The blog has covered a variety of topics, from urban legends surrounding Chinese language and culture, to billboards and T-shirts, even other Web sites. But not surprisingly, misguided tattoos are the bread and butter of Hanzi Smatter. Readers submit photos of tattoos featuring hanzi characters and their supposed meaning in the eyes of the tattooed, then Tian explains what it actually says. Without getting into to much linguistic detail here, I will say that the most important lesson – public service even – that Hanzi Smatter offers is that if you’re not fluent in Chinese, you probably shouldn’t get that Chinese tattoo. For one thing, you know those Chinese character alphabet charts many tattoo parlors proudly display on their walls? Well, in reality, Chinese doesn’t have an alphabet. Characters stand for words, not sounds. And that is just one of the numerous problems that people get into when designing a “Chinese” tattoo.
As a casual learner of Mandarin Chinese (podcasts are my new favorite form of new media, but that’s for another week) I find Hanzi Smatter especially enlightening, but it’s also easily accessible for anyone, even with no background in Chinese. I get the sense that blogger Tian has more than a casual or heritage background in Chinese; his explanations provide a lot of linguistic details, but dumbed-down enough for anyone to understand. Hanzi Smatter is well written and funny, and I suppose I also get some enjoyment out of mocking people with nonsensical phrases forever tattooed on their bodies.
Tian has also debunked a few popular urban legends, for instance, that the Chinese character for crisis is the combination of danger and opportunity. Although a popular anecdote with the likes of Lisa Simpson and Condoleezza Rice, no such character exists. Another popular myth is that the Chinese character for “war” depicts two women under one roof – again, no such character exists (although, interestingly, the character for peace and tranquility is a woman under the roof).
Those who aren’t as big a linguistic enthusiast as I am, may think this sounds a bit dry — nerdy even, but Hanzi Smatter is surprisingly fun to read and conversational, even if it is mildly educational.
Elizabeth “Liz” Gartley, of Houlton, has a BA in media studies from Emerson College in Boston. She has studied abroad in the Netherlands and Australia, and most recently interned at a production company in Hollywood. She can be reached online at egartley@gmail.com.
This Isn’t Real Life
By Liz Gartley
HanziSmatter.com, a blog “dedicated to the misuse of Chinese characters in western culture,” has become one of my favorite blogs since I started reading it last year. The blog was launched in September of 2004 by Tian, a Chinese-American with the simple goal of “educating the public on the misuse of Chinese characters” (Chinese characters are called hanzi in Chinese).
