My philosophy in a Chinese character tattoo

[PaddyS]

Hey everyone.

 

I've just come back to my home country Germany after spending 8 months in Hong Kong and also Mainland China, working there as an Outdoor Instructor. I've played with the idea for months to get some words tattooed on my body, words that form my philosophy and should remind me of keep following it. After my time in China and simply because of the beauty of the signs I want to get this tattoo in Chinese characters. I had a friend there who helped me find the fitting characters for what I want to express. So I put together a picture which shows all 7 words that I want to get. Of course I trust my friend that everything is how I want it but I think it's always good to get a second (or more) opinion. So if anybody would like to read through my Chinese characters and tell me if they fully symbolize what I want to express, that would be very much appreciated. I don't speak any Chinese myself sadly (as I spent most time in Hong Kong and/or surrounded by English speaking people). 

 

P.S. The second symbol is not how I want it. I am still trying to find the perfect one there. I'm looking for a something that represents Love, but as I want two characters, I was thinking about "Equal Love", so love for yourself, other people, animals and nature in the same way. Alternatively maybe also Love&Respect, but this might be 3 characters I can imagine. 

 

1. Gratitude - to be thankful and to appreciate everything you have

2. Equal Love, which means the same love for yourself, other people, animals and nature

3. Ambition - to dream big and strive for something better, a better world and a better self

4. Faith - to believe in your dream and whatever you want to do, also: to have faith in god, the universe, or whatever you wanna call it

5. Devotion - to give everything in whatever you do

6. Self-Discipline - to stay strong against distractions, to keep going even after you fall down

7. Patience - to not want too much too fast, to stay calm and peaceful

 

 

 

 

 

[skylee]

I think tattooing those 14 characters is not a good idea. Sorry.

I have no comments on their meanings or if they accurately reflect what you want.

[Demonic_Duck]

真愛 is more like true love, in a romantic sense. Not what you're looking for at all. 博愛 would be closer, but still not quite the same. Also 奉獻 isn't really "devotion". What you're taking about would be more like 專心 or 一心.

The others are close to what you want, but agree with skylee that it's not a good idea for a tattoo. They don't have enough coherence or poetic resonance together. If you really want to, commission a calligrapher to make a wall-hanging with them or something, instead.

[PaddyS]

Thanks for your help regarding the letters. My friend also suggested me 博愛 saying universal love. I just think it is too noble. Anybody else has another suggestion how to express "equal love" - "love for all beings"? 

 

Also, somebody else has an opinion on  專心 instead of 奉獻 for devotion, meaning "to commit and give everything to what you do"?

 

Thanks a lot guys!

 

...

 

Off Topic:

 

I don't think there is a code which says that tattoos need to be poetic, neither that the words need to have coherence. They do have neither in English. They do have a meaning for me, every single one by itself and also all of them together. I just chose the Chinese characters simply because it's more beautiful and also to remind myself of the time when I developed them (which was in China). 

[Shelley]

Are you going to have all of those characters as a tattoo?

 

I understand you think it doesn't matter because its just for you, but imagine how people who can read chinese will react.

 

If you really believe in these things and want to declare as much to world ( which is what IMO you are doing with a tattoo) why not have it in a language that the people who you would want to share it with can understand.

 

If you must have it in chinese, pick one of the 2 characters that mean the most and have them done by a tattoo artist skilled in chinese characters and create a thing of beauty, not ridicule.

[PaddyS]

I didn't want to discuss why or why not to get a tattoo. I am asking for help and advice regarding the translations of the words. But now again to clarify:

 

Again, there is no code that says what or what not to get as a tattoo. In this case it is a tattoo ment for myself, it is going to be on the side of my upper body, so rarely visible by anybody. It is to remind MYSELF at what I believe in, not to show to anybody. If somebody can see and read it, then even better. If somebody is interested and wants to hear what it means, fine as well. I have other tattoos that are ment to be seen and understood by other people. Two different reasons to get a tattoo.

 

So now, can anybody maybe help me with the translations? Thanks guys!

[li3wei1]

So you'll probably want to do them in mirror reverse, so they'll make sense when you look at them in the mirror. Then again, if it's for your own benefit, why do them in Chinese?

[PaddyS]

Because I like it this way - end of the discussion. I did not ask about opinions on the idea of the tattoo. This post is clearly aimed for help with the translations. So if you don't want to do that, just ignore the post. 

 

Everyone who would like to help me out:

 

My Chinese friend suggested to me 博爱 or 兼爱, both pretty much meaning "Universal Love", the closest she could think about as describing "Equal Love for all beings". Which one do you guys think is more fitting? Do they include Love for oneselve? 

 

Thanks in advance!

