nice to do a confirmation once in a while that isn't bad news!