# Assistance with Chinese Characters **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 30, 2005, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assistance-with-chinese-characters/301806 "2005-04-30T00:34:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7cd45c/32.png) [@Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glory)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2005, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assistance-with-chinese-characters/301806/21 "2005-05-01T17:54:54Z")
> [@Pinkerbloo](#): > > Well, I’ve been content to bask in the wisdom of my fellow Dopers so far, and felt more comfortable squatting in a corner, so to speak… > > But seeing as a tattoo is pretty permanent, I couldn’t resist tossing in my two cents (I am Chinese.) > > **Glory** , I think that out of the seven new phrases you posted, the fifth is more appropriate given the context. But I still think the one I suggested suits you best 🙂 I really appreciate your expertise - I do like the characters you suggested and they are definitely under consideration. I’m really attracted to the proverb idea right now. For those folks having difficulty with language packs, I put my favorites in image format here: [http://gloriana.myphotoalbum.com/view\_album.php?set\_albumName=album03](http://gloriana.myphotoalbum.com/view_album.php?set_albumName=album03) If anyone wants to comment on the proverbs/characters and discuss their preferences, I would love to hear it. ---
**Author:** ![davenportavenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@davenportavenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davenportavenger)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2005, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assistance-with-chinese-characters/301806/22 "2005-05-02T02:30:52Z")
> [@Case Sensitive](#): > > If you told a Japanese kid at a hip-hop show over there with his cap on backwards over his do-rag and a sink-plug chain around his neck that the T-shirt he was sporting which read “Let’s Velocity For Sport Lifestyle” was “commodifying and packaging other cultures”, he’d look at you like you had a fish sticking out of your head, so I figure it works both ways. It doesn’t really work both ways, at least, not in the same way. Japan’s fascination with American popular culture is largely due to forces operating after WWII (desire to succeed in the economy replaced military ambition, Americans were the biggest economy winners, so they copied our culture along with our business models–and hey, it worked, for awhile), whereas America’s fascination with Japanese, Chinese, and other Asian cultures probably stems largely from our own lack of a cohesive cultural identity, hence the desire to latch onto another culture which stretches back farther in history and isn’t geared solely around marketing and production. So there are different reasons why we adopt one another’s cultures. Comparing do-rags to an artform that goes back thousands of years isn’t a very apt comparison. Modern American culture IS a consumerist culture; all our popular music and fashion is designed to sell you something. Even if do-rags are more closely tied to black American culture, the consumerist aspect overrides that. It is impossible to commodify American pop culture because it itself is a commodity; it whores itself to the masses. But I don’t want to hijack any further. Just read up on some people’s (especially Asians’ and Asian-Americans’) opinions on kanji tattoos before you decide to get one, just so you can look at all sides of the situation and make an informed decision. ---
**Author:** ![Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7cd45c/32.png) [@Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glory)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2005, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assistance-with-chinese-characters/301806/23 "2005-05-02T03:29:14Z")
I don’t even know what to say to that - I definitely do not have any deep, burning ache inside from a lack of cohesive American culture which causes me to latch onto a more “historically-worthy” culture. These thoughts have never crossed my mind. How far does this go - can I hang a print of a foreign artist in my home? Can I wear an Egyptian ankh for a necklace? Do I have to get rid of the two luckdogs I bought in Hong Kong that sit in my kitchen? What about the little figure of Ginesh my Indian co-worker gave me which sits on my desk? Do I have to think before I make all these decisons - am I trying to steal the birthright of another nation since my own culture is so stunted? I think Traditional Characters are pretty - really, I’m about as deep as a puddle on this issue. If there are people deeply hurt because I choose a piece of body art that no one but my doctor or lover will ever see - that is their issue, not mine. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2005, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assistance-with-chinese-characters/301806/24 "2005-05-02T03:53:17Z")
