Chinese tattoo art

Chinese Tattoo Translation - Is Your Translation Correct?


Have you ever wondered what your name would look like when translated into Chinese? Chinese calligraphy is by it's nature very artistic, and with the various scripts available, translated English language and names can make a very appealing tattoo.

Did you know that to sit down and confidently read a Chinese daily newspaper or magazine, you would need to know at least 3000 Chinese characters? Even a brief study of Chinese calligraphy will leave you in no doubt that the actual process of creating a Chinese character with single brushstrokes is most definitely an art form. Brushstrokes per character can range anything from the word "one", which is a single stroke of the brush, up to the character which denotes the word "talkative", which contains sixty four strokes!

If you are looking for a Chinese tattoo translation you will soon realise that there is more to it than at first meets the eye. Modern Chinese language is what is known as logo-syllabic, which means that each character denotes one syllable. Each individual character has its own meaning, although many are only used with a combination of other characters. It therefore goes without saying that to properly translate a word or phrase from English to either modern or traditional Chinese (there are are two forms of Chinese in use today) that a reliable translation is going to be hard to come by.

If you are serious about getting a Chinese character tattoo there are many places offering a quick translation, but as is sadly becoming more common, these translations are often vague, and more often than not, incorrect. ( By Richard Genber )

Chinese tattoo art

Chinese Tattoos Tips

Articles By Ong Hui Woo

I just saw a Caucasian woman with a Chinese tattoo that says, ‘love birds’ in Chinese. But that’s what she thinks. When read in the Chinese context, it means either you love birds or and you are a bird lover! On the naughty side, it can also mean you love the male organ, you know, the reproductive one. If you don’t believe me, trying showing it to anyone in China or Taiwan.

So it is really crucial for Westerners who want to tattoo Chinese characters on their body to really know what it means and symbolize. The Chinese calligraphy may look impressive, especially when combined with a Chinese dragon tattoo, but get it wrong and you may be looking like a clown with a puzzle tattoo instead. And by the way, Chinese tattoos are not Japanese tattoos. Some characters may be the same, but most of them have different meanings in the different cultural context.

For those thinking of inking the Chinese characters tattoos, I would suggest consulting a Chinese speaking tattoo artist before the procedure. Unless you want to look like a victim of a practical joke, it’s better to get it right the first time because tattoos are permanent and removal can be painful. Chinese tattoos with just the characters or writing alone can look quite boring unless the calligraphy is done tastefully, which is rare unless the tattoo artist is trained to write and have practiced Chinese calligraphy for a period of time.

I would suggest combining it with Chinese symbols to give a better impact. The Chinese phoenix tattoo is a very powerful symbol for women and the Chinese dragon is a good one for men. Both are mystical creatures from Heaven and symbolize power and luck. If you are more ambitious, you can put all the twelve Zodiac tattoo signs on your back. But you better be tall for this project.

If you want a list of Chinese characters and their meanings, you can visit and download the Chinese Tattoos for free at our website listed below.