Tattoo mishaps involving Chinese Characters - intro to the Tattooist's Guide to not fudging Chinese.
7. 鸡
What probably started as an innocent interest in Chinese zodiacs, or was an attempt to avoid implications of the English word "Chicken", has clearly backfired… She may have been born in the year of the Chicken. She may have thought this was a much better idea than a picture of a chicken. How could she know… (nobody tell her, she seems quite proud of her new tattoo)
I'm Rhys, a translator and Chinese language teacher.
Back in March I got interested in Chinese tattoos.
I was curious about all the ways that a non-native artist can mess up the drawing of a Chinese tattoo. So I started checking around. Here's where the journey started.
Celebrity Chinese Tattoos
From 5000-year-old Ötzi the "Iceman" and mummified corpses pulled from under the Great Pyramids of Giza, to tattoo branding punishments and rite of passage and tribal ceremony, tattoo culture is woven throughout human history. Today there is probably more ink in our skin than there ever has been before.
In recent years, more and more Westerners are reaching for the Pandora's Box of Chinese culture and pulling out tattoos - big-name stars like Justin Bieber and David Beckham included. Definitely, there is a certain mysterious appeal to the complex, flowing strokes characters of the Chinese script. Perhaps it was this allure that lead the stars to their oriental ink.
Beckham:
Life and death are predestines; Poverty and wealth is God's arrangement
Beiber:
从心,(Follow your heart) unfortunately written vertically and too close together, which makes it look like another word with a different character: 怂 （Timid）
Biebz and that stud-muffin Beckham took a risk and things didn’t turn out so bad, but as you are about to see, others haven’t been so lucky.
When the tattooing artist and perhaps you yourself aren't particularly well-acquainted with the language, there's plenty of room for error. misinterpretation, oversight, deception, and sometimes just plain old stupidity...
Let us see the types of pickle we can get ourselves into when we reach for Chinese tattoo art unprepared, shall we?
Explanations are provided.
1.我不知道，我不会说中国话
【 我不知道，我不会说中国话 = "I don’t know, I can't speak Chinese" 】
Scenario One:
White guy shows up at the tattoo parlor:
"Hey I want to get some Chinese characters done"
The artist: "Sure, what characters did you want?"
Guy: "I don't know, I can’t speak Chinese."
The artist: "Take a seat brother, I got you sorted."
Guy: [ ??? ]
Scenario Two：
One week later, at the bar.
A cute girl asks: "I love your tattoo. It's Chinese, right? What does it mean?"
The guy responds: "I don’t know, I can’t speak Chinese."
Girl: "You don’t know what it means but still got it tattooed your whole arm?"
Guy: "But I know what it means."
Girl: "So, tell me then"
Guy: "I don’t know, I can't speak Chinese."
Girl: Ugh.”
2. 拆
【 拆 = demolish 】
Maybe this guy thought this character represents a meaning something like "extreme wealth"… That would be my guess.
So, what does "拆" mean?
As part of China's sweeping policies to renovate, beautify and modernize its cities. If designated for demolition, the government will dispatch workers to mark the property with this character before a hefty sum of government compensation money is deposited into your bank account. "拆" – it means "dismantle; demolish".
Alternatively, this could be a celebratory tattoo. To a blue collar working-class family with just a small home to their names, waking up to find "dismantle/demolish" spray painted on the wall outside could be the happiest day of their lives. The government is ridiculously generous with their payouts.
3. 狂贱
【 狂贱 = mad bitch 】
No arguments here. I’m definitely not getting into a verbal altercation with any woman with the balls to get this warning tattooed on their body.
No cultural note needed with this one – translates quite neatly as "mad/crazy bitch"
Update: The more I think about it the more this tattoo seems completely intentional - like a clever disguise for an honest message.
4. 谢娜儿女
【 谢娜儿女 = Xie Na's sons and daughters 】
Bro. I get that you're a fan, but are you sure you want "儿女" there too?
Are you sure?
You're sure?..
Xie Na is a Chinese television personality, singer, and actress. Evidently, her influence crosses cultural boundaries.
5. 脑白金
【 脑白金 = (a Chinese brain health supplement brand) 】
It's possible that this ham-fisted young gentleman is being paid handsomely for this relatively small section of ad space.
Effective advertising – caught my attention. Companies might want to consider advertising like this at scale (my idea - contact us with money if you're actually going to do this :P)
6. 仙女
【 仙女 = fairy 】
I, for one, believe that somewhere in the heart of every grey singlet-wearing, middle-aged man lives a powder-pink fairy princess.
Live your truth ♥
7. 鸡
【 鸡 = "harlot" 】
"鸡": literally "chicken" (tattooed here using traditional Chinese characters rather than Simplified ), but unfortunately homophonous with the Chinese word for "prostitute", and is often used as such.
Cool as they are, tattoos involve pain.
There is the pain of being stabbed by needles a hundred thousand times.
There is the pain of laser removal.
But the worst pain of all is seeing the disappointment in your friends’ eyes when they learn the truth about that cool new Chinese tattoo of theirs.
Don’t let it happen to you or those you care about.
If someone you know is thinking about getting a tattoo and wants some advice or a second opinion, let us help. Contact Trendy Adventurer customer service for FREE advice and guidance!
We've only just begun to scratch the surface of this topic. Find our tattooist's guide on the common types of mistakes with Chinese tattoos, how to mistakes with Chinese tattoos, a simple method of how to understand the full meaning of a Chinese character without needing to study Chinese and more!
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