What’s with the trend for Chinese character tattoos these days? It seems that everyone has caught on into the Oriental vibe and intends to permanently etch it into their skin. Chinese tattoos look cool, there’s no doubt about that, but the language itself is designed in such a way that using the wrong character can throw a tattoo’s meaning completely off base. Britney Spears had a tattoo which she thought meant “different” but actually meant “strange” (a dose of poetic justice), and you may similarly pick a cool-looking character at a tattoo shop which may mean “duck” for all you know (go figure). If you’re insistent on having a Chinese tattoo on your thigh or neck or where else, make sure that you do your research before you let that needle come anywhere near your skin.
If you aren’t a native Chinese and are not especially familiar with its subtle nuances of meaning, try to consult someone who is a native speaker about your choice of design. Talk to them about the exact message you want your tattoo to imply, and solicit their recommendations; it is probable that there will be varied suggestions as to which characters you should opt for – the Chinese language is that complex. In stark contrast to English, written Chinese is phonetic, intended on representing the spoken word as closely as possible; the characters you end up with should consequently look and sound right, all the while being as close a translation to your message as possible.
Also, try not to impose your preferences on the person you consult, asking for characters which mean a specific concept; several characters may mean roughly the same thing, some characters being more off than others. It’s better if you explain the meaning you want to convey and ask the person you consult to come up with a similar idiom in their language, rather than come up with a literal translation of your message. If you want a translation of your name, take note that Chinese comes in many dialects, and each may have a different transliteration of your name. There are certain Western names which do not have a serviceable translation into Chinese as well; in this case you can ask for a new name which is the best description of you as a person. Be sure to do this with someone you trust, and consult it with others before you keep it.
Once you’ve zeroed in on particular characters, ask native speakers of the language to write them on paper, and these should be the ones which you should take to your tattoo artist. Don’t make the mistake of picking out characters from a wall on a whim, or ask your tattoo artist for recommendations if he or she isn’t too keen on the language. Since you can also choose the font style for your tattoo, use common sense in picking out a script; needless to say, a menacing tattoo which says “dragon” would look stupid in a cartoon script – if you think that there’s a slim chance that you would pull off such a blunder, remember that even those who should know better have made worse mistakes, and you wouldn’t want to become a laughing stock for a such a permanent error.
