Long history of Chinese Tattoos
Tattoos have been present in China for thousands of years. Chinese tattoos go back so many years that many reference texts provide an estimate that tattooing in China has been practiced since the Zhou and Qing dynasties. Tattoos made in China have similar functions to most other tattoos around the world. Their main purpose is to represent a particular type of significance, message or form of communication that has a meaning in someone’s life, relates to his origin, culture or religion. Even though the history of tattoos in China incorporates this same cultural underpinning and purpose commonly established with tattoos, the historic genesis of this practice differentiates itself when compared to the history of tattoos from other nations around the world in terms of significance, meaning and modern perspective.
Ci Shen - The Chinese Tattoo
Despite the negative connotation of the Chinese tattoo, there has always been tattooing in China. The Chinese word for tattoo is Ci Shen, literally meaning puncture the body.
The first Chinese tattoos were considered a punishment – sort of a mark of disgrace. Criminals were marked with a face tattoo and forced to live in exile. This practice is called Ci Pei in Chinese.
Even in modern China today, tattoos are considered to be connected with the underworld and triads somehow, although this attitude is slowly changing. Despite the dubious attitudes towards tattooing, there is some evidence that tattooing and other body art are making inroads among Chinese youth today.
The Origin of symbols used for tattoos
One of the most fascinating and intriguing characteristics of Chinese tattoos is the fact that the symbols used for the tattoos mainly come from both China and Japan, even though both countries have usually not been thought of as originators of tattoos. Historic texts reveal that tattoos in China were never a cultural icon or something common among the entire Chinese population. This has created a great deal of fascination, intrigue and uniqueness since almost all tattoos in China offer beautiful characters, symbolize deeper meanings and signify many other values and traditions compared with regular tattoos.
Since China has never been a society where tattoos were widespread, the fact that the characters and symbols present in its tattoos are unique makes the overall history of tattoos even more fascinating. However, only a few numbers of Chinese natives have been able to properly practice tattooing without the respective influence of the social stigma of tattoos in China that has formerly been associated with crime or lower class around the world.
The main reason for why tattooing in China has been an uncommon practice is mainly for the historic association of tattoos with the defamation of the body, as well as for the fact that tattoos in China have been linked to negative connotations such as criminal backgrounds and other questionable activities. This particular way of thinking is still present to some degree in modern China, were parts of the population still associate tattoos with social stigma directly linked to criminals, gangs, the underground world and organized crime.
Tattoos with Chinese minority groups
However, not all tattoos represented in the Chinese culture are linked to negative connotations widely popularized by the common population and culture. There are countless forms and designs of Chinese tattoos that symbolize beautiful and highly unique meanings worthy of attention and permanent display on an individual’s body. As mentioned previously, there are very few Chinese minority groups that still practice tattooing as part of their own cultural identity, some of these minority groups are the Drung (独龙族) and Dai (傣族) tribes present in mainland China, as well as the Li people and its descendants from the Hainan Island.
The tattoo culture with the Drung people
Starting with the first Chinese tribe, the Drung (also called Derung or Dulong) peoples and its tattoo history date back to the Ming Dynasty approximately 350 years ago; the main participants in tattooing were the women present in this period within the Drung tribe who would tattoo their faces as a sign of reaction against the attacks of other neighboring tribes who often denigrated the Drung tribe and frequently took the Drung women as slaves to their own tribes. The Drung women simply saw the power of tattoos marked on their faces as making themselves uglier and less likely to be taken as slaves or be raped when confronted by neighboring tribes. Drung women still continue to tattoo their faces despite the fact that they are no longer attacked by other tribes; they also have the tradition of tattooing their faces as a sign of maturity.
The tattoo culture with the Dai people
The Dai minority tribe present in mainland China has had the ancient tradition of tattooing specific parts of their bodies, specifically in the hands, arms and backs. According to the Dai tradition, the different patterns and the different body parts have different significance. For example, some tattoo patterns have protective power, some can enhance one’s attractiveness, some can improve intelligence, some can cure disease etc. Getting tattoos inked is an extremely painful process. The overall significance of men’s tattoos is seen as a sign of virility, masculinity and strength. The most common Chinese tattoo designs used by the Dai people are large tattoos that represent dragons, beasts or any other kind of ferocious animals. This tradition of tattooing within the Dai minority tribe is still practiced today with the purpose of signifying strength, courage, and determination.
