You Must Be Curious About How’s The You Must Be Curious About How’s The Celebrities Chinese Tattoos Look Like, What Are The Meanings Of Them?
Today we are going to talk about something interesting, it’s about celebrities with Chinese tattoos. Generally I would be very cautious about tattoos with Chinese characters because the meaning of Chinese is very complicated and it’s easy to make mistakes.
So I’m going to refer to some celebrity tattoos with Chinese characters and find some inspiration from them.
1.Nicki Minaj – 上帝与你常在-may God always be with you
Nicki Minaj is very famous in China, Let’s look at her Chinese character tattoo, her tattoo says 上帝与你常在, means “hope God is always with you” , the writing is a little hard to read, I think your nephew who is in the third grade might write better than it, but that’s probably a part of the design.
During the covid-19 epidemic, she said a lot of good things on the video platform about China’s prevention and control of the epidemic, Chinese netizens have a very good evaluation of her, very good impression of her.
That’s why she has a nickname in China called “Spicy Chicken”, which is a phonetic translation of her name.
I have my own tattoo in English and it doesn’t look good, it looks like the tattoo artist is drunk, but I like it because it gives me a feeling like a more free-spirited feeling, which is maybe the style Nicki Minaj wanted, I don’t know, but I do like it, it’s cool.
2.Justin Timberlake-风土水火-Earth, Water and Fire
He has three Chinese characters tattoo, first let’s take a look at the side of the rib cage, it is 4 Chinese characters combo of the first tattoo, 风土水火, meaning wind, earth, water and fire.
I do not know exactly what they want to express, but it reminds me that in China there are 5 elements, these 5 elements are gold, wood, water, fire and earth.
I guess the thing is that Justin Timberlake probably went to a Chinese fortune teller and the fortune teller told him that you might lack these 4 elements, and that you need to find a way to compensate for the wind, earth, water and fire, and finally he decided to have these 3 elements tattooed on his body. But the element of wind is a bit difficult to explain.
Justin Timberlake’s second tattoo is on his back, it says 罪, which means sin or crime, a little philosophical, reminds me of the movie “Seven Deadly Sins”.
Justin Timberlake’s 3rd Chinese tattoo, the tattoo is on his right arm and it says 溜冰. This word has two meanings, the 1st meaning could be the real meaning of skating wearing skates and skating on the ice. The 2nd meaning could be drug use, because ice in the Chinese word means methamphetamine. It’s a double entendre. Maybe he just likes to skate, so he decided to get this tattoo saying skating.
3.David Beckham – 生死有命，富贵在天-Life is destined to be the way it turns out
David Beckham’s Chinese tattoo tattoo on its left side of the rib cage, it says 生死有命，富贵在天，the meaning is “Life is destined to be the way it turns out”.
I like it, in fact, we can roughly translate it as: life or death is determined by fate, poor or rich is determined by heaven, basically he said the meaning is let it be.
The calligraphy of his tattoo is really nice, very well designed, Out of 10, I give him a 10.
4.Ariana Grande – 七轮-seven rounds
Ariana Grande’s Chinese character tattoo is inside the palm of his left hand, 七輪, which means “7 wheels”.
At first I was confused, I did not know what it means.
but fortunately I have studied Japanese culture, I know he is from a Japanese idiom or proverb called “七転八起”,which means “No matter how many times you fail, you don’t get discouraged and get up again every time you fail and keep trying”.
So Ariana Grande’s tattoo is not a Chinese word, it is a Japanese word.
5.Stephen Amell – 鼠姜姚猪-Mouse ginger Yao Pig
Stephen Amell’s Chinese tattoo is 鼠姜姚猪, which is total meaningless to me.
He’s the superhero Green Arrow, right. But when I saw his tattoo, what? What’s this? I was completely baffled and had no idea what he was trying to say, there was no meaning to it.
鼠 means rat, 姜means ginger, 姚 is a Chinese surname, and 猪 means pig. I tried to read these 4 words together very quickly to see if they were words directly phonetically translated from a particular English word, I tried and then I gave up. None of the English words in question. stephen Amell’s Chinese tattoo has no meaning.
6.Chris Evans- 氏-“surname”
Stephen Rogers ,also known as caption America, his Chinese character tattoo is written as 氏 , the meaning is “surname”. I think he’s trying to say that family is NO.1, and the sentiment is a little subtle. But but kinda cool.
7.Allen Ivers-忠- loyalty
Allen Iverson, basketball player, he has a Chinese tattoo, on the side of his neck written 忠, in Chinese 忠 means loyalty and faithfulness, this meaning is good.
8.Shawn Marion -魔鸟樟- devil, bird and camphor tree.
Shawn Marion, basketball player, has a Chinese character tattoo on his leg, 魔鸟樟. He means devil, bird and camphor tree. I don’t know what he means, maybe it’s a code word or a secret, I really don’t know.
9.Marcus Camby – 勉族-Mian
Marcus Camby, who plays for the NBA Denver Nuggets, has two big Chinese characters “勉族” on his right arm, which is very bold , it is also not that understandable for most Chinese people.
