Lanterns Up

“Chinese Tattoos are all the rage. From NBA players to goatied hippies, the exotic elegance of the mysterious Orient has proven irresistible. While it is undeniable that classic Chinese characters have a universal beauty which can easily be appreciated regardless of whether one can understand the often subtle meanings conveyed by the ancient designs, some Westerners have permanently embossed their bodies with symbols that are at times oddly nonsensical and at other times are bizarrely meaningless.

The aesthetic appeal of flowing Chinese calligraphy is easy to understand. “Mom” in Chinese undoubtedly adds a certain intellectualism to this archetypically simple tattoo. Chinese tattoos are a more clever way to express your message.

And while tattoos have always been conversation pieces, a Chinese tattoo adds another element, since the typical viewer will need to ask you the meaning, which allows the wearer to not only translate the characters, but to explain the story behind the decision to make such a lasting statement. The adoption of this fad by the rich, famous and beautiful has certainly made this a more popular trend, but may also make it more “yesterday” as well.”

Consult a native speaker. This will obviously be necessary to get a Chinese name, but should be a required step in getting a Chinese tattoo no matter what. Most universities should have an international population and it should be possible to find a native speaker. Don’t be stupid: fifth-generation Chinese Americans don’t speak any more Chinese than you do.

In the end, this is your tattoo and it primarily has meaning for you. Since it is intended for a Western audience, the Chinese meaning is not critical. Chinese tattoos are great conversation pieces and allow you to express yourself in an interesting and exotic way. Aesthetics should be the first consideration, and Chinese characters are very well suited to that purpose.

In the history, there are some different sayings about the genesis of Chinese numbers.

Modern scholar Guo Moruo thought that ancient people used fingers to indicate numbers and thus Chinese numbers gradually came into being. Chinese numbers are pictographs: one (), two (), three (), four (), five () ……

Similar to numbers in other languages, Chinese numbers were originated from primitive counting activities of the Han nationality. In ancient China, people also used conches, knots of chord, bamboo, wood and so on as counting tools. Numbers written inJiaguwen(scripts on tortoise shells and animal bones) show chord knotting in primitive counting.

The Chinese numbers of from one to ten, hundred (), thousand (), ten thousand () were evolved from the above-mentionedJiaguwen. With increase of knowledge and development of thinking of ancient people, the number of Chinese numbers kept increasing such as 100 million (), mega- () and so on.

Arabic numerals were induced into China in about the 13th century but it was not until the early 20^thcentury that they were widely adopted in people’s cultural life.