Hi. Can someone help translate my tattoo please?

[signal]

Hi all.

 

I had a tattoo done several years ago expecting the character for "loyalty", but I'm now not so sure it was done correctly. I have a few Chinese friends now, and they say it can't be defined without another character.

 

I've attached a pic of my tattoo.

 

Thank you in advance for all of your kind help

[aone]

榮 is  tranditional chinese character ,  used to  describle plants are growing welll .  It has no meaning  connected  to  loyalty(忠)

[TheBigZaboon]

Has ignoring the answers people took time to give you in the other thread worked out for you?

You seem to have gotten the same answer here. That is, the character has a number of intrinsic meanings, but when used in Chinese, it is seldom used alone. Without another character, you are at the mercy of the person who reads it. Characters, and the words they are used to express evolved over time to suit the needs of the people who used them to communicate. Tatoos for Westerners who can't read Chinese weren't part of the bargain. Starting new threads after ignoring the answers already given to you won't change that fact.

The people who read your first thread will also see the second thread. I think it's a bit presumptuous to think they won't.

In any case, in spite of the popularity of tattoos in the West, the practice seems to be frowned upon in China. Tattoos, along with branding, were often used to mark criminals. And they were often put right up on the face where you couldn't hide them. Several of the main characters in the famous novel Water Margins were righteous citizens who were unjustly marked with tattoos or brands by corrupt officials, leading them to take their revenge on the offenders in spectacular fashion.

The character you have is neither offensive or foolish. It seems to be reasonably well written, too. So it's nothing to be ashamed of. But face facts. Most Westerners who see it won't be able to read it, and most Chinese will think it's just another peculiar custom engaged in by these quaint foreigners. Think of it as if you had the words "shelf life" or "subsidiary ledger" written on your body in a place where everybody could see them.

I do think you owe the people who answered your question originally an apology, however.

But that's just my opinion.

TBZ

[Kamille]

Hi there, signal! Howdy! We met on the other topic.

 

That said, don't worry too much about tattoos being "frowned upon in China" and just come to Taiwan: we're just having a great time getting crazy tattoos here and it's cool by everyone.

[Demonic_Duck]

Tattoos are not traditionally accepted in Chinese culture, due to a mixture of criminal associations and the fact that marking your body is seen as unfilial. Still, you'll be hard-pressed to find a modern Chinese person who has a problem with tattoos (unless it's their kids getting them).

 

Saying that, I doubt any Chinese person would ever get 榮 as a tattoo, because it seems arrogant. The meaning is similar to English "honor", but only in the sense of external honor - for example, an award being a great honor, or winning honor in battle. It doesn't carry the meaning of internal honor, i.e. moral integrity, which is what I assume most people with tattoos of this character intend it to mean.

 

It definitely doesn't mean "loyalty", which would be 忠.

 

To "fix" it, you could change it to something like “以忠為榮” (to regard loyalty as an honor). Though you'd obviously want to make sure to match the font.

[signal]

@ TheBigZaboon

 

 

Has ignoring the answers people took time to give you in the other thread worked out for you?

 

I'm terribly sorry if it appeared to you that way. 

 

When I made the first thread, I thought that it was not correctly posted as it did not appear in the forum. I missed the popup where it said there was moderation in the works.

 

So I started the second thread.

 

I can always delete this thread if need be, as it appears I have wrongly offended you.

[lips]

Maybe people would think that 榮 is your Chinese name.

But it's not that big a deal, as least not compared to tihs:

http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/51513-another-tattoo-translation/

[TheBigZaboon]

@signal

Please don't feel there is any need to apologize to me. I obviously shot my big mouth off far too soon. That's my fault. I broke my own rule of waiting for others to post first. It's me who should apologize to you. I'm sorry for my out-of-turn and unwarranted comments.

Tattoos are sometimes a contentious topic around here. Westerners seem to think tattoos are an Oriental custom, and they are in some cultures. But they have vastly different meanings.

I live in Japan, and tattoos are not only "frowned on," but can get you excluded from both public and private facilities. This is due to an association between tattoos and membership in organized criminal activity. My wife and I belong to a sports club where exposed tattoos are forbidden, member or not. This rule is common in hot springs resorts as well. Tattoos are strictly prohibited in a lot of public facilities, too. There are often stories on TV about young mothers who resort to tattoo removals that involve hideous scarring, just so they can take their children to the pool in the summer.

That said, tattoos are as popular in the counterculture here as they are in the West. And they are spreading among ordinary young people, too. And of course, as tattooed tourists flood Japan in the years leading up to the Olympics in 2020, it becomes harder to enforce the rules. But opposition dies hard. Last year, the city of Osaka tried to make all city employees report any tattoos they had in order to decide whether they had to be removed.

In any case, this is just long-winded background to accompany my apologies for speaking out of turn. I am sorry, and will try not to do it again. I'm afraid I have not given you a pleasant wecome to what is normally a very friendly forum.

TBZ

[signal]

@TheBigZaboon

 

No harm, no foul

 

Thank you for the "long-winded background" - I found it very interesting.

[onebir]

Tattooing is illegal in Korea & ID pictures can't show tattoos or body modifications - photography studios Photoshop them out. (Source: recent Youtube documentary, forgot exact title.)

 

OTOH Thailand has traditional Buddhist amulet/mandala tattoos for good luck.

[XinRen]

This word does not describe plants are growing well.. It has the meaning :"glorify"

 

for example: 荣耀上帝 means glorify our God

[lips]

This word does not describe plants are growing well.. It has the meaning :"glorify"

榮 can mean both of the above. The first meaning is extended to mean "prosperous", as in 繁榮。

榮 can also mean flower, and, as already mentioned in a previous post, is a surname.