Henrik

Got this anchor and stars from Johanna at Timeless Tattoo in Oslo last Friday. Sorry for the sideway picture, not sure how to fix that..

Got this done yesterday by Leigh Harris, guest spotting at King Carlos Tattoo in Stockholm. I'm so happy with it! :)

I haven't been to any of these places myself, but I would love to go. The Angkor Wat temple in Siem Reap, Cambodia looks amazing. In general, I think there are many fantastic Buddhist temples in these countries that are worth visiting.

When it comes to transport, I think railway services are limited in some parts, so you might have to go by bus. River boats on the Mekong river also looks like an option, though one should be careful with over-crowded boats.

Oh great stuff! I wish it would travel to Norway. Any idea if it is staying there for a while @Henrik ? If I decide to take a trip to Stockholm before the summer I will definately pay the Maritime Museum a visit!

Yeah, it's there until December 2014 :)

I'm not gonna say for sure, but I don't think it's a travelling collection unfortunately..

I went to an exhibition on sailor tattoos today, where they display old pictures and flash from the Maritime Museum's collection. Thought I'd share a few pictures with you here. The quality is not great on all of them, but hope you'll like it :)

(I wasn't sure where to post this, so moderators feel free to move it elsewhere if needed).

I would love to buy one, hope this will be possible sometime in the near future :)

Don't know if this is the best place to post this, but have you guys seen the Confessions of a Tattoo Artist?

The story of Yue Fei is probably one of the few examples where tattoos in China has not been associated with criminal activity. I found this article which sheds some more light on the history of tattoos in China, if interested: Skin Deep - The art of tattooing in China - All about China | Radio86.com

Since ancient times, people have decorated their bodies with tattoos. In those times, this type of skin art was not limited to any particular geographical area, but was very common among primitive peoples around the world. Despite its long history, modern civilizations have regarded tattooing as something that only savage jungle people or criminals practiced. Today, it has become a popular way for especially young people to show off their individuality.

In China, tattoos have traditionally been associated with prisoners or members of criminal gangs. Against this background, it is understandable that some Chinese elders still view this form of body art with a certain degree of contempt. But in addition to tattoos being considered the mark of a convicted man, they have long been part of tribal rituals, in southern China in particular. Eventually, the tattooing practices of some of China's indigenous people spread west along the Silk Road, which stretched from Xi'an in central China all the way to the Mediterranean Sea.

Tattooing remains a long-standing tradition among China's Drung and Dai minorities. According to custom, Drung girls are tattooed at the age of 12 or 13 as a symbol of their maturity. Typically, the tattoo consists of lines drawn between the eyebrows, on the cheeks and around the mouth in such a way as to form a butterfly. According to ancient practice, the tattoos are made by first drawing on the skin using coal-blackened water and by puncturing the skin with a thorn. Once scabs form, the tattoo becomes permanent.

Traditional tribal tattoos.

The tradition of tattooing women was born during the Ming dynasty when villages were often attacked by rival ethnic groups, who would kidnap and rape the village women. To avoid this fate, women tried to make themselves uglier by tattooing their faces. Today, the practice of facial tattooing still persists among the Drung people, but only as a coming of age ritual.

Dai women have traditionally sported tattoos on the back of their hands, arms or between their eyebrows. For men, tattoos served to show off their muscularity, which is why most tattooed their biceps, backs or chests. The designs were mostly animal-themed and made using black plant extract. Dai people believed tattoos would protect them against attacks by mythical creatures, as black skin would scare the monsters away. Today, tattoos are mainly used to symbolize female beauty and male bravery. They are also a useful means of recognizing members of the same ethnic group.

Historic tattoos

The most famous tattoo to appear in Chinese history is that of Yueh Fei, a renowned general from the South Song Dynasty. When he joined the military forces fighting off the enemy from the north, his trusted troop leader suddenly jumped ship and joined the enemy ranks. Disgusted by this treachery, Yueh Fei resigned and returned home to care for his mother.

At home, Yueh Fei's mother was displeased with her son's decision to leave the fighting fields in the midst of war and lectured him about how a soldier's first duty was being loyal to his country. To make sure her son would never forget this principle, she tattooed on his back the words jĭn zhōng bào guó, 盡忠報國 (simplified: 尽忠报国 ), which translate into 'ultimate,' 'loyalty,' 'serve,' 'country.'

Now carrying a tattoo on his back, Yueh Fei went back to war and advanced the ranks to become a respected general. And still today, Yueh Fei's tattoo is evoked in an opera recounting his feats.

Making a mark

During the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s, Chairman Mao Zedong banned tattoos in China, calling them a manifestation of impurity and roguery. This attitude still persists today, as military personnel, for example, are still forbidden to have tattoos. Similarly, some enterprises have a policy of not hiring people who have tattoos or other body ornamentation.

