David Beckham’s Chinese Tattoo

It means

“Death and life have determined appointments, riches and honor depend upon heaven.”

It is one of the most meaningful Chinese tattoo I have seen on celebrities. The tattoo was done by one of the best tattoo artists in Hong Kong called Gabe.

Another good translation in English is

“Life and death are decided by fate, wealth and honor are from heaven.”

The characters from top to bottom are:
1. Life - Pronounced “xeng” in Mandarin, “sang” in Cantonese.
2. Death – Pronounced “si” in Mandarin, “sei” in Cantonese.
3. Has – Pronounced “you” in Mandarin, “yau” in Cantonese.
4. Fate /Determined appointments – Pronounced “ming” in Mandarin, “ming” in Cantonese.
5. Riches – Pronounced “fu” in Mandarin, “fu” in Cantonese.
6. Wealth and Honor - Pronounced “gui” in Mandarin, “gwai” in Cantonese.
7. From/depend upon – Pronounced “you” in Mandarin, “yau” in Cantonese.
8. Heaven – Pronounced “tian” in Mandarin, “tin” in Cantonese.


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