Chinese Dragon Tattoo
The Chinese dragon tattoo has become a very popular form of tattoo around the world. Ironically, in Chinese culture, having the image of a Chinese dragon on your body is considered unlucky, while having the character for the word dragon on your body is lucky.
However, this doesn’t stop many people from getting a Chinese dragon tattoo as they are very beautiful and intricate designs.
The Chinese dragon tattoo carries a lot of meaning behind it. In Chinese culture, dragons are far different from the dragons of medieval and European culture, which were generally seen as beasts to be slain and conquered.
A Chinese dragon tattoo portrays the importance of the dragon in Chinese culture. Think about a Chinese New Year celebration or parade. There are always brightly colored dragons present in such celebrations.
The dragon in Chinese culture could represent many different things. Among these different meanings for a Chinese dragon and Chinese dragon tattoo are knowledge, wisdom, strength, power, immortality, happiness, benevolence, good will and good luck. There are also specific Chinese dragons that represent different things, much in the way that the multiple gods of many cultures all represented different aspects of life.
A horned Chinese dragon is seen as the strongest; while the yellow Chinese dragon is the wisest and the holder of knowledge and intelligence. Various other dragons represent different things such as the earth, the sky and the ocean. When choosing your Chinese dragon tattoo it is important to consider all of these different meanings and associations to figure out what you want your tattoo to say and what it would mean to you.
Chinese dragon tattoos are often very colorful, in the same fashion as a dragon in a Chinese New Year parade would be. Reds, yellows and greens are the most common colors in a Chinese dragon tattoo. The Chinese Dragon tattoo can be done on all parts of your body and it is usually a very large tattoo. A Chinese dragon tattoo may swirl around your arm or leg or be flowing down across your back.
A Chinese dragon tattoo will not have wings, as you may associate with a medieval type dragon popular in Western culture. They are more snake-like in their body form. Make sure your tattoo artist is familiar with the differences between a Chinese dragon tattoo and other dragon tattoos to make sure you get the appropriate and desired representation you are seeking.
Image by Matt Worthington via Flickr
More Tattoo Information…
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