Chinese authorities tend to be prejudiced against people boasting tattoos on their skins, as they are considered to be affiliated with people engaged in illegal or anti-social activities. In the past, some judges ordered convicted rapists and murderers to have their faces tattooed, and banished them from their hometowns. This practice has undoubtedly reinforced the impression that tattoos usually adorn the skin of criminals.

These negative associations are deep-set in Chinese culture, where people with tattoos are still frowned upon. According to Small Swords Magazine, the Beijing Olympic Committee said as recently as this year that it will not consider people with tattoos for hosting the opening and medal ceremonies at the 2008 Games, because it did not want to upset the athletes by having "sleazy" looking people around them.

But judging by the turnout at the China Tattoo Show Convention 2007 last June, prejudices are gradually being laid to the side as more and more people develop an interest in tattoo art.

Giving old prejudices the boot

China's young people have adopted tattoos and piercings as part of their fashion, just like their Western counterparts. And just like with fashion, the latest trends in tattoos travel quickly around the world.

Originally, Chinese young people took tattoos to show they were cool, but now they are becoming more interested in the designs, often spending a lot of time and effort to create unique tattoos, or to look for the design that best matches their personality, a tattoo artist from Beijing says.

Lower back tattoos are popular among women.

Women with tattoos are held even more in contempt than men with skin art. According to Sofia, women who have tattoos are in China often labeled as "those type of women." Sofia got her own tattoo, a butterfly, abroad, and says she hides it when she is in China. She says the prejudices linked to people who have tattoos cause them to be unjustly singled out at job interviews, for example.

Attitudes are changing, but still, most parents oppose the idea of their offspring covering their body with such noticeable, and sometimes provoking art. According to Chinese philosophy of thought, a person's body is a precious gift from his or her parents and, therefore, should never be abused or blemished with a tattoo. But the freedom to decide what to do with one's body is one of the most inalienable rights human beings possess, which makes tattoos a very effective way of communicating one's likes and convictions to other members of society.

"Tattoos aren't as popular as colored hair in China yet," Sofia says, "but they are getting there, as more and more trend setting celebrities get themselves tattooed."

"I did this is just for fun and I like butterflies very much because of their colors and the way they fly... I had been dreaming about having a tattoo on my arm for a long time. Now I have it, and I feel very happy about it," she says.

The growing popularity of tattoos as a sign of individualism is reflective of the changes sweeping the Chinese society. "I believe that tattoos will become more fashionable in China in the future when individuality and freedom are more respected," Sofia says.

Originally published on 2007-11-28

@ Lochlan: This is interesting. Do you know if other tattoos were allowed earlier? Like non-visible tattoos on arms etc. I always thought they had a complete ban on tattoos in the Chinese army and police force. When I was in China, it was really rare to see people with tattoos in general.

Well, that was freakin awesome! This just keeps getting better and better!

Great episode as usual, interesting to see Henning Jørgensen as well!

Many of you might know this tattoo studio, and it was some LSTers who recommended it to me.. I simply must get my next tattoo at this place, their work is just incredible!

.:: King Carlos Tattoo ::.

Welcome! Where in Wales are you from?

Just ordered a copy of the latest issue, can't wait! :)

I work in an office where the environment is very casual. I was a bit nervous about displaying them at first, cause you never know if people will look at you in another way because of the tattoos, but I find that no one really cares about it. A couple of guys have asked how long I've had them, where I got them etc. but others just know that I got them without saying anything about it. It feels really good to be in a working environment where I can display my tattoos without having to worry about negative reactions or consequences, but at the same time I can wear a long sleeve shirt and no one will know I have them.

Pisses me off to read about all this, nothing but thieves ruining whatever cause they might have had in the first place.. But glad to see that people are standing up for themselves.. Stay safe jade1955!

Thanks Lochlan :) And thanks for all the links guys, I never knew there were so many skilled artists around here..

Thanks for all the links. So many skilled tattooists, I will definitely get in touch with some of these studios. I plan on getting a Japanese-style tattoo, so I found King Carlos and Stockholm Classic especially interesting.

Mange takk :)

Hello!

I'm a 24-year old Norwegian guy living and working in Stockholm as a translator for a hotel booking website. I discovered this forum about a month ago, and have spent many late nights since then just reading all kinds of threads here. This is the first forum on which I've actually registered myself as a user, and I'm so impressed by all the knowledge you people have and all the interesting posts here. Not to mention that you all seem like a great bunch of people!

I don't know much about the art of tattooing, but I spend a lot of time reading about it, watching documentaries and just watching pictures. I plan on getting another tattoo (I have two so far) in not too long hopefully, and I think this forum can be a good source of inspiration for me.

I guess that's all there is to it, thanks again for all the interesting posts and a great forum!:)