Chinese Tattoo Characters - Strong Woman

Stacy sent in this confirmation request with the image of her tattoo below:

"1) I was told it meant "strong woman".
2) On my forearm.
3) This tattoo is above another tattoo that not any other Chinese characters."

Hi Stacy,

The design says exactly what you were told: "strong woman", but a bit more. The character for "woman" used here is specifically for that of a woman/married woman/wife, so implying that it's an older woman, not a girl.

Hope that's what you're looking for!

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More info on the Traditional Chinese character 婦: http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E5%A9%A6

Chinese Tattoo Character - Romantic Love

Jess sent in the confirmation request below with the image:

"I was told that the symbol means love but I have been to other tattoist since and they don't have this one. It is in my wrist. I have since had my name put underneath it!"

Hi Jess,

This is the Simplified Chinese character for "to love" or "to feel attached to" specifically in a romantic sense, and not, say, the love for your parents, your siblings, for your pets, or for the world, but for a romantic partner who you're in love with.

Since this "love" is considered a specific kind of love, it's not surprising that you can't find it at the tattoo parlor sample books, which (as seen on this blog) aren't full proof when it comes to getting the correct Chinese characters.

However, adding your name under this existing "romantic love" tattoo would imply that one is "in love with [name; namely oneself]". It isn't an ideal design, but as far as acccuracy goes, your Chinese character tattoo is correctly written.

Hope that makes sense.

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More on the Simplified Chinese character for 恋: http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E6%81%8B

Chinese Tattoo Symbol for "Beautiful"

The following email was from MzToya who had forgotten the meaning of the Chinese tattoo she got on the back of her neck, a design chosen from a tattoo parlor book.

"I got this tattoo on my neck maybe eight years ago...picked it out of a book....just got the birds added. I believed it to mean beauty or beautiful....not sure.."

Hi MzToya,

Yes - the character is the formal word for "beautiful" - correctly written in Traditional Chinese. Other meanings include "handsome", "seductive", "fine", "colorful", etc. Although this is not commonly used in the day-to-day language (more literary in a sense), it is a common name for baby girls in China. So no worries if you can't find it in the dictionary, it is absolutely correct.

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More on the Traditional Chinese character for 妍: http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E5%A6%8D

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.