Canby said, “I put these two characters on the text to remind myself to remember two important things, ‘族’ is the love of family, ‘勉’ is to strive to do the best.”
But in my mind, this is not considered a successful Chinese character tattoo, because there is no such word inside the Chinese dictionary, he just very rigidly spliced the two words together in the eyes of an ordinary Chinese.
these two characters may look a little strange inexplicable. But I think he himself likes his tattoo, which is rare, and he should be the kind of person who wants to remind himself to always try. So this tattoo is not bad.
10.Kenya Martin-患得患失-having trouble with loss
The men’s NBA basketball player, in his left arm there is a Chinese tattoo 患得患失, which is a Chinese idiom.
its meaning can be described to you, it is a state of mind, when you want something very much, you will be afraid that you can not get it, but when you get him, you are worried that you will lose him,.
in short, is a very negative meaning. I don’t know if that’s what he really wants.
11.Francesco Coco – 夫手-husband hand
Francesco Coco is a soccer player from Italy, in his left arm has a Chinese tattoo, 夫手. Basically, 夫手 means husband’s hand. This tattoo does not have any meaning, or the tattoo artist make it a wrong tattoo.
12.Derrick Rose-耐心-Patience
Derrick Rose is a basketball player from the NBA, he also has many fans in China. His Chinese tattoo is 耐心，which means patience.
I think this tattoo is very suitable for him, because this tattoo and his people and life experience in line with his originally the youngest MVP, and then experienced the ups and downs of life, to the end and rebirth of success again, he experienced too much as a man.
it is said that before he did this tattoo , he searched a lot on the Internet to look up the meaning of the word patience, and hope to be able to keep honing their patience.
13.Jim Jackson -知人者智，自知者明- Who understands the world is learned；Who understands the self is enlightened
Jim Jackson as the famous NBA basketball player, played in the NBA 12 teams, and his tattoos can be called the NBA’s most cultural tattoos, his right arm tattooed with the text “知人者智，自知者明”, which means “Who understands the world is learned；Who understands the self is enlightened”.
The phrase from Lao Tzu’s “Tao Te Ching”, the old book in ancient times, which means ” To be able to understand and know others is called wisdom, to be able to know and understand yourself is wisdom.” Many fans suspect that Jackson must have studied at the “Confucius Institute”!
14.Jameer Nelson – 百无禁忌-no restrictions of any kind
Jameer Nelson, an organizational guard from the NBA Magic. On his right arm, he has the words “百无禁忌” tattooed on it, which basically means “no restrictions of any kind”.
He once asked a Chinese reporter in an interview, who explained that it means fearless and not taboo about anything. Nielsen felt very satisfied after hearing this. Apparently, he had no prior knowledge of it.
15.Robert Sacre -信念- Faith
Robert Sacre is from the Lakers NBA players, in his left arm tattooed with a large “信念” , meaning faith, I believe he was still in the tattoo before some understanding, a single word, to give people the feeling or very connotative.
16.Derek Fisher-心诚-heart sincere
Derek Fisher, the NBA player from the Lakers. On his right forearm, he has the word “心诚” tattooed on it. The first word represents the heart, and the second word represents belief, meaning that people must be sincere and must have their own beliefs.”
17.Tyson Chandler – 爱-Love
爱 means love, and Tyson Chandler who played for the NBA’s Houston Rockets, has a tattoo of a Chinese character for love written on his arm.
From the perspective of Chinese calligraphy, this character for love is not particularly beautiful. But love is the most beautiful word in the world because of the meaning it contains, love is one of the purest and most selfless feelings of human beings.
18.Fabio Cannavaro-玛丁娜-Madina
Fabio Cannavaro is a soccer player from Italy. The meaning of 玛丁娜 is Martina, which is his daughter’s name directly translated into Chinese, and then make his daughter’s name a tattoo on his back.
19.Marat Safin -猴-Monkey
Marat Safin, a tennis player from Russia, has a tattoo on his right arm with the Chinese character 猴, which means monkey.
monkey is an animal, but in the Chinese lunar calendar there are 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac, corresponding to 12 animals, so maybe his zodiac sign corresponds to monkey. Maybe he just likes monkeys, or maybe he believes that monkeys can bring him good luck.
20.Stephon Marbury – 马布里-Marbury
Stephon Marbury is an NBA basketball player who later joined the Chinese Basketball Association CBA, and now he has a Chinese green card. He has three Chinese character tattoos on his body.
The first is on his left arm, which is tattooed with the Chinese character 马布里, which is a direct transliteration of his name Marbury into Chinese. I don’t think this tattoo is written in good calligraphy.
The second is on its right rib cage, above the tattoo is the Chinese character 爱就是爱, means ” love is love“, the English interpretation is love is love, very shallow, you can follow the literal meaning to understand.
The third place is on his left rib, which is tattooed with the Chinese character 北京王朝, which is interpreted in English as Beijing dynasty, reflecting his love for China and Beijing. He should indeed love China because he achieved success in his career there.
21.Nick Carter – 海神-Poseidon
He has a tattoo of the Chinese character for 海神 on his left arm, which means Poseidon in English.
