Tattoo Marks example essay topic

The Filipino Art of Tattoo The history of tattooing in the Philippines goes back nearly as far as the history of the country itself. There are literally hundreds of ethnic groups in the Philippine island chain, each of which has their own language, tradition, and history. Much like Borneo and other parts of Micronesia and Polynesia, tattoos were applied by a sharpened bird bone or a kind of 'comb' made of sea shells. A hammer or mallet was used to strike these repeatedly and drive the natural ink (usually made of pine and sugarcane juice) under the skin. Back then, getting infected was high. In cases where the covered a large area of the body, it was not uncommon to die while recovering from an extreme tattooing session.

Sometimes the process damaged internal organs. However, many people back then still underwent the painful procedure because it was considered an honor and worth the risk to lose life and limb. The tattoos for them were badges of honor that is handed out after a brave deed or at a reaching of a significant stage of life. Among those tribes in the Philippines who practiced tattooing, the most well known are the Kalinga tribes of Northern Luzon. In days past, the Kalinga were known as headhunters and cannibals, who would carry out long standing grudges against rival tribes. Kalinga custom dictated that before a young Kalinga could become a full-fledged warrior, he had to taste the blood of his first victim.

Not only did this define his status as a Kalinga warrior, it also granted him a long lifespan. Great celebrations were held after a successful headhunting expedition, and those who passed their trials of manhood received tribal tattoos to mark the occasion. Women were not left out of the deal, either. In many cases, Filipino women were considered unwanted, or unattractive unless they received elaborate tribal tattoos. Significant life events, such as menstruation or childbirth, were also marked with a tattoo. In Visayas, tattooing caught the eye of the first Europeans who came here that they were called the Pinta dos.

The art was fairly widespread in Southeast Asia. It is said that the Indonesian cloth dye-ling known as basic was developed as a substitute for tattooing. According to the Visayans, these tattoos were considered talismanic. Beasts, patterns and religious drawings gave them special powers.

It was also considered a status marker, a sign of bravery, a common rite of passage for young men. In the Philippines, no tattooing was began until some brave deed had been performed. After that, for each one of the parts of the body which was tattooed, some new need had to be performed. History of Tattoos It appear that tattoos have been found on Egyptian mummies dating from about 2000 BC.

They are referred to in ancient writings relating to the Greeks, ancient Germans and ancient Britons and Romans, who used tattoos to mark criminals and slaves. After the advent of Christianity, tattooing was forbidden in Europe, but persisted in the Middle East and other parts of the world. The origins of tattooing as an art form are to be found in societies all over the world where it was first used for magical purposes. The finality of being tattooed gave it a seriousness and an importance that is no longer seen on the globe today.

In ancient Egypt, among Native Americans as well as in Africa and in the Pacific Basin tattooing assured control over the supernatural, as well as the forces of nature. Both the form and placement of designs were used to achieve the maximum intended power. The tattooed person's age, marriage status, prowess as a warrior or membership in a specific group were in this way identifiable in this life. Often, too, the tattoos were intended as a sort of passport in the afterlife. The word tattoo, is of Polynesian origin, as tattoo. It was introduced into english from Tahiti, where it was first recorded by James Cook's expedition in 1769.

Polynesian tattooing, as it existed before the arrival of Europeans in the South Pacific, was the most artistic tattooing in the ancient world. It had evolved over thousands of years throughout the islands of the Pacific and, in its most highly developed forms, was characterized by geometrical designs which were added to and renewed throughout the life of the individual until they covered the entire body. In beauty and complexity ancient Polynesian tattooing rivals the best work of modern masters of the art. So where did it come from? And why was it so highly developed in Polynesia? We can imagine the amazement of 18th century European travellers when, after months at sea, they saw the tropical islands of the Pacific with their lofty volcanic peaks, wide valleys, fertile soil, lush vegetation, and secluded coral lagoons teeming with brightly colored fish.

It was a stunning natural beauty of a kind never before seen by European eyes. Isolated and protected from natural enemies, predators and disease, the Polynesian seemed the prototype of the mythical noble savage living in a state of innocence. The men were tall, handsome, phenomenally strong and courageous in sport and war. The women were sensuous and seductive. Unlike the inhabitants of many other parts of the world, Polynesians did not spend their days struggling to obtain the bare necessities of life in a hostile environment. The earliest evidence of tattooing in Japan is found in the form of clay figurines which have faces painted or engraved to represent tattoo marks.