I much prefer using a four character phrase to simply taking a word and attaching it to you without context. The four character proverbs are rich in significance in China and they suggest a connection to something historical and beautiful. I don’t know enough Chinese to really grasp the connotations of most of the chengyu, but I think it makes for a much better representation than just a character or two. Also, though, make sure you can find a nice visual representation of them. In my browser, for some reason, traditional Chinese shows up in an ugly blocky font; occasionally I see character tattoos that are in a similar style and they don’t look as nice as a more calligraphic hand-drawn look. Make sure your tattooer copies it correctly, too. It’d suck to end up with a line out of place and something that doesn’t make any sense attached to your bum for the rest of your life. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2005, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assistance-with-chinese-characters/301806/25 "2005-05-02T13:28:44Z")
> [@continuity eror](#): > > It doesn’t really work both ways, at least, not in the same way. Japan’s fascination with American popular culture is largely due to forces operating after WWII (desire to succeed in the economy replaced military ambition, Americans were the biggest economy winners, so they copied our culture along with our business models–and hey, it worked, for awhile), whereas America’s fascination with Japanese, Chinese, and other Asian cultures probably stems largely from our own lack of a cohesive cultural identity, hence the desire to latch onto another culture which stretches back farther in history and isn’t geared solely around marketing and production. So there are different reasons why we adopt one another’s cultures. > > Comparing do-rags to an artform that goes back thousands of years isn’t a very apt comparison. Modern American culture IS a consumerist culture; all our popular music and fashion is designed to sell you something. Even if do-rags are more closely tied to black American culture, the consumerist aspect overrides that. It is impossible to commodify American pop culture because it itself is a commodity; it whores itself to the masses. But I don’t want to hijack any further. Just read up on some people’s (especially Asians’ and Asian-Americans’) opinions on kanji tattoos before you decide to get one, just so you can look at all sides of the situation and make an informed decision. You could open up another thread in GD about this. Dunno, but I read this and have a major WTF moment. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2005, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assistance-with-chinese-characters/301806/26 "2005-05-02T14:57:43Z")
Personally, as a Chinese speaker, my main gripe with those tattoos is not that they’re commoditizing cultures or anything deep and horrific like that, but that they simply scream “poser” and “wannabe”. Same is true with the English stuff in Japan. That’s why hanzismatter and [Engrish](http://www.engrish.com/) are funny. It’s one thing if you know a language, but too many people wear stuff without knowing a single word or character and they do it just because it’s the latest fad or because they think it makes them look cool. They just look like losers to people who do know. But that may not apply to you, Glory, if you’re doing it for the art and letting only one or two people see it. In any case, it’s your choice and I don’t see any real harm either way 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2005, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assistance-with-chinese-characters/301806/27 "2005-05-02T23:57:06Z")
Glory, I’m on a biz trip so it’s gonna take a week or so to give you some feedback. I need to check with native Chinese speakers as many of the proverbs are extremely archaic, and many are used every day. I can’t really tell the difference except for the few that I use a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7cd45c/32.png) [@Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glory)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2005, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assistance-with-chinese-characters/301806/28 "2005-05-03T00:07:32Z")
> [@China Guy](#): > > Glory, I’m on a biz trip so it’s gonna take a week or so to give you some feedback. I need to check with native Chinese speakers as many of the proverbs are extremely archaic, and many are used every day. I can’t really tell the difference except for the few that I use a lot. That’s cool, I’m definitely not rushing in to anything. A nice person gave me some beautiful Chinese fonts I’m trying to install so I can see less blocky characters in Word. I can’t get any of the new fonts to display properly - ideas? He directed me to some language packs but they are for Office XP and I have the next version of Office. Hey Reply, thanks for what you posted, I appreciate it. ---
**Author:** ![Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7cd45c/32.png) [@Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glory)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2005, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assistance-with-chinese-characters/301806/29 "2005-05-09T03:13:11Z")
Hi **Chinaguy** , I tried to email you but you have email off. I think I’ve selected the right proverb for me and I have installed several really nice looking fonts. Can you check out the fonts here? I’m favoring 3 and 4 at the moment. [Dripping water can eat through stone](http://gloriana.myphotoalbum.com/view_photo.php?set_albumName=album03&id=fonts) Just want to be sure that it all looks right and makes sense! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assistance-with-chinese-characters/301806.md?page=1)