Guangzhou city
My parents had received their paycheck. I was I excited. They had promised me that they would take be around the Guangzhou city. As my parents and I crisscrossed the town, I noticed one gigantic man with a small dragon tattoo at the back of his body. He was naked, and all the ink painting was visible. What beautiful scene it was, I thought. I admired the tattoo to the point that when I returned home, I searched for an artist who was practicing the art of tattooing. I was lucky. I went to the artist and informed him to tattoo me with a small image of the dragon on my right arm. I was only at the age of 14 years old. Little did I know that the community and the culture in which the tattoo had originated than I met one of my relative who lived in the in the south of Guangzhou city in China. He informed me the tattoos are not for decoration only, but they have a deeper meaning in society. At that juncture, I realized that I have just associated myself with a specific group of people.
The community around my village which is located at the south of Guangzhou city had different believes regarding the tattoos. Dutton (1998) asserts that the first tattoo in China had originated from the Yue Fei, whose mother tattooed him mother as a punishment to of not being loyal to his country. In school, I realized that student and teachers associated me with people who are virtuous and brave because I had the small dragon tattoo at the back of my right arm. In that account, I was more compelled to study the culture and the importance of totting and the impact of each tattoo on the body and how the community perceives an individual with tattoos.
From my study, I was able to differentiate the different type of tattoo and the meaning in society — for example, many people in our village associated tattoos with gangsters or players. However, I realized that I could use a tattoo as a symbol of memory, as a way of communicating my status and for decoration as well. In that regard, I have tattooed my right arm with the logos and names of the people and events that I have encountered in my life. Moreover, women and men in society are using tattoos to express their status. For example, womanizers and players have a smaller tattoo in their body, while those who have a lot of tattoos in their bodies are associated with the triads. I had wished to be productive and man of honor and to associate with the rich I have to go with the trend of tattooing all part of my right arm like triads (Dutton, 1998).
In summary, different culture and community perceive tattoos as a way of communication while other as a way of decoration (Dutton, 1998). However, I have understood the tattoos must have a meaning not just for decorations. As a result, one has to identify tattoos which are significant in their society: The society can be able to interpret meaning.
References
LIU, L., & Chen, X. (2012). The archaeology of China: from the late Paleolithic to the early bronze age. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139015301.Dutton, M. R., (1998). Streetlife China. Cambridge, UK, Cambridge University Press.