The tattoo culture with the Li people
Among the Li community in the Hainan Island of China, women are the ones that are most commonly tattooed. The Li people has at least 3000 years of tattoo history. Since they do not have their own written language, the tattoos themselves are useful historical records. In the old days, tattoos were inked mainly for religious reasons. More generally, tattoos within the Li tribe signify a rite of passage representing maturity and adulthood for women, where girls between the ages 13 to 15 are tattooed on the neck, throat and face. After a couple of years, each girl is then tattooed on her arms and legs to represent themselves as more mature women with higher responsibilities. Only Li women who are married can get tattooed on their hands, since this specific symbol represents the maturity associated with married women and their respective responsibilities as housewives. The patterns of the tattoos have not changed much throughout the years.
Chinese dragon tattoo
Chinese dragon tattoos are very popular as well. The Chinese dragon is a long snake-like creature, usually with 5 claws and without wings.
As opposed to Western beliefs, the dragon in Chinese culture is a benevolent creature that wards of evil spirits. It symbolizes good luck, fertility, happiness and immortality.
In Chinese culture there is the belief that wearing the image of a dragon on you is considered very unlucky. The Chinese symbol for dragon on the other hand is considered lucky.
Sometimes you see a person with a tattoo of a dragon combined with the Chinese dragon character. This always reminds me of these picture books that are used to teach children how to read. Imagine a tattoo of an eagle with the English word 'Eagle' below it, kind of silly, not?
Chinese Tiger Tattoo
Another popular Chinese tattoo is the tiger tattoo. The tiger is one of the animals of the Chinese zodiac. They are the 3rd animal in the 12-year cycle of the Chinese zodiac.
Here are some supposed characteristics of people born in a tiger year:
-Courageous
-Self-reliant
-Friendly
-Hopeful
-Vain
-Lack of attention and care
Chinese Phoenix Tattoo
The phoenix (aka firebird) is a Chinese mythological creature (it also exists in Greek mythology). In Chinese culture the phoenix is known as Fenghuang and was used to represent the empress.
Chinese phoenix tattoos symbolize:
-High virtue and grace.
-The union of yin and yang.
A phoenix tattoo combined with a dragon symbolizes the union between husband and wife (yin and yang).
The Yin Yang Tattoo
Yin Yang tattoo art is popular in the West and again it's easy to see why: the symbol is simple yet dramatic and can easily be combined or incorporated in other tattoo designs.
Popular yin yang tattoo combinations:
-Yin yang + dragon and/or phoenix tattoo
-Yin yang + dolphin tattoo
-Yin yang + koi tattoo
The yin yang symbol is called Taijitu in Chinese and is a Taoist symbol.
The meaning of the yin yang symbol: yin and yang are the 2 contrary elements of the universe that form a union together (unity of opposites):
-Yin: the black part, female, passive, night, water and earth.
-Yang: the white part, male, active, day, fire and air.
Yin and yang only exist in relation to each other, everything has 2 aspects. This is symbolized by the black dot in the white part and the white dot in the black part of the Taijitu.
Chinese Tattoos today
The main origin, culture and history of Chinese tattoos are directly represented by these three tribes who have captivated the positive essence of Chinese tattoos around the world. Even though the social connotations of tattoos presenting criminal ties in China are still to some degree present today, there is a great deal of attention in the Western hemisphere with regards to the positive symbols represented by a wide variety of tattoos. This current trend based on the preference for Chinese tattoos comes into play due to the overall uniqueness and overall combination of beautiful characters that symbolize many positive meanings of human life, soul and spirit.
Given the divided history of tattoos in China with criminal ties and beautiful meanings on the other side, it is highly recommended to thoroughly research the significance, symbols and characters in order to ensure that the tattoo represents positive ideals and not criminal ties whenever planning to mark onto your skin a Chinese tattoo popularized by Western media and the recently acquired attention around the world in terms of Chinese tattoo designs. Think before you INK!