The history of tattoos - Addison Anderson

紋身的歷史 - 愛迪森．安德森

譯者: Denise Tso 審譯者: Geoff Chen

Thinking of getting a tattoo?

考慮刺青嗎？

Decorating your birthday suit would add another personal story

為光溜溜的身體加點裝飾，

to a history of tattoos stretching back at least 8000 years.

會為至少八千年的刺青史 添上個人故事。

Tattooed mummies from around the world attest to the universality

有刺青的木乃伊在世界各地出土， 不但向世界證明

of body modification across the millennia,

數千年以來，改變身體外觀的文化 不只侷限於某個地域，

and to the fact that you really were stuck with it forever

也證明了一個事實： 如果在發明激光洗紋身以前，

if your civilization never got around to inventing laser removal.

你身處的人類文明就消失， 紋身會永遠伴隨著你。

A mummy from the Chinchorro culture in pre-Incan Peru

秘魯的新克羅木乃伊 追溯至前印加時代，

has a mustache tattooed on his upper lip.

他嘴脣上面紋有鬍子圖案。

Ötzi, mummified iceman of the Alps, has patterned charcoal tats along his spine,

於阿爾卑斯山脉的木乃伊冰人奧茨

脊椎上、膝蓋窩和腳後跟附近 都有木炭刺青圖案，

behind his knee and around his ankles,

which might be from an early sort of acupuncture.

推測是早期類似針灸治療的痕跡。

The mummy of Amunet, a priestess in Middle Kingdom Egypt,

埃及中王國時期的女祭司 阿瑪烏奈特木乃伊

features tattoos thought to symbolize sexuality and fertility.

亦擁有相信是象徵性慾和生育能力的刺青

Even older than the mummies,

比木乃伊更古老的

figurines of seemingly tattooed people,

小人像身上似乎畫有刺青裝飾，

and tools possibly used for tattooing date back tens of thousands of years.

而貌似用作刺青的工具 也能追溯至數萬年前。

Tattoos don't have one historical origin point that we know of,

我們不知道刺青準確的發源時間，

but why do we English speakers call them all tattoos?

但是為甚麼刺青的英語是 "tattoo" 呢？

The word is an anglophonic modification of "tatao,"

這個字本由玻里尼西亞語 "tatao" 轉化成英語，

a Polynesian word used in Tahiti,

玻里尼西亞語是大溪地通行的語言。

where English captain James Cook landed in 1769

1769年英國船長庫克登陸該地，

and encountered heavily tattooed men and women.

遇見佈滿紋身的男男女女。

Stories of Cook's findings and the tattoos his crew acquired

庫克船長的發現和 船員刺上的紋身不但讓

cemented our usage of "tattoo" over previous words like

“tattoo" 的鋒芒蓋過 “結疤”、“人體繪畫 “、”染色“

"scarring," "painting," and "staining,"

等以前用來形容紋身的詞語，

and sparked a craze in Victorian English high society.

還為維多利亞時期的英國上流社會 帶來一股紋身熱潮。

We might think of Victorians having Victorian attitudes

我們可能想像到 當時保守的維多利亞人

about such a risque thing,

會覺得這是粗野、有傷風化的，

and you can find such sentiments, and even bans, on tattooing throughout history.

其實這種態度以及對刺青的禁止 在歷史上屢見不鮮。

But while publicly some Brits looked down their noses at tattoos,

可是，當一些英國人對刺青 公開表示不屑的同時，

behind closed doors and away from their noses,

私底下，

lots of people had them.

還是有很多人有紋身的。

Reputedly, Queen Victoria had a tiger fighting a python,

據說，維多利亞女王有 老虎與大蟒搏鬥的刺青，

and tattoos became very popular among Cook's fellow soldiers,

而刺青也在庫克船長的士兵中非常流行，

who used them to note their travels.

他們以這種方式記錄他們的足跡。

You crossed the Atlantic? Get an anchor.

跨越過大西洋？ 刺個錨的圖案吧。

Been south of the Equator? Time for your turtle tat.

去過南北球？ 是時候紋個海龜了。

But Westerners sported tattoos long before meeting

但是，早在遇見南太平洋的 薩摩亞人和毛利人前，

the Samoans and Maori of the South Pacific.

西方人的刺青歷史就揭開序幕了。

Crusaders got the Jerusalem Cross so if they died in battle,

十字軍有名為「耶路撒冷十字」的圖案紋身， 如果他們戰死的話，

they'd get a Christian burial.

就會得到基督教式葬禮。

Roman soldiers on Hadrian's Wall had military tattoos

駐守哈德良城牆的羅馬士兵 有軍事紋身，

and called the Picts beyond it "Picts," for the pictures painted on them.

他們管牆外的住民「皮克特人」， 因為他們身上畫有彩繪。

There's also a long tradition of people being tattooed unwillingly.

不單如此，強制紋身的行為歷史悠久。

Greeks and Romans tattooed slaves and mercenaries to discourage

希臘人和羅馬人都會 在奴隸和雇傭兵身上刺青，

escape and desertion.

