http://2010spring.blog.ntu.edu.tw/2010/05/29/traditional-tattoo/
艋舺,a recent movie, gives us a glimpse of culture of Taiwanese gangs in the past. One of the main character “和尚” , starred by 阮經天, had a huge cover of tattoos on his back. Some regard tattoos as symbol of gangs, but others view them as a kind of beautiful body art. I sometimes read tattoo magazines especially pictures. I think of tattoos attractive patterns drawn on our bodies. To introduce this beautiful body art, let’s star from its traditional meaning. There are several kinds of meanings that tattoos stand for and we can divide them into: 1. Rite of Passage 2. Marks of Rank 3. Symbols of Religious Devotion 4. Marks of Bravery 5. Sexual Lures 6.A Pledge of Love 7. Protection 8. Punishment I would like to introduce Rite of Passage first.
There is a popular style of tattoos in the world today is that of the tribal tattoo, but modern tribal tattoo is just a style. It doesn’t mean that it contains any original traditional meaning.
This is the modern tribal tattoos
Often in traditional tribes, tattoos stand for the rite of passage between adolescence and adult. What is “the rite of passage between adolescence and adult” ? We can say that it is a part of adult ceremony. After a adult ceremony you will become either a man or a woman. In some traditional tribes such as those in Borneo, Indonesia and in Taiwan.
There are big differences between girls and boys who are about to have tattoos through their adult ceremony.
For girls to become women, tattoos on them often focus on the sexy parts of their bodies such as the thighs, abdomen, and breasts. Women are tattooed with patterns that are regarded as beauty and fertility.More children is good! But for boys to become real men, the tattooing used during adult ceremony usually focus on painful and bloody experience. Why is so different between genders?
The flowers on his shoulder is a characteristic pattern in Borneo
zimbio.com
” A man without tattoos is invisible to the Gods.” —–Iban proverb
kienhock.blogspot.com
After reading those materials, I found a main reason is that it’s not so easy to identify when a boy becomes a man biologically. (Actually I can’t realize what the difficulty to distinguish boys and men. I think it’s obvious.) So traditional tribes use painful and bloody tattoos to represent that a boy already have the courage and strength to withstand pain and will protect his tribe. Tattoos offer a solution to identify the position of members within the same community.
This is a traditional way of tattooing. http://www.noelboyd.com/2010/02/traditional-borneo-tattoos.html
tattoo.deezagood.com
2 Comments
Maybe it is difficult to distinguish between boys and men when there are only little age difference. For example, it’s not always easy to distinguish senior high school students who are not wearing their uniforms from undergraduates.
: ］That’s true.