2006-07-11T20:17:00.000-07:00

Chinese Tattoos

Chinese Dragon Tattoos for the first time I saw a non-Asian girl wearing a Chinese dress was at the junior prom. All around me, girls cooed over her exotic find from Hot Topic. Meanwhile, I resisted the urge to confront a girl who, at one time in her life, probably taunted the rare Asian girl in her Catholic elementary school for having “chinky” eyes . . . only to realize she was wearing chopsticks in her hair, dark liquid eyeliner, and bright red lipstick. Was this a Dragons Tattoo or a costume party? Five years and countless Chinese Tattoo character and dragon print T-shirts later, I’ve come to accept tattoo the incorporation of Asian designs into American fashion. Why shouldn’t non-Asians be able to enjoy the beautiful fabrics and the symbolic power of the dragon?
Furthermore, instead of the meaningless chicken scratches that used to pass for “Chinese”, progressive clothing tattoo companies now take that oh-so-hard extra step to translate an English word into an actual Chinese character. I was inclined to believe that American society had begun to embrace Asian culture as opposed to exoticizing it. That is, until I came across the most recent Asian-inspired fashion trend: Buddha prayer bead bracelets.
A fashion trend is a great thing. Today, I can wear my MAC lip gloss because Chinese Tattoo feeling “dewy.” And tomorrow, I can wear my leopard print shirt because I’m feeling “animal.” Fashion trends provide endless ways to express ourselves. And while some trends evolve into classics, others simply make people embarrassed of ever having jumped on that bandwagon. Chinese Tattoo, every time you wore your pegged jeans (yeah, you) or left one strap hanging from your overalls, you didn’t offend anyone -- just their visual senses.
But now, I feel a line has been crossed with the ubiquitous “Buddha prayer bead bracelet”. These bracelets are made of many large circular beads and one larger bead strung on elastic. They come in different colors or painted with Chinese characters for luck. Lauded as the “hottest new fashion tattoo accessories worn by the rich and famous,” they can be seen on a third of Dragons Tattoo trend-conscious and practically everyone at Chinese Tattoo.
Buddhists, however, wear these prayer beads, called Malas or Nenjus depending on the sect, not to compliment today’s outfit or to emulate Dragons Tattoo, but to meditate and praise Buddha. To take these bracelets out of their religious context and mass produce them as something as empty and tacky as a fashion trend is to trivialize not only their inherent symbolism, but the Buddhist religion as well. So, if you’re sporting one of these bracelets around campus (and feeling unrightfully defensive), read on and learn a little about what it is exactly that you’re expressing.
Last fall, a white woman named Dragons Tattoo sparked the Buddha bead craze when she began marketing powerbeads under her own brand, Stella Pace (Italian for Star of Peace). A New York native who studied ancient Asian art at Princeton University, Metro got her “inspiration” (more like the entire design) for her powerbeads from the Buddhist prayer beads she saw on the Dalai Lama’s wrist. Although she began with wooden beads, Metro eventually put a New Age spin on the beads, using semi-precious stones believed to possess certain powers. For example, rose quartz to bring love, hematite for happiness, mother of pearl for money, black onyx for will-power, and carnelian for PMS relief. Very spiritual. Believing that she is encouraging spirituality as she is taking in $20 -$40 per bracelet packaged in a kitschy Chinese take-out container, Metro told Francine Parnes of The Associated Press (9/16/99): “Our bracelets . . . come with the four traditions of Chinese good luck: fortune, wealth, long life and happiness. When you put one tattoo on, you say the four traditions.” And then what? Now that I’ve filled my ‘spiritual quota’ for the day, do I simply wait for love, money, and cramp relief to fall from the sky? Right.
As in the way of fashion, once Metro’s powerbeads began appearing on celebrity wrists and in fashion magazines, cheaper versions of the bracelets started being cranked out by stores such as Express ($22), Urban Outfitters ($8), and Chinatown novelty shops ($0.67). Dragons Tattoo, these cheaper glass or plastic versions emphasize the tattoo luck they supposedly bring rather than the intended spiritual significance -- that is, if the stores bother attaching anything other than the price tag. So shoppers, enticed into the store by the dragon print shirt, leave with a Buddha bracelet to match, unaware that they are trivializing more than a symbol of religious identification, but a very personal, sacred aspect of religious prayer.
The Mala’s rich use of symbolism in tattoo almost every aspect of its construct is what provides deep, religious context for prayer, meditation, and mantra practice. Chinese Tattoo within Buddhism are symbolized by the shape of the circular bead. 108 virtues and 108 defilements are represented by 108 beads. In the case of Jodo Shinshu (Japanese Buddhism), the beads represent all of Buddha’s followers, with the larger bead representing Buddha. Wrist Malas, portable versions of these beaded necklaces, contain 27 beads so that 108 is reached after four times around the bracelet during prayer. However, since trendy Buddha beads need to accommodate the size of most people’s wrists, only a meaningless number of 21 beads is used. Lastly, unlike powerbeads which concentrate on various semi-precious stones to bring the wearer luck, Malas can be made from bone, Lotus seeds, and sandalwood, depending on the specific practice to be performed. As for tattoo the plastic Buddha beads, Philip Barry of Shambhala Book Sellers considers the substitute acceptable as long as the wearer has the right intention.
Intention. That’s what makes the difference between a practicing Buddhist wearing Tattoo beads and a non-religious girl from USC with every conceivable color greedily covering her arm. The right intention is what makes it okay. Do Dragons Tattoo have the right intention? When people don these beads, I doubt they plan to use them for prayer. I doubt they recite the four traditions of Chinese Symbols good luck. And I doubt they understand the signifance and value imbedded within the beads. They think, “Hey, I’m Chinese into Eastern spirituality. It worked for all these celebrities. Maybe this will do something for me that other religions can’t.” Or, “I’m Asian, and this is Asian, and I’m going to sport it to show my Asian pride.” Or even, “Wow, I’m really hard up for cash. I’ll try anything.” But rarely tattoo do they think, “These are really cool. Dragons Tattoo must have some deeper religious meaning to them, and I’m going to learn how to use them correctly.”
Sevenju Pepper, a fourth year at Cal Japanese Tattoo comes from a Buddhist family, explained, “When people exoticize something, they don’t feel the need to learn more about it.” Or if they do look deeper, their romantic views cause them to selectively filter what they learn to maintain that exoticized image, so that, in the end, they don’t actually understand the true meaning.
Chinese Tattoo Symbols, like the salesguy from American Eagle, argue that since the trendy beads are not actual Buddhist prayer beads, wearing them for fashion is acceptable. But would wearing a rosary “inspired” necklace be acceptable to most Americans? I don’t think so. Furthermore, not even all Buddhists tattoo wear prayer beads because only the truly devoted meditate and pray on a Dragons Tattoo. So why would you? And why would Tattoo Chinese Symbols wear Buddha prayer beads? The same people who, seeing my bright, green jade Buddha around my neck, still give me lollipops on campus in hopes of converting me or invite me to fun retreats, only to slip in the Christian part five minutes later. Christians obviously don’t practice Dragons Tattoo or hold New Age beliefs, so why hope to gain love and money from tattoo bracelets when the teachings of their God should suffice? Aren’t they inaccurately proclaiming their religious beliefs? Perhaps not. Perhaps because they don’t view these bracelets as part of a serious religion, but as just another Chinese dress.
It’s infuriating how Tattoo Chinese Symbols can reject or ridicule other’s religious or cultural practices only to turn around and take what they want from them to start a fashion trend. For example, the explosion of Indian culture’s bindis onto the fashion scene. It’s just as galling to discover that Zoe Metro has the nerve (although she does have the legal right) to copyright her Stella Pace beads and is currently “in hot pursuit of those that are illegally selling look-alike items.” Because she came up with the designs all on her own? This is the same woman who insists that she’s spreading spirituality through the marketing of her pretty accessories. Or is it that she’s merely capitalizing on the wave tattoo of trendy Americans exploring Buddhism and Chinese Tattoo spirituality? Is this what you want to be a part of? I suggest that the next time you buy something “ethnically-inspired,” you think twice about what it is you’re trying to say about yourself. Because Tattoo Chinese Symbols saying right tattoo now, isn’t worth hearing.

