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.
Asian dragon tattoos encompass a huge variety of possible tattoo designs, meanings and interpretations. To begin with it is important to recognize what the dragon was in Asian culture, as opposed to the medieval and European culture that most are familiar with. In medieval lore, the dragon was a feared beast, and the enemy of humans. Those who defeated or valiantly died in an attempt to slay a dragon were heroes, whereas the dragons themselves were villains and beasts of destruction and death.
In Asian culture, the dragon was a benevolent creature filled with power and wisdom. They were good luck and represented many different traits that are highly sought after, such as inner strength, completeness, beauty, intelligence. Different dragons represented different specific things, either parts of the universe and realms such as the earth and sky or particular traits such as strength or knowledge.