Difficult Tattoo Translation Please.

[dnbvic]

Hi Everyone,

 

I'd like to get "Eternal Soulmate" tattooed.

 

I've been searching and found so many different symbols, it would be appreciated if somebody could translate into normal Chinese symbols "Eternal Soulmate"

 

Plenty thanks in advance!

 

 

[edelweis]

Have you considered that Chinese culture might not have a "soulmate" concept that exactly matches the Western concept(s)?

Perhaps show us what you found and someone might explain whether it is suitable.

[dnbvic]

Hi, Thanks for your reply,

 

So far we have found many variations of soulmate, between 2 - 5 symbols.

 

What i'd really like is the exact Chinese symbol for "Soul" and then "mate"

 

I understand that the Chinese culture may not recognize the complete word, it would have significance to us though.

 

Here are chinese symbols for "Soul"

 

https://www.google.co.uk/search?espv=2&biw=1920&bih=935&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=mate+chinese+symbol&oq=mate+chinese+symbol&gs_l=img.12...0.0.2.249481.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0..0.0....0...1c..64.img..0.0.0.btQ7rg4Lq98&dpr=1&cad=cbv&sei=e9lMVqSaIMHnUr_ntbAO#tbm=isch&q=soul+chinese+symbol

 

then "mate"

 

https://www.google.co.uk/search?espv=2&biw=1920&bih=935&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=mate+chinese+symbol&oq=mate+chinese+symbol&gs_l=img.12...0.0.2.249481.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0..0.0....0...1c..64.img..0.0.0.btQ7rg4Lq98&dpr=1&cad=cbv&sei=e9lMVqSaIMHnUr_ntbAO#safe=off&tbm=isch&q=mate+chinese+symbol

 

As you can see, there are so many different variations, just don't know which is the right one, hence us posting on here!

[skylee]

在天願作比翼鳥

在地願為連理枝

[somethingfunny]

If you get a Chinese translation of 'soul' tattooed together with a Chinese translation of 'mate' it won't make any sense.  That's not how translation (of any language) works and is the reason the world is full of Chinese people saying "I very like Chinese food".  Would you recommend a Chinese person get that tattoo if they wanted an English language one?

 

I don't know enough about Chinese perceptions of the soul to venture any recommendations based on what you've found for that.  Needless to say it's as complex as it would be in the west, but probably a completely different concept.  As for mate, I think you can probably guess that 情人 is pretty close to what you want.  Or perhaps 爱人 would also be appropriate.  However, neither of these contain any notion of 'soul' which appears to be a bit of a deal breaker for you.  Correct?  What exact idea are you trying to get by the specific use of 'soul'?  Is it a religious thing?

[ChenKai9301]

Enternal = 永恒

Soul = 灵魂

Mate = 伴侣

 

Eternal Soulmate = 永恒的灵魂伴侣 

[Clarice Zhao]

夙世之缘

[somethingfunny]

Yeah, thats a translation alright, but at the risk of sounding like a p***k, please don't get that tattooed onto yourself.