That logic would be true only if the tattooist has passed primary education level.
It seems at least one tattooist (Gabe of Ace Dragon Tattoo) in Hong Kong can’t be trusted with Chinese character tattoos.
http://www.bmezine.com/tattoo/A60605/high/bmepb284466.jpg
http://www.bmezine.com/tattoo/A60605/high/bmepb284465.jpg
http://www.bmezine.com/tattoo/A60605/high/bmepb284464.jpg
http://www.bmezine.com/tattoo/A60605/high/bmepb284463.jpg
http://www.bmezine.com/tattoo/A60605/high/bmepb284462.jpg
因果 and 報應 are redundant phrases for “karma”. In the tattoo, left partial of 報 has two extra dots added to 幸, and 應 is missing one or two 亻depending on the font style.
In the karmic fashion, Erika H. has sent in an Engrish tattoo from Japan.
http://www.nicetattoo.co.jp/gallery.html
Update: June 18, 2006 - The owner of the "karma" tattoo, Jessica Lelovic, is upset about seeing her tattoo been commented on this site. She also claims that the two extra dots are added due to the font style (yea, right) and I have violated copyrights of these photos.
Since I have never claimed ownerships of these photos, plus all the photos are linked to their original sources, Lelovic's claim is so pathetic that it would not hold up in any court.
EFF, Electronic Frontier Foundation, has this to say:
Web Linking Need Not Cause Copyright Liability
So, I would like to make the following clear to Jessica:
1. Don't be stupid and get an incorrect tattoo.
2. Don't post photos of your stupid tattoo on the web to show off, especially third party sites (i.e. MySpace, Friendster, or BMEzine). Depending on these sites' terms and conditions, you may have already waived all your copyrights away once the photos are posted.
3. Don't be a bitch when someone else is mocking your stupid tattoo. Keep a low profile. The bitchier you get, more entertaining it is for everyone else.
While I agree with you that 報 is definitely wrong, I wouldn't consider 應 to necessarily be wrong. When writing in grass script style, certain strokes may be intentionally left out as long as it doesn't compromise the overall shape and recognizability of the character.
ReplyDeleteClaw is right, the 應 is ok and acceptable in 草書 or 行書-like scripts, but the 報 is wrong, like he got confused with the bottom part of 業...
ReplyDeleteIt seems that 因果报应 is a common phrase used to mean karma. 因果 can also be used on its own to mean karma, while 报应 used on its own simply means retribution. All this according to the Defrancis ABC dictionary.
ReplyDeleteI guess when you have two people getting together who apparently don't know the written Chinese language, even though one of them is perhaps a native, it's just as ugly as two people who are totally unfamiliar with Chinese.
ReplyDeleteIn Japanese, this is one of the many 四字熟語 (4-character phrases), a kind of proverb, with the last two characters reversed.
ReplyDeleteIn Japanese, it's:
因果応報
and means "retribution" or, more colloquially, "what goes around, comes around."
That "thankful to God" tattoo is utterly hideous! It really brings to life for me how ridiculous the Chinese characters are on people who don't speak Chinese / Japanese if you view it from the perspective of being in-the-know. What the hell was that guy thinking?
ReplyDeletemany phrases in Chinese can be considered "redundant", for example 行走, 美麗, 光明, 兇惡, 千變萬化, 小心謹慎, 回心轉意, and a whole host of others I can't think of.
ReplyDeleteThere's actually a name for this type of structure, but I can't remember that either. Anyway, my point is that one should be a little less eager to pick out problems with the tattoos, especially when one has not lived in a Chinese society for so long.
Of course, this is no excuse for the calligraphy. Plus, in Hong Kong, not everyone can really write that well. The girl probably should've gone somewhere better, although I have no idea where to find one here.
Whilst i respect the freedom of speech and such..
ReplyDeletedid you actually get permission to use this picture from BMEZINE?
or from the owner?
hello copyright breach!
just being a totally innocent passerby and telling you that if the owner of that tattoo (or bmezine) sees that picture, im sure you'd be up to your head in legal matters.
oh, keep in mind that there are different fonts. it might not be wrong.
its not wrong in my eyes. and yes i am fully chinese-before you go bitch about my not being chinese-ness.
bai.
@ last anonymous (or should I call you by your real name of Jessica Lelovic),
ReplyDeleteSince I have never claimed ownerships of these photos, plus all the photos are linked to their original sources, your claim is so pathetic that it would not even hold up in court.
EFF, Electronic Frontier Foundation, has this to say:
Web Linking Need Not Cause Copyright Liability
"oh, keep in mind that there are different fonts. it might not be wrong."!!!
ReplyDeletegoodness. I never thought people would try to make such awful excuses about something they really do not know.
By the way, Tian, I do think you could have been a lot more, um, diplomatic ;_;
Baoying is an odd choice for a character. As someone has already pointed out, it's not strictly redundant. Yinguo is the general principle, whereas baoying is generally negative. It almost seems like shes declared hersself a misfortune to those she meets.
ReplyDelete/me points, laughs at Jessica Lelovic (whose name is from that age-old Chinese clan of Lelovics)
ReplyDeletebtw, getting a tattoo done in the third world is a great way to get Hepatitis C. You should get checked three months from now.
wait a minute, did you just call hong kong part of the third world?
ReplyDeleteI find the exaggerated pout in all of her myspace photos much more entertaining / ridiculous than the fucked up tattoo :P
ReplyDeleteJessica lost me when she claimed to be "fully chinese". how lame -- this site is about stupid people getting tattoos they don't understand. thinking you can claim to be a race you're not and therefore make it all okay is ludicrous and offensive.
ReplyDeleteoh yeah, and the copyright infringement stuff is just poorly researched. how old is jessica? 12?
Jenn - given that Jessica "Fully Chinese" Lelovic lists Chuck Norris and Naomi Campbell among her "heroes," I suppose we shouldn't be surprised that her knowledge of international copyright law is somewhat faulty.
ReplyDeleteBut yeah, that MySpace page is hysterical. Girlfriend is trying way too hard. If you want people to think you're some sort of punk-rock bohemian rebel, "Bai", you probably shouldn't go around getting nonsensical Chinese characters tattooed on you. That's about as bad-ass as joining a sorority. You and the "Rock On, Girl!" chick should hang out.
I think you're misreading the court decision. The only holding is that use of a thumbnail image is not in itself copyright infringement. It left open the matter of whether use of a full-size image is copyright infringement, and sent that issue back to a lower court for reargument.
ReplyDeleteIn any case, I think in this case you would likely prevail in the fair-use test because you are not using the full image, but only a smaller part of the complete work, and just the part that shows the Chinese characters upon which you are commenting.
It might also be considered protected as fair use if you consider it from the viewpoint of parody/satire.
ReplyDeleteI'd just like to say I loved this post. Put 'em in their place :)
ReplyDeleteum. i never claimed to be fully chinese, that was a friend that commented and said that stuff (as anonymous)
ReplyDelete