1st Tattoo - Chinese Characters

ChristopherUno

Hi all,

I lived in Beijing for a year studying Mandarin, am just home. While there I had a Chinese name, 孔胜浩 (Kong Shenghao - Kong is the surname of Confucius and Shenghao means Great/Huge Victory). I really grew attached to it (everyone called me it for a year after all) and the meaning is really good, my teaher gave it to me, almost everyone else just got a phonetic translation of theirs but my name apparently doesn't sound very good in Chinese so she made it up.

I've always wanted a tattoo but could never think of something good to get. When in Hong Kong I read an article about your body telling the story of your life and being like a tapestry (in relation to tattoos) and it got me thinking about possibly getting my Chinese name, as a nice commemoration of my first time living away from home, of my time spent in China etc. I want it to remind me of/represent a very important time of my life and the changes I went through, or something...

I was thinking about getting it on my forearm, written vertically (i.e. Kong at the top, followed by Sheng then Hao just above my wirst) like old Chinese scrolls, which were vertical. Also I'd like to have it written calligraphically (is that a word?), with the brush strokes and all, not just type-face like the characters above. It'd be great if it was my own writing but my characters are fugly and would look crap as a tattoo.

So my question is does anyone know anywhere that does good Chinese tattoos that they'd recommend? Anyone have any themselves (pics would be great!)? And if so did you write them or did you get someone else to do it? I'm mentoring Chinese students starting September and could possibly get some of them to do it. I live in Navan and study in Maynooth, but would be willing to travel to get a good one. Also, my mate (from the Philippines) said I'd just look like a wannabe Asian white boy who watches too much manga. (I don't even watch Asian cartoons! But I am a skinny white boy with glasses.) What's the feeling on here about people getting tattoos from another language? Bearing in mind I'm learning the language and actually know what it means and can write it myself. Also, do forearm tattoos hurt a lot? Cos I'm a bit of a wimp!

Cheers for the help!

michael.etc...

ChristopherUno wrote: »

Hi all,

I lived in Beijing for a year studying Mandarin, am just home. While there I had a Chinese name, 孔胜浩 (Kong Shenghao - Kong is the surname of Confucius and Shenghao means Great/Huge Victory). I really grew attached to it (everyone called me it for a year after all) and the meaning is really good, my teaher gave it to me, almost everyone else just got a phonetic translation of theirs but my name apparently doesn't sound very good in Chinese so she made it up.

I've always wanted a tattoo but could never think of something good to get. When in Hong Kong I read an article about your body telling the story of your life and being like a tapestry (in relation to tattoos) and it got me thinking about possibly getting my Chinese name, as a nice commemoration of my first time living away from home, of my time spent in China etc. I want it to remind me of/represent a very important time of my life and the changes I went through, or something...

I was thinking about getting it on my forearm, written vertically (i.e. Kong at the top, followed by Sheng then Hao just above my wirst) like old Chinese scrolls, which were vertical. Also I'd like to have it written calligraphically (is that a word?), with the brush strokes and all, not just type-face like the characters above. It'd be great if it was my own writing but my characters are fugly and would look crap as a tattoo.

So my question is does anyone know anywhere that does good Chinese tattoos that they'd recommend? Anyone have any themselves (pics would be great!)? And if so did you write them or did you get someone else to do it? I'm mentoring Chinese students starting September and could possibly get some of them to do it. I live in Navan and study in Maynooth, but would be willing to travel to get a good one. Also, my mate (from the Philippines) said I'd just look like a wannabe Asian white boy who watches too much manga. (I don't even watch Asian cartoons! But I am a skinny white boy with glasses.) What's the feeling on here about people getting tattoos from another language? Bearing in mind I'm learning the language and actually know what it means and can write it myself. Also, do forearm tattoos hurt a lot? Cos I'm a bit of a wimp!

Cheers for the help!

Everyone has different opinions on getting inked in a foreign language, and some people particularly frown on them if you don't speak/understand the language yourself. It doesn't matter- it's down to what you think.
Personally I think your story is great, and if you admire the aesthetic appearance of such script, it doesn't matter at all-the fact that you have a background in such languages is just icing on the cake.

