TATTOO - Family

[ChristofferJ]

Hello.

 

I'm looking for symbols to express family.

 

I want them to symbolize my close relationship and appreciation to my parents.

 

 

I don't know whether the one (left) symbol can describe family itself or it has to be combined with the last one.

 

What does exactly mean "family".

 

I hope someone can help me.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

/Christoffer

[renzhe]

I'd go with 家.

家庭 feels a bit more like "household".

[ChristofferJ]

Hi Renzhe

Thanks for replying!

I got that advice before, I just want to be sure!

 

Can you tell me, what the last letter means if it stands alone (庭)

[johnk]

It means "hall", "front courtyard", "front yard", "law court"

 

You can check yourself here

[ChristofferJ]

Okay, thanks alot.

 

What would you say the letters for family are?

 

Christoffer.

[skylee]

What would you say the letters for family are?

 

I don't understand the question.  What letters?

[ouyangjun]

Or if you want it to show your appreciation to your parents and respect for them, you could get a tattoo of 孝. It is a very Chinese concept and key part of Confucianism.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filial_piety

[ChristofferJ]

 

I don't understand the question.  What letters?

 

I mean the letters that symbolize family.

 According to you, is it then 家 alone or 家庭 combined or maybe a 3rd combination?

 

Hope you understand my bad English

[Lu]

Chinese uses characters, not letters or symbols, that is probably part of the confusion. The character 孝 means something like 'love and respect of a child for his/her parents and elders', and would be a decent choice here.

That said, if this is for a tattoo: please don't. It looks like you have no connection to China or the Chinese language and know very little about it, which is fine, but it means that the odds of such a tattoo going wrong are very high. Do not get Chinese characters for a tattoo. If you are indeed planning a tattoo, perhaps consider your parents' names or initials, or a picture of something that symbolizes your family, or something. Do not get a Chinese character tattoo.

[li3wei1]

Yes, getting a tattoo in a language your family doesn't understand to express your close relationship and appreciation to them is like getting a tattoo of the Pepsi logo to symbolise your eternal love for your spouse.

[SiMaKe]

If you are going for "exotic" or "unusual", you could try using one of the older variants of 孝 below. This way even fewer people will understand what it means.

 

Seal script

Jinwen

Jianbo
（抱歉。有时候，自作聪明者。  ）

[ChristofferJ]

Thanks for your advice!!