Chinese tattoos existed in the ancestral society as early as Bai's Neolithic Age. From the painted pottery culture to the Sanxingdui site, from Wuyue in the southeast to the barbarians in the southwest, the distribution area of ancient tattoos is actually very wide. Although there are different reasons for pattern selection and tattooing, those tattoos do not seem to have the derogatory nature of social class.
However, the Chinese countries since the Western Zhou Dynasty have used the connection between "body" and "pattern" in the context of distinguishing good and bad. The punishment of "Tattoo" in the "Five Punishments" is exactly its kind. For example, when Qin Shihuang was building the Great Wall, he punished the wrongdoer by stabbing "Chengdan" on his face; in order to prevent those who sent the border from escaping, the Song Dynasty would stabbed the words "Stab with Zhou" on his face.
Before the Qin Dynasty, there were roughly three types of tattoos. One is the act of tattooing based on aesthetics or bravery. The second is the "Athlete Tattoo" that is involved in military rule. The idea of "Serving the Country with Heartfelt Heart" on the arm of a military fighter probably came from Yue Fei. At the turn of the Song Dynasty, there were many soldiers who tattooed Mingzhi, and some of them were regarded as symbols of loyalty. The third is the tattoo as a criminal law.
After the Tang and Song Dynasties, although the application of tattoo techniques to punishment is still in the ascendant, similar behaviors motivated by manifesting personal consciousness have also begun to appear on the stage of history. Tattoos have gradually become a fashion, and even professional "tattoo" masters have appeared.
The records of commercial tattoos did not stop from the Tang Dynasty to the Yuan Dynasty, but stopped abruptly down to the Ming and Qing Dynasties. This may be related to the official ban at the time.
In modern times, especially in the early stages of reform and opening up, a large number of underworld and evil forces have been seen in film and television works. Many of these people have tattoos, and some bad people in society have also followed suit. Therefore, people have regarded the two "inevitably". Linked together.
In fact, modern tattoos have integrated history, painting, human body structure, body activity laws, metaphysics, acupuncture... and many other professional knowledge, and gradually become a diversified subject.
It also has very high requirements for tattooists, whether the composition is beautiful, whether the needle method is proficient, whether the tattoo is reasonable, how it changes during activities, and even what kind of pattern will dominate the fortune of the person... Well thought out in advance. (However, most domestic tattoo artists are purely commercial, and do not treat this art correctly)