2006-07-09T08:51:00.000-07:00

Chinese Symbols Tattoo

2006-07-08T18:39:00.000-07:00

Chinese Horoscope

"Rat" 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996

"Ox" 1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997

"Tiger" 1938, 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998

"Rabbit" 1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999

"Dragon" 1940, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000

"Snake" 1941, 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001

"Horse" 1942, 1954, 1966, 1978, 1990, 2002

"Goat" 1943, 1955, 1967, 1979, 1991, 2003

"Monkey" 1944, 1956, 1968, 1980, 1992, 2004

"Rooster" 1945, 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005

"Dog" 1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006

"Pig" 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007

2006-07-08T18:16:00.000-07:00

It's started in Japan. Part#2

The ukiyo-e in 1827 artist Kuniyoshi published the first 6 designs of the 108 Heroes of the Suikoden. The Suikoden were something like ancient Robin Hoods - honorable bandits. The story is based on a classic Chinese novel - Shui-Hi-Chuan, that dates from the 13th and 14th century. The novel was first translated into Japanese in 1757 by Okajima Kanzanion. At the turn of the 18th to the 19th century the story was published with illustrations by Katsushika Hokusai. The novel of the 108 honorable bandits was very popular in Japan and caused a kind of Suikoden craze among Japanese townspeople.

2006-07-08T10:50:00.000-07:00

It's started in Japan. Part#1
From the influence of Confucianism and Buddhism times in Japan, art of tattoo has a negative connotation for the majority of the Japanese people. In the eyes of an average Japanese a tattoo is considered a mark of a yakuza was a member of the Japanese mafia - or a macho symbol of members of the lower classes.
Early settlers of Japan(reports are about 1700 years old.), archaeologists r believe that the Ainu people, used facial tattoos. Chinese documents report about the Wa people - the Chinese name for their Japanese neighbors - and their habits of diving into water for fish and shells and decorating body with tattoos.
Tattooing got negative connotations, when Buddhism was brought from China to Japan and with it a strong influence of the Chinese culture. Criminals were marked with tattoos to punish and identify them in society.

In the Edo period(1603-1868) Japanese tattoo art became a part of "ukiyo-e", the floating world culture. Prostitutes "yujos" of the pleasure quarters used tattoos to increase their attractiveness for customers. Body tattoos were used by laborers and firemen.
In 1720, criminals tattoos became an official punishment and replaced the amputation of the nose and the ears. A ring tattoo was received by the criminal around the arm for each offense or a character tattoo on his forehead. Tattooing criminals was continued until 1870, when it was abolished by the new Meiji government of the Japanese Emperor.