New Members grandecola Posted April 30, 2011 at 02:26 AM New Members Report Share Posted April 30, 2011 at 02:26 AM Hello Everyone! My girlfriend got a tattoo a long time ago thinking it was the Chinese character for the letter "R". I explained to her that Chinese characters don't work the way western alphabets do, and there is no letter "R". Now she's concerned about what its meaning is. Could you help identify this character? Is it even legible/meaningful? Thank you! http://img813.imageshack.us/i/tattoocrop.jpg/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imron Posted April 30, 2011 at 03:43 AM Report Share Posted April 30, 2011 at 03:43 AM It means: ordinary, common; often, usually. But it's not written very well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skylee Posted April 30, 2011 at 04:06 AM Report Share Posted April 30, 2011 at 04:06 AM It could also mean constant / consistent. Take a look -> http://cdict.net/?q=%E5%B8%B8 I agree that it is not well written. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aristotle1990 Posted April 30, 2011 at 04:10 AM Report Share Posted April 30, 2011 at 04:10 AM The more classical meaning of this character is "eternal" or "unchanging" (as in the famous line from the Dao De Jing: 道可道非常道, the Dao that can be discussed is not the eternal Dao), although a more common tattoo character for that is 永 -- I think a Chinese person might think having 常 on your body looks a bit odd. Certainly nothing wrong with it, though. (Of course, lots of Chinese are going to look down on tattoos anyway -- I once overheard a Chinese teacher telling this tattooed white girl that Confucius sternly disapproved of such activity. I couldn't help but interrupt and call out her 封建思想...) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Members grandecola Posted April 30, 2011 at 01:59 PM Author New Members Report Share Posted April 30, 2011 at 01:59 PM imron and skylee-- Thank you for identifying it. I can see why you say it's poorly written. Obviously a bit a western stylization has been added, needlessly, but I still like it. aristotle-- Thank you so much for mentioning the line from the Dao De Jing and the classical significance of the character. It may be odd for an Chinese person to have it as a tattoo, but I think that "eternal" or "unchanging" is a really beautiful concept and I can't wait to tell my girlfriend that it's so much more profound than a simple "R". Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted April 30, 2011 at 02:08 PM Report Share Posted April 30, 2011 at 02:08 PM I hope that poor girl never ran into Confucius. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh Posted April 30, 2011 at 10:05 PM Report Share Posted April 30, 2011 at 10:05 PM I'd say it's best translated as 'eternal'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hofmann Posted May 1, 2011 at 05:47 AM Report Share Posted May 1, 2011 at 05:47 AM But it's written so poorly that whatever it means is overshadowed by the bad handwriting. Why is the 巾 so big? A far-fetched interpretation would be that it wants to emphasize the older meaning, "skirt" (裳). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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