I got three stars in colour done on the inside of my forearm last year (it was my first piece) and found that yeah it did hurt. But it wasn't unbearable. It's just that it took about twenty minutes to get used to the feeling, and by the time I did, it was over. Doing outlines on that area I find uncomfortable, but you do settle quickly.

Sorry I dont have any recommendations, but good luck!

ChristopherUno

michael.etc... wrote: »

Everyone has different opinions on getting inked in a foreign language, and some people particularly frown on them if you don't speak/understand the language yourself. It doesn't matter- it's down to what you think.
Personally I think your story is great, and if you admire the aesthetic appearance of such script, it doesn't matter at all-the fact that you have a background in such languages is just icing on the cake.

I got three stars in colour done on the inside of my forearm last year (it was my first piece) and found that yeah it did hurt. But it wasn't unbearable. It's just that it took about twenty minutes to get used to the feeling, and by the time I did, it was over. Doing outlines on that area I find uncomfortable, but you do settle quickly.

Sorry I dont have any recommendations, but good luck!

Cheers for the advice michael.etc... I saw my friend get a tattoo and it looked sore as hell, but he got it across his ribs so maybe that was a bad introduction to tattooing! Good to hear it's bearable.

Yeah I really love the aesthetic of the characters, it was part of the reason for studying it. Was basically hoping someone would say what you said, as the only input I had was "poser"! But I think it's meaningful and the characters are beautiful so screw it!

tread_softly

I think that's a great idea.

I read the title of the thread and thought "here we go again". I expected some guy wanting to get 'faith' or 'strength' in kanji without even having a grasp of the language itself.

Yours is a great reason, very personal and at least you speak the language!

Tattoos in another language don't bother me, so long as you are fully aware of what they mean. Preferably, you should have some sort of knowledge of how to speak/write it yourself.

Myself and the OH have each others names in Japanese katakana inked on our wrists. I love Japanese and have a basic understanding of it, so I was sure I had translated it properly.

As for the manga nerd stereotype, each to their own! I personally love manga and anime and my tattoos reflect that insomuch as I have specific characters tattooed on me! I don't particularly think that having Chinese lettering as a tatt will incur that perception over here. Anyway, as long as you're happy with it, fcuk what anyone else thinks!!

As for where to get it done, I assume you want the characters done in a traditional calligraphy style? Something like this?:


Any competent artist should be able to create that brushstroke effect no problem.

Just have a look around at different portfolios online. Also, the Dublin Tattoo Convention is happening at the D4 hotel over Halloween weekend, maybe consider getting it done there?

There's a thread on this forum with a list of currently confirmed artists for it.

Whatever you do, good luck with it!

ChristopherUno

Thanks tread-softly. Just before I came over here I met a French guy in a hostel who had "I have a little man inside me" or something like that tattooed on his pectoral. He said it was an old Chinese expression about conscience. But he later found out two of the characters were flat out wrong and two more were in the wrong position. So that sort of prejudiced me against people getting tattoos in foreign languages! But the more I think of it the more sure I am that I want to get this tattoo. And like you and your missus if it's personal and you know what it means, why not?

Yeah that's the style, sorry I probably should have posted a pic illustrating it better! Good to know that it shouldn't be too hard to achieve that effect. Hmm I'd never heard of tattoo conventions, though anything with a big following of course has gatherings so I shouldn't be surprised! I'll definitely try and go along and see the range of artistic styles and the amazing imaginations of some people but the thought of getting my first tattoo in front of some pretty heavily inked people is a bit daunting, I don't handle pain very well!

But yeah, I'll check out the portfolios and the artists at the convention and see how things go. It'd probably be best for me to have the characters drawn in the calligraphy style on something before I go to see about getting it done right? So they can see it and get familiar with it and also copy it onto the sheet of plastic (or whatever it is) for the tattoo?

Will post pics when I get it done!