The Chinese -Simplified- Characters for the word FRIENDSHIP

Colton sent a Chinese tattoo confirmation for his tattoo below:

Hi Colton,

This is a correctly written design of the word "friendship" in simplified Chinese characters (as opposed to traditional Chinese characters).

For a brief intro to the differences between SIMPLIFIED Chinese characters and TRADITIONAL Chinese characters:

    *  Simplified Chinese characters are used in China and Singapore. Traditional characters are used in Hong Kong and Taiwan, and will also be seen on most Chinese menus and newspapers found overseas (US, UK, Australia, Canada, etc).

    * Character simplification was part of Mao Ze-Dong's pre-Cultural Revolution in 1960's China, which explains why Hong Kong and Taiwan continue using traditional characters. Because the simplified system is based on the traditional one, many characters are actually exactly the same in both systems.

Source: http://www.learnchineseez.com/learning-chinese-languages/

Therefore, depending on your audience, or if political ideals matter to you, the system of writing does make a difference.

"No Regrets"... or "I don't regret it?"

Mike sent in this Chinese tattoo confirmation with the following message:

"It is on my arm. In college I looked up No Regrets online (English to Chinese) translator.  I have been told at my tai chi class that "Unless you are trying to impress a Chinese linguistics professor" you're fine.  I have no idea though, I thought I had done my homework, but who knows.  You help is greatly appreciated.  I do know the first character appears to be Bu', for no or not.

Thanks so much for the help!!"

Hi Mike,

It could be loosely translated as "no regrets", but the word "regret" (jiu in pinyin) here should really be translated as "remorse". Regret carries no explicit admission that one is responsible for an incident, while remorse implies a sense of guilty responsibility and a greater feeling of personal pain and anguish. So in a way, you're really saying you feel no remorse for something that you directly, depending on different parties' perspectives, may or may not have responsibility in the specific consequence (i.e. you do not regret doing something you have already done).

So it may not be the perfect translation (depending on your intention), but is definitely not an incorrect tattoo.

I have attached in the file the correct translation for "No Regrets" if it had been the sense that prevailed in the English language.

Hope that makes sense!

Chinese Tattoo or Japanese Tattoo?

Kimberly sent me the Chinese tattoo confirmation below:

"I was told that it meant "Love Hurts." I do not remember what language, but I believe it is Chinese. I want to know if it's correct or not. If not, please send me the correct image because I can't find it anywhere, and if there is a different meaning to the tattoo I have, please let me know what it is.

Sincerly,
  ~Kimberly"

Hi Kimberly,

As far as I can tell, this is a Japanese Kanji tattoo. Japanese Kanji is derived from the system of writing "with" Chinese characters. Although they look the same (meaning that an average Chinese who does not read or speak any Japanese could understand these characters), their meanings could sometimes vary in the two languages (e.g. the word "geisha" in Japanese means "prostitute" in Chinese).

Unfortunately I am not Japanese and cannot offer any reliable insight. This reads to me as "love" and "pain", and something that is in Japanese that I cannot understand. Although the characters mean "love" and "pain" individually, the grammar is incorrect in Chinese, and I would hardly read it as "love hurts" in the Chinese language.

(I have attached the translation in Japanese for "Love Hurts" below the picture *Click to view Source)

I would suggest that you look for a Japanese translator for further clarification.

Thank you and good luck!

A Chinese Tattoo - More than just Early Morning

Irakli sent in this Chinese tattoo confirmation email indicating that this tattoo is on his "back right upper side".

Hi Irakli,

Here is a list of all the possible meanings of this Chinese character:

1. the fifth of the twelve Earthly Branches which in combination with the Heavenly Stems were used by the ancients to designate years, months, and days
2. 5th earthly branch; 7-9 a.m.
3. early morning

The character is correctly written (no mistakes at all), and there is not really an other meaning that would risk negative interpretation. Furthermore, the placement you mentioned should not lead to any misunderstandings.

Chinese Tattoo for Hate or Hatred

Carlos sent in this tattoo confirmation with the following:

"1. I've been told it means hate.
2. Upper back/neck area.
3. The symbol is inside a flaming scroll.

Thank you."

Hi Carlos,

It does, more or less, look like the Chinese character for "hate" or "hatred".

I cannot see very clearly due to the quality of the picture, but it does look a bit off here and there to me (e.g. the left side should be more detailed; the upper right four mouths were not supposed to look like mouths). I have attached the correct character for your own comparison and evaluation as to whether you'd like to have it redone the correct way. Although I am able to see the character and understand what it is, it's definitely better to have an exactly correct version.

3 Chinese Tattoo Characters - A Matter of Symbol Placement

Regina sent in this Chinese tattoo confirmation with the message and attachment below:

"My tattoo is 3 characters long. The first character is supposed to be eternal, the second one is supposed to be love and the third one is supposed to be happiness. Mine is between my shoulder baldes and my husband has a matching one on his stomach."

Hi Regina,

Individually they do mean what you mentioned. I say "individually" because of the positioning of the three words - which when read in Chinese sounds directly translated from English (it's not authentic to have 3 words next to each other that are not part of the same phrase). But this is a common error with Chinese tattoos -- and most often non-speakers get them as personal reminders. And I bet that no Chinese person will ever say "that's wrong".

The word "eternal" is more commonly seen with 2 characters.

But the good news is, none of the characters themselves are wrong. Although, on the word "happiness", I'd suggest that you go back to the parlor and add a dot - like the second character on http://chineseculture.about.com/library/symbol/blcc_happiness.htm . It's probably the font and the drawing of the design that made it disappear. But without the dot, the character is technically incorrect (i.e. kind of like spelling the English word "happiness" with one p).

Steel or Iron?

Travis sent the following with a picture of his tattoo attached:

"My tattoo is located on my arm. When I was in the store they told me the symbol means "steel". The book I got it out of says the same but I looked up the symbol for steel and its not the same symbol. This is my only tattoo."

Hi Travis,

This is the simplified Chinese character of the word "iron". By itself I would probably not stretch it as far as "steel" - as steel is a byproduct of iron, and the word "steel" consists of one more characters.

The reason you see a different character is most likely because traditional Chinese characters are more commonly used in books outside of China (simplified Chinese is used in the People's Republic of China implemented as part of the pre-revolution (around 1950's), while Taiwan, Hong Kong, and most overseas Chinese communities continue to use traditional Chinese, which dates back much longer).