Among the first to speak of these symbols imprinted on the skin was our explorer Marco Polo , who documents their existence during his Chinese journey in the Middle Ages. At that time, the tattoo in China was a distinctive sign of particular clans , that is, belonging to powerful and merciless families who sowed terror. Much has changed since then.
Especially from the sixties of the twentieth century onwards, when the East, meditation, Asian philosophy became a search for mental and personal balance for many Westerners. People went to China to find themselves and returned with a symbol tattooed on them .
Today, fashion is now widespread everywhere, but why do you choose a Chinese tattoo rather than one of another kind?
Chinese tattoo rules
Chinese tattoos must express belonging, identity, or a very specific quality.
The ideograms were used to impress on the skin the belonging to a group, a family clan, a band. The symbols of the zodiac or nature to indicate a more or less courageous, more or less sensitive or aggressive character.
For us Westerners, of course, there are no precise rules to follow.
The Chinese symbols we choose are linked to a message that we want to launch, and that’s it. But in this regard, precisely because you are dealing with a very different culture from ours, it is good to inquire before getting any symbol or ideogram tattooed.
Get a true Chinese to translate the meaning of the writing, to avoid walking around with a ” life and a chicken ” printed on one shoulder or with a symbol with sexual, rather than mystical, allusions in plain sight on the chest!
What are the most beautiful Chinese tattoos
There is a difference between a beautiful symbol and a fashionable symbol. They don’t necessarily coincide. As for the Chinese tattoo , however, there is often a correspondence between the most common symbol and the one with the most beautiful meaning. The drawings that reproduce Yin and Yang , good and evil, philosophy and spirituality are very beautiful.
Also very beautiful is the symbol of the dragon , which is often associated with a butterfly (strength and balance) or a woman (sexual union) or even the wings (resourcefulness).
The tiger face tattoo is elaborate and fascinating , to symbolize passion and determination.
Often ideograms are associated with natural symbols that resemble them, and overall a delicate and very artistic image is created.
The most popular Chinese tattoos
The most common Chinese tattoos are, again, the Yin and Yang , consisting of a circle with two black and white half moons that represent good and evil in one unit. The dragon and the tiger are also Chinese symbols that people love to get tattooed to express their courage and the desire to face life head on.
As for the ideograms , the most requested are the sentences of Confucius, those of Mao , poetic lines of high philosophical significance. However, as mentioned, make sure that those symbols are really the phrases you want and that they have those meanings and no more embarrassing ones.