Chinese Tattoo Design | AnimalTattoo

In most times and places, the symbolic meaning of an animal tattoo tends to draw almost entirely on the actual physical and behavioral characteristics of the particular animal – the powerful and majestic eagle, for example, or the owl, who hunts at night and is also a conductor of souls to the afterlife. Occasionally, however, the meaning of a tattoo symbol has a much more accidental and fortuitous origin, as in the case of the Chinese bat. In China, the character for “bat” is fu. In a happy coincidence, the character for “good luck” is also fu. Thus, in the Far East, the bat is a symbol of good luck but the positive associations don’t stop there. In messages of good wishes, a bat is sometimes accompanied by the character for longevity. In this case, though, it is the creature’s attributes that make for the additional meaning, since bats dwell in caverns and such caverns are also the passageway to the realm of the Immortals. From the symbolism of good fortune and long life, it is a just a small step to that for fertility as well. Crossing over into western culture, even Pliny the Elder, Roman natural historian of the first century, acknowledged that the blood of a bat , when placed.