Don't Make These Chinese Symbol Tattoo Mistakes
By: Becky McClure
The Chinese people have a highly developed writing system that
evolved at least 3000 years ago. Ancient writing has been found
written on bone, brass vessels or pottery and bamboo strips.
The Chinese writing system has no alphabet, but relies on a large
number of symbols that represents spoken concepts or ideas. It is
important to note that a Chinese symbol is NOT a pictograph but
represents the entire spoken word.
And dont even look for the Chinese alphabet because there isnt one.
The alphabet is a Latin invention, which is a whole new can of
worms.
The Kangxi Dictionary was created in 1710 A.D. by imperial decree
to compile 47,035 symbols. Dont worry; the average Chinese person
only needs to know five thousand symbols to pretty much read
anything that is written in the Chinese language.
Now, lets talk about mistakes which is the biggest block when
someone thinks about getting a Chinese symbol tattoo. What you
think the Chinese symbol tattoo means, may not be necessarily
so.
As you can imagine, before rushing off to get the Chinese symbols
tattooed on your skin DOUBLE CHECK with someone who CAN read and
understand Chinese. And resist the urge to pull over the Chinese
waiter and ask him to write out the Chinese symbol for you. He may
not know exactly what meaning you really want and may
unintentionally give you the wrong symbol.
You see, Chinese symbols are complex and can easily be mean
something other than intended. Get the wrong one and your new
tattoo will be a permanent source of embarrassment to you!
Another fact is that Chinese Calligraphy is a precise art and
sometimes strokes can be missing in your tattoo design. But dont
panic! Your tattoo artist can easily fix those mistakes.
However, be warned that the artistic flair of your tattoo artist
can turn your Chinese characters into gibberish.
Another thing, Chinese names are written in the reversed order.
Which mean your last name goes before your first.
Let me pause here for just a minute this is where things may get a
little more complicated. Because your name is probably foreign to
the Chinese language -- Chinese symbols will have to be picked out
to pronounce your name. Remember there are no Chinese alphabets. So
you will have to pick out one or more Chinese symbols that
represent your spoken name.
Do you see what I mean? Getting a Chinese symbol tattoo can become
a nightmare if done hurriedly without any thoughts whatsoever!
Nonetheless, Chinese symbol tattoos are very popular today because
they are really beautiful. And because most of us in the Western
Hemisphere cannot read Chinese, Chinese symbol tattoos becomes an
exotic form of expression.
And lets face the fact that the real reason most guys probably want
a Chinese symbols tattoo is because they are usually associated
with martial arts or karate flicks. Men!
Becky McClure believes that the MOST important word after you made the decision to get inked is Patience! Pick the right tattoo design. Pick the right location on you. And then pick the best artist you can find for your new body art.
Article Source: http://www.articledashboard.com