[Lumbering Ox]

Not that you care, but you are effectively saying that your philosophy will never change, that you won't have other perhaps stronger preferences in the future like bacon like most rational people or driving your enemies before you and hearing the lamentations of your women like Conan the barbarian and some insignificant Mongolian.

 

OK I joke about ways your philosophy can change, but seriously, people change, tattoos don't.

[Shelley]

people change, tattoos don't.

 

 

Excellent, 4 words that explain it all.

[PaddyS]

What the hell is wrong with you guys? I came to this forum to ask for advice from people who speak the language better than I do and all I heard so far is opinions from everybody about things that are completely not your business. 

 

But I like my tattoos enough to be happy to explain to people the reason behind them. 

 

First of all, this specific tattoo developed over the last years which I spent travelling and exploring myself, I can say finding my philosophy. I agree that philosophies change - to a certain degree - all the time. And tattoos don't - well analysed. That is exactly why I'm getting this tattoo. Because the mind can so easily by influenced... by society, by the environment, by our circumstances. So easily we forget about the true values in our lives. And these words that I will get tattooed represent the most important things that had value for me in the past years and in the present moment. I am very confident that they will still do so in many years to come - and maybe forever. But even if they don't, they symbolize this part of my life.

That's how I see tattoos. As a memory from your life, symbolizing something that has been or is a part of your life story. For example I also have a guitar tattooed on my forearm. Maybe one day I will stop playing guitar and maybe I will even dislike music (as if this would happen), still this tattoo is my only real memory of a certain part of my life. I am living on the road since years, in various countries, so the only thing I always have with me is my own body. 

 

Again, I am not seeking advice for what to get tattooed or what not. I know myself enough to know what I want. So please stop it. The main message of the post gets lost completely.

 

I copy my message from before:

 

My Chinese friend suggested to me 博爱 or 兼爱, both pretty much meaning "Universal Love", the closest she could think about as describing "Equal Love for all beings". Which one do you guys think is more fitting? Do they include Love for oneselve? 

 

Cheers!

[imron]

Guys, I think the OP has made pretty clear his feelings on whether or not to get this tattoo.  He's already been advised it wouldn't be good Chinese, and if he still wants to go ahead with it for his own reasons (which he has also clearly outlined) then so be it.

 

Further discussion on the merits of getting this tattoo should be considered off-topic and will probably be removed.

 

OP, one thing I will ask, is how you intend to place the tattoos, will it be the same order and placement as above?  If so, my first inclination was to start reading top to bottom, right to left, and it wasn't making any sense.  To avoid that, you might consider adding extra space between each line.

[lips]

I think 博愛 is better than 兼愛 in this case, but it's your personal preference, obviously.

 

Oh BTW, I think 耐心 should be at the top.  Just a random thought.

[PaddyS]

@lips. Thanks. I already figured out that both are propably not showing what I want to say. So in this case simply 愛 is the only thing that makes sence. Why do you think 耐心 should be on top?

 

@imron: Thanks, too for helping out. But why do you think it's no good Chinese? Nobody so far mentioned this, is it only because they have no coherence to each other or does it have another reason?

[PaddyS]

Sorry for the double post. But can anybody explain me the difference between 奉獻 and 專心?

I'm looking for a word representing "devotion", meaning to give everything in what you do, to commit to it and to stay focused. 

[imron]

Nobody so far mentioned this, is it only because they have no coherence to each other or does it have another reason?

Post #2 (written by a native speaker) and #3 (written by someone with advanced Chinese) imply this. I would say mostly it's a coherence thing which you have already mentioned is not something you are concerned with.

[Flickserve]

I think the difficulty here is trying to put into words of a philosophy into some coherence within your Chinese characters. However, once you put the Chinese characters down in writing, because of the nature of the language with it's deep roots in idioms and poems, to any person with knowledge of the language, the words just don't look good as a list. You can consider having the words on different parts of the body - so each word is seen on its own rather than as a first, second etc

[imron]

the words just don't look good as a list

See also my comments above about how when written like that, the inclination for people familiar with the language might be read it right-to-left, top-to-bottom, which makes it not make sense at all.

[PaddyS]

I just found the word 慈愛, supposingly meaning loving-kindness. Can anybody explain to me what it really means?

Also I found 爱情, how would you translate this?

 

Thanks!

[Lu]

爱情 is mostly romantic love, not the word you're looking for.

慈爱 is motherly love (and it makes me think of buddhist connotations, but not sure if that's correct). Also not the word you're looking for.

 

I think 博爱 is closest to what you want. 爱 all by itself would first make people think of romantic love. Also it would really throw off the design to have all two-character words except for this one-character one.