Clinical Anthropology Copyright
© 2005 John Rush PhD ND
Chinese
Myth as Portrayed
Through Tattoo Art
Author: John A.
Rush
Artist: Kim
Forrest, Wild Bill’s Tattoo, Roseville, California
Introduction
The indigenous Chinese mythic tradition is currently overlaid
with Confucius, Taoist, and Buddhist symbols and concepts with Amitabha
Buddhism the most popular tradition in most areas of
Understanding the early indigenous tradition is somewhat
problematical in a similar manner as the Tibetan shamanic Bon tradition—there isn’t a great deal of written material. The
earliest writings are magical spells incised on bone, shell, and deer or cattle
scapula dating to 1400
The mythic
themes presented in the tattooing date to the earlier Zhou Dynasty (1027 to 256
Creation out
of Chaos
The general
Chinese creation myth involves a state of Chaos. This Chaos can be conceptualized in several
ways. It might be seen as a swirling
mass of “stuff,” swirling so fast that it appears like a cloud or a pool of
water, as in the Egyptian and Old Testament myths. The second way of looking at this is that
Chaos is everything and nothing happening simultaneously as represented by
Atman or Brahman in the Hindu and the Singularity or Black Hole (leading to the
Big Bang) of Western science. In the
Chinese myth a point is reached where “something” or some power decides that
Chaos isn’t all that fun and pleasing and changes the pattern to it’s paired
opposite; order appears. Another inflection states that two gods first emerged
from Chaos and created Heaven and Earth and all the paired opposites. Still another instructs us that Pan
Gu (touch for picture) is
the creator god who “hibernates” at the center of Chaos for countless centuries
when he finally awoke. In his hands was the
cosmic egg, the singularity, within which reside all the paired opposites. He is characterized as a short, strong man,
who takes up chisel and axe, cracks open the cosmic egg, spilling forth the
known universe. This, of course, is another Big Bang story and is analogous to
the story as Amun, in the Egyptian tradition, who spills forth the paired
opposites, Re and Hathor, who then assemble the tangible universe. There is another interesting similarity with
the Egyptian tradition and that is a cow, spangled with stars that holds up the
sky, similar to Nut. This suggests some
type of contact between the two traditions. Osiris, who may have been a real
person, is said to have traveled to the East imparting knowledge to all he
encountered.
The
Chinese Dragon (long—touch for
picture)
The Chinese
dragon differs from his European cousin in that the latter guards things that
it cannot use, that is, virgins and gold.
The European Dragon can be seen as an obstacle to “riches” or a barrier
(your demon) to success that must be overcome. The dragon in
The Chinese
dragon also stands for wisdom and they are often consulted for advice, King and
commoner alike. Dragons are somewhat
vain and easily insulted if their advice is not followed. This invokes their
dark side, a violent storm perhaps through their thrashing about. A certain
amount of juvenile delinquency occurs among immature dragons who, instead of
t-peeing your house, cause a roofs to leak or plumbing to backup.
The dragon
(as well as the phoenix below) was redrawn by Kim Forrest from ceramic-on-brass vases (cloisonné) purchased in
In ancient
The crane is
a symbol of longevity and, like Thoth in the Egyptian tradition, wisdom. The
crane is connected to the Taoist story of seven ordinary men and one woman who,
through spiritual perfection, became immortal. Spiritual perfection was
achieved through meditation, proper breathing, avoiding foods that encourage
disease, ageing, death (the “three worms”), and control of sexual energy. The
crane, representing longevity and happiness, traveled with the immortals on
their journey. Multiple representations of the crane, or the crane with other
birds and animals, have different symbolic values. For example, the crane,
phoenix, mandarin duck, heron, and wagtail together represent the five
relationships between people, that is, ruler and servant, father and son, man
and wife, elder brother and younger brother, and friend and friend. Two cranes
flying toward the sun represent not only wisdom but the ability to see all
things. The expression “turning into a
feathered crane” is a reference to the death of a Taoist priest who flies into
the heavens.
The crow
shares a similar place in the Chinese myths as the Benu Bird and Re of the
Egyptian tradition. As the story goes, the sun produces a crow and it is the crow’s
duty to transport the sun to the top of the world tree (axis mundi) each dawn (click
here for picture). In some renderings the crow is also a creator
who comes down to the ground, lays an egg, which is consumed by a young lady
named Chien Ti. She, of course, became
pregnant and gave birth to Ch’i. Ch’i
had marvelous talents one of which was controlling rain and flood waters. He
was rewarded by Emperor Yu (Xia Dynasty) who gave to him the Shang fiefdom and
the title, Tzu-shin. The crow is also depicted as having three legs with the
number three having several reference points: the trinity of heaven, earth, and
man; loyalty, respect, and refinement; happiness, long life, and riches; and
the three teachings (Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism). The crow represents
the male element but the three legs also reflect the female in that the vagina
is sometimes referred to as a woman’s “third eye.”
The bat was demonized
in the Middle Ages by the Catholic Church; anything that hunts at night—cats,
bats, and owls—was considered the work of the Devil. The Chinese bat, on the
other hand, symbolized happiness and good fortune. The reason for this might be
that the word for good fortune has the same sound as fu. Five bats grouped
together represent long life, health, riches, love of virtue, and a natural
death (rather than being murdered or dying from the plague).
The
Smallness of Humankind in Nature
The
diminutive structures (shrines, lower right corner) are a reminder of how small
humans are in nature. Western art
portraying scenes that include groups of people usually accentuate the
individual. The purpose is to place humankind in its proper perspective, that
is, part of but not dominating nature.
Tattoo
artists rarely if ever sign their work.
In this case, in keeping with Chinese paintings, the artist’s signature
is found within a square or oval.
Traditionally future owners of the painting likewise add their signature
and it is not uncommon to find several squares representing not only the artist
but a history of ownership. The Chinese characters spell out “gold forest,”
which equals Kim Forrest.
Art by Kim Forrest,