The oldest figurines of this kind have been recovered from tombs dated 5,000 BC or older, and many other such figurines have been found in tombs dating from the second and third millennia BC. These figurines served as stand-ins for living individuals who symbolically accompanied the dead on their journey into the unknown, and it is believed that the tattoo marks had religious or magical significance. The first written record of Japanese tattooing is found in a Chinese dynastic history compiled in 297 AD. According to this text, Japanese 'men young and old, all tattoo their faces and decorate their bodies with designs. ' Japanese tattooing is also mentioned in other Chinese histories, but always in a negative context.

The Chinese considered tattooing a sign of barbarism and used it only as a punishment. By the seventh century the rulers of Japan had adopted much of the culture and attitudes of the Chinese, and a result tattooing fell into official disfavor. The first record of tattooing as punishment in Japan is found in a Japanese history compiled in 720 AD. It reads: 'The Emperor summoned before him Ha mako, Murali of Azumi, and commanded him saying: OE You plotted rebellion, and your offense is deserving of death. I will, however, exercise great bounty, and remitting the penalty of death, sentence you to be tattooed. ' After the sixth century tattooing was widely used to identify criminals and outcasts.

Outcasts were tattooed on the arms: a cross might be tattooed on the inner forearm, or a straight line on the outside of the forearm or on the upper arm. Criminals were marked with a variety of symbols which designated the places where the crimes were committed. In one region, the pictograph for 'dog' was tattooed on the criminal^1's forehead. Other marks included such patterns as bars, crosses, double lines, and circles on the face and arms. Tattooing was reserved for those who had committed serious crimes, and individuals bearing tattoo marks were ostracized by their families and denied all participation in the life of the community.

For the Japanese, who valued family membership and social position above all things, tattooing was particularly severe and terrible form of punishment. In North America, the tattooing of the American Indians was described as follows b a french explorer in Easter Canada: But that which I find a most strange and conspicuous folly, is that in order to be considered courageous and feared by their enemies [the Hurons] take the bone of a bird or of a fish which they sharpen like a razor, and use it to engrave or decorate their bodies by making many punctures somewhat as we would engrave a copper plate with a burin. During this process they exhibit the most admirable courage and patience. They certainly feel the pain, for they are not insensible, but they remain motionless and mute while their companions wipe away the blood which runs from the incisions. Subsequently they rub a black color or powder into the cuts in order that the engraved figures will remain for life and never be effaced, in much the same manner as the marks which one sees on the arms of pilgrims returning from Jerusalem.

In order to paint permanent marks on themselves they undergo intense pain. To do this they use needles, sharpened awls, or thorns. With these instruments they pierce the skin and trace images of animals or monsters, for example an eagle, a serpent, a dragon, or any other figure they like, which they engrave on their faces, their necks, their chests, or other parts of their bodies. Then, while the punctures which form the designs are fresh and bleeding, they rub in charcoal or some other black color which mixes with the blood and penetrates the wound. The image is then indelibly imprinted on the skin. This custom is so widespread that I believe that in many of these native tribes it would be impossible to find a single individual who is not marked in this way.

When this operation is performed over the entire body it is dangerous, especially in cold weather. Many have died after the operation, either as the result of a kind of spasm which it produces, or for other reasons. The natives thus die as martyrs to vanity because of this bizarre custom. In France, tattooing was widely practiced among seamen, laborers and convicts during the first part of the nineteenth century. Members of the middle and upper classes, however, thought it beneath their dignity, and it was never popular among the titled and the wealthy as it was in England. This attitude was due in large part to the influence of the Catholic Church.

In the fourth century A.D., Constantine, the first Christian emperor of Rome, outlawed the facial tattooing of slaves and convicts on the grounds that it disfigured 'that which was fashioned in God's image. ' Eventually body tattooing was prohibited because it was associated with superstition and paganism. The Church's prohibition of tattooing was responsible for the fact that it was but little practiced in Europe until it was reintroduced in the latter part of the eighteenth century by sailors who had been tattooed in the South Pacific. During the nineteenth century tattooing flourished in England as nowhere else in Europe.

This was due in a large part to the tradition of tattooing in the British Navy, which began with the first voyage of Captain Cook in 1769. During the decades which followed many British seamen returned home bearing souvenirs of their travels in the form of exotic tattoos. Sailors learned the art, and by the middle of the 18th century most British ports had at least one professional tattoo artist in residence..