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The good news is, however, that there are thousands upon thousands of nice Chinese tattoo ideas out there, the majority of which have yet to be discovered by tattoo lovers. So long as you are willing to do some basic research, chances are you can always find an excellent Chinese character, phrase, or saying that would make a stunning tattoo that no one has ever inked before.

Fortunately, the long history of China has witnessed a large number of classic literature works, many of which are as enduring as brilliant. For Chinese tattoo lovers, that means we have a goldmine before us. From the following three sources, your chances of discovering an amazing tattoo idea are just off to the roof.

1. The Analects, or Lun Yu

The Analects, or Lun Yu, which literally means "discussion over (Confucius') words" in Chinese, is the comprehensive record of Confucius' words, acts, as well as the discussions held among Confucius and his disciples. Written more than 2000 years ago (during the Spring and Autumn Period through the Warring States Period in Chinese history), the Analects is considered the very root of Chinese moral values and has been an all-time classic for both scholars and ordinary people.

Based on the fundamental thought of Confucius---Humanity, or yen, the Analects deals with every aspect that was considered by Confucius to be the manifestations of humanity, including such virtues as wisdom, filial piety, reverence, courtesy, love, sincerity, righteousness, loyalty, etc.

While the sayings from Tao Te Ching may seem obscure and abstract for most people, The Analects provides the most direct and clear quotes, which I believe is the most suitable source for an excellent tattoo idea to emerge. Here is the reason for this: Until you are really confident about your understanding of the word, you may not want to rush into inking it, just in case troubles arise.

What's worth noting, though, is that you can always find a great tattoo word that suits you in some way from certain part of the Analects, which consists of 20 themes altogether, a genuine huge pool of smart and meaningful quotes. If you want to get a unique and smart Chinese tattoo design, do some research about the Analects before anything else, you would definitely be glad that you did.

Examples:

Ji Suo Bu Yu, Wu Shi Yu Ren (What you don't want done to yourself, don't do to others)

Guo You Bu Ji (Going too far is the same as not going far enough)

Xiao Bu Ren Luan Da Mou (Impatience with trivial matters spoils great plans)

2. Tao Te Ching, or Dao De Jing

Among the most wisdom-flowing books throughout Chinese history (and human history), Tao Te Ching is arguably the best source to learn the "Tao" of life, probably the most complicated subject for us to figure out at all time. Literally speaking, Tao Te Ching refers to "book about ethic", as Tao Te means "ethic" in Chinese, and Ching means "book", or "scripture".

Lao Tsu, the author of Tao Te Ching, wrote the book with considerable conciseness and simplicity. As a result, the entire book is just a little over 5,000 words in length. Yet, it covers literally everything about life, and from a whole new perspective. People always find it extremely difficult to comprehend the words in the book, and when they do, they would then find out that the entire book is actually written with the very intent of being as simple as possible for people to understand, as long as one can read with a different view of how life "should" be, which they are actually not.

Boldly speaking, Tao Te Ching can equip one's mind with the highest level of wisdom for a human to acquire. In the mean time, it can easily provide loads and loads of smart Chinese tattoos beyond one's imagination. If you take just a little time diving into this magic book, I guarantee you that you will soon discover a tattoo word that brings not only "Aha" to others, but also to yourself, as you are then to be congruent with a whole new attitude toward life, which will completely transform you into a human being with true wisdom and clarity about life.

Examples:

Shang Shan Ruo Shui (the highest level of moral is that of water)

Wu Wei (non-action)

Zi Zhi Zhe Ming (to know oneself is to be illuminated)

Shao Ze De, Duo Ze Huo (little means "to get", much means confused)

3. Book of Odes, or Shi Jing

Shi Jing, which comprised of 305 poems, is the earliest existing collection of Chinese poems, some of which were written as early as 3,000 years ago.

If Tao can represent Tao Te Ching, humanity can represent The Analects, then the word to represent Shi Jing would definitely be romance. Actually, Shi Jing is considered to be the most beautiful and romantic collection of poems in Chinese literature, with tons and tons of sweet verses about men and women loving another, or one missing another, etc.

In addition to the beautiful poems, what's interesting about Book of Odes would be the characters. There are a great number of existing Chinese characters that were first created in that book. These characters are genuinely work of art, quite different from the common Chinese characters. They usually come in a two-character form, or Ci Yu. Besides, the characters are similar to each other in both shape and pronunciation. What's more, they often have a romantic meaning. For example, Xie Hou means "an unexpected meet", Chang Yang means "to wander about unhurriedly", etc.

Without a doubt, with its beautiful and delicate verses, Book of Odes can provide romantic folks with the best Chinese tattoo designs ever. Even for those who are not ready to ink multiple characters now, there are still loads and loads of characters in Book of Odes, which are amazing in both shape and meaning.

Examples:

Yao Tiao Shu Nv, Jun Zi Hao Qiu.

The modest, retiring, virtuous, young lady, For our prince a good mate she...