Nick Carter is one member of the pop band, the Backstreet Boys, he is very handsome and sunny, but also passionate about public welfare, dedicated to the protection of the Earth’s environment, especially the marine environment.
22.Justin Timberlake -曲- Song
Justin Timberlake has a tattoo of the Chinese character 曲 on his left ankle，which have double meaning, one the meanings are “song” .
I think when he got this tattoo, he must have wanted the tattoo to represent the meaning of music, unfortunately in Chinese the Chinese character for qu has two meanings, it can mean “song” or “bend”.
23.Justin Bieber -曲- Song
Justin Bieber and we said above Justin Timberlake chose the same Chinese character as a tattoo – 曲, ，which have double meaning, one the meanings are “song” .
Justin Bieber’s tattoo is located in the body part is the right arm, and the tattoo is made relatively small. They both made the same mistake of not realizing that the Chinese character has two meanings and can mean either “song” or “bend”.
24.Angelina Jolie-死-death
Angelina Jolie is a famous American actress, she is also a Chinese character tattoo fanatic, her Chinese character tattoo 死 in the back, near the left shoulder position, she tattooed the Chinese character means ”death“.
Angelina Jolie also has a Chinese dragon tattoo on her left arm. I personally think the meaning of the word death is a bit dark, maybe only she can understand what the word means to her.
25.Julia Roberts – 力-Force
Julia Roberts is a famous American actress with a mysterious Mona Lisa-like smile, which is unforgettable. Her Chinese tattoo is 力，in English it means strength, Power.
Her Chinese tattoo is located in the back near the left shoulder, if you look closely, you can also find the design of her tattoo is very creative, you can see a small red heart.
In fact, 力 Chinese writing is not include a red heart, which is completely her own design, or the design of the tattoo artist, I think it is very interesting.
26.Megan Fox – 力-force
Megan Fox is a famous Hollywood actress who starred in the film Transformers. Her Chinese character tattoo is also 力- “force”, but the body part of her Chinese character tattoo is on the back of the neck.
As mentioned earlier, force in English means strength or power, Megan Fox’s Chinese character tattoo design is simple and clean, Her tattoo is the type I like, no other fancy decorations, her Chinese character tattoo color is dark blue or black.
I found that many Hollywood actresses like the Chinese character 力（force or power）as a tattoo, indicating that the Chinese character tattoo 力（force or power）is very popular in Hollywood.
27.MC Jin-靖
MC Jin is a rapper, whose Chinese name is 欧阳靖. His Chinese tattoo is 靖, which is the last word of his Chinese name, the location of the tattoo is on its left side of his neck, for him ,靖(Jin) has a very important meaning.
Although he grew up in the United States, he has always had a love for China and Chinese culture, and he once said in an interview that, the way he learned English was by practicing along with rap TV shows, while working at a restaurant.
There is a very popular rap show in China called “Rap of China” and MC Jin participated in the show as a special guest, and left a deep impression for all the audience.
I think this tattoo design is very good, first of all, the tattoo itself is his own Chinese name, and secondly, this tattoo in Chinese calligraphy design is very good, very beautiful, out of 10 points, I 10 out of 10, I will give it a 10 .
28.Matthew Fox -鹰击长空- eagle flys towards the sky
Matthew Fox is one of the most attractive actor in the United States, his Chinese character tattoo on his left arm, his Chinese character tattoo is 鹰击长空, can be translated as “eagles fly up in the sky.
The tattoo comes from a Poem of Mao, the first Chair man of China, the meaning of the tattoo to express, I think, a sense of fearlessness, like the eagle to conquer the sky, a symbol of bravery and freedom.
Also on the level of Chinese calligraphy, the calligraphy design of this tattoo is a little better than the other examples I mentioned above.
29.Britney Spears -奇- Qi
Britney Spears , she is from the United States of America,and she is a legendary singer and actress,Her Chinese character tattoo is 奇, meaning being different or being outstanding, while it has another meaning，that is strange or mysterious. although the word itself has two meanings, but I think the design of this tattoo is nothing wrong, at least for me, it will not cause any ambiguity.
Let’s talk about her tattoo design, there is a red flower in the outer circle of the Chinese character as a companion, making the whole tattoo looks very cute, I think the only place I may be a little dissatisfied, is that her tattoo‘s calligraphy is not very well written, calligraphy is written a little childish.
She has a lot of popular song, who would have thought that she also has a love for Chinese tattoos! Britney Spears’ Chinese tattoo is located in the crotch, just below the height of her underwear, which makes her Chinese tattoo is difficult to be found, but also more hidden.
30.Holly Valance-爱-love
Holly Valance is an actress from Australia, she is also a model, her body is very hot, her Chinese tattoo is located on his right side of the crotch, usually covered by her panties, only be revealed when she wears a bikini , her Chinese tattoo is 爱, the meaning is “love”.
Chinese word “love”is always the choice, when people want to get a Chinese word tattoo, and the frequency of this choice is relatively high, and its own meaning is quite good, after all, love is the most beautiful human emotion.
she chose the Chinese word 爱 as her own Chinese tattoo, perhaps she also agrees that love is the most pure human emotion, or she wants to be loved by more people.