以防他們逃跑或者擅離軍隊。

Criminals in Japan were tattooed as such as far back as the 7th century.

日本罪犯要接受刺青的傳統 可追溯至七世紀。

Most infamously, the Nazis tattooed numbers on the chest or arms

最臭名昭彰的例子， 就是為了在奧許維次集中營裏，

of Jews and other prisoners at the Auschwitz concentration camp

可以更容易辨認出一具具光脫脫的屍體，

in order to identify stripped corpses.

納粹黨人會在猶太人和其他被囚禁的人 胸膛或手臂上刺上數字。

But tattoos forced on prisoners and outcasts can be redefined

但是囚犯和社會邊緣人士身上 被強迫刺上的刺青可以有新的詮釋，

as people take ownership of that status or history.

因為人們對該身份和歷史有新的領悟。

Primo Levi survived Auschwitz and wore short sleeves to Germany after the war

普里莫·莱维是奧許維次集中營的幸存者， 戰後去德國的時候，他穿上短袖，

to remind people of the crime his number represented.

以提醒那數字刺青背後代表的滔天罪行。

Today, some Holocaust survivors' descendants

時至今日，很多大屠殺生還者的後代

have their relatives numbers' tattooed on their arms.

都把親戚當年的數字紋到手臂上。

The Torah has rules against tattoos,

摩西五經中，有條例禁止紋身，

but what if you want to make indelible what you feel should never be forgotten?

但是萬一你想把某個記憶 變成永不磨滅的記號，記錄下來呢？

And those criminals and outcasts of Japan, where tattooing was eventually outlawed

從19世紀到第二次世界大戰後， 紋身在日本是違法的，

from the mid-19th century to just after World War II,

而那些罪犯和被社會所撇棄的人

added decoration to their penal tattoos,

就在現有的受刑紋身上加點裝飾，

with designs borrowed from woodblock prints, popular literature

其設計不是版畫、流行文學裏的形象，

and mythical spirtual iconography.

就是神話裏具象徵性的圖案。

Yakuza gangs viewed their outsider tattoos as signs of lifelong loyalty and courage.

日本黑幫視他們不入主流的紋身 為終身忠誠和勇氣的標誌。

After all, they lasted forever and it really hurt to get them.

畢竟，刺青伴隨一生， 其過程也非常痛苦。

For the Maori, those tattoos were an accepted mainstream tradition.

對毛利人來講， 刺青則是為大眾所接受的主流文化。

If you shied away from the excruciating chiseling in of your moko design,

如果在刺青的過程中， 你因為無法忍受那針刺的疼痛而避開，

your unfinished tattoo marked your cowardice.

那麼，你未完成的刺青就會表示 你為人怯懦。

Today, unless you go the traditional route,

現在，除非你非要選擇用傳統的方法刺青，

your tattoo artist will probably use a tattoo machine

不然你的紋身師傅一般都會用紋身機器。

based on the one patented by Samuel O'Reilly in 1891,

這種紋身機器是以塞缪爾·奥賴利在 1891年申請的專利為基礎，設計而成，

itself based on Thomas Edison's stencil machine from 1876.

而該項專利則是根據托馬斯·愛迪生 1876年的製版機發明而來。

But with the incredibly broad history of tattoos giving you so many options,

但是，刺青歷史悠久， 圖案多如牛毛，眼花繚亂，

what are you going to get?

你會去紋個什麼呢？

This is a bold-lined expression of who you are,

這是一種大膽的方法來表達自我、

or you want to appear to be.

或至少表達理想中的自己。

As the naturalist aboard Cook's ship said of the tataoed Tahitians,

隨庫克登船的還有一位博物學家， 正如他描述有刺青的大溪地人所說的，

"Everyone is marked, thus in different parts of his body,

「每個人在不同的身體部位都有紋身，

according maybe to his humor or different circumstances of his life."

其圖案是根據那人的性情 或人生經歷所設計而成。」

Maybe your particular humor and circumstances

可能你獨特的氣質和經歷

suggest getting a symbol of cultural heritage,

讓你想紋一個文化遺產的圖案，

a sign of spirituality, sexual energy,

或是一個符號，象徵某種精神、性能量、

or good old-fashioned avant-garde defiance.

或者帶點叛逆味道的前衛設計， （不過這構思已經有點老套了）；

A reminder of a great accomplishment,

它可以是某個成就的紀念，

or of how you think it would look cool if Hulk Hogan rode a Rhino.

也可以是你的想法： “被稱作縮小版綠巨人的 霍克·霍肯騎犀牛會多酷！”

It's your expression, your body, so it's your call.

這是你要表達的聲音， 要紋的是你自己的身體， 所以做決定的是你。

Just two rules:

你只需聽好兩條原則：

you have to find a tattooist who won't be ashamed to draw your idea,

你得找個紋身師傅不會「嫌棄」你的想法，

and when in doubt, you can never go wrong with "Mom."

如果猶豫不定，紋「媽媽」兩字准不會錯。