Finding Serenity

September 17, 2008 8:01 PM

Explain to me the difference between these two Chinese characters, both said to mean "serenity."

My fiancee's been thinking about getting a tattoo of the Chinese character for "serenity." She tracked down this image, and this one.

What's the difference? Do they both mean "serenity," with different connotations? Does one mean something completely different? Are they both wrong?

posted by EarBucket to writing & language (12 comments total)

I don't read Chinese, so I'm not absolutely positive, but I suspect the first one is Japanese and the second one is Chinese.
posted by Arasithil at 8:30 PM on September 17, 2008

And as a follow-up to that, even if it weren't the wrong language, I think that the Japanese one means peace more in the sense of "keeping the peace" or "peace and order" than "serenity".
posted by Arasithil at 8:34 PM on September 17, 2008

They're both Chinese. 安寧 and 宁靜. I don't read/speak Chinese, but I'd suggest 平静, as it's the Chinese-character equivalent to the Korean word for 'serene' (평온) -- however, other Chinese speakers will certainly be on the way, so please don't take my word for it.

That said -- please, please, don't let your fiancee get a tattoo in Chinese. 1) No matter what your intentions are, it smacks of exoticism (unless you're Chinese), 2) your tattooist, unless he/she knows Chinese, very well might make severe mistakes in copying the letters (see here), and 3) everyone I know thinks that Chinese tattoos are just plain tacky.

Think of it as getting a tattoo and having it look like engrish to others.
posted by suedehead at 8:52 PM on September 17, 2008 [3 favorites]

My girlfriend, who is Chinese, says they're both very similar but she would go with the first:


It's more like serenity "from the heart", whereas the second one has a more general meaning. But the difference is very subtle.


But whichever you do, consider getting the traditional characters. The second image you posted has simplified, and traditional will look fancier for a tattoo. (But then, it's easier for a non-Chinese-reading tattoo artist to make a mistake that will make Chinese people laugh at your tattoo)
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 9:12 PM on September 17, 2008

I've always associated the first character of the first picture with peace as in the keeping of peace... That character is on every single cop car in China. It looks like the previous comment to this one implies that the second character changes the meaning somehow.

Why, oh why, do they not have tattoo artists in the chinatowns of the world? There's some big bank in this.
posted by sleslie at 10:05 PM on September 17, 2008 [1 favorite]

>"That said -- please, please, don't let your fiancee get a tattoo in Chinese"

I have a friend in beijing who says chinese people get english tattoos all the time. Whats good for the goose...
posted by jak68 at 11:05 PM on September 17, 2008

I'd go with the second set of characters, based on this.
posted by SPrintF at 11:35 PM on September 17, 2008 [1 favorite]

安康 / an1 kang1 : 1）good health
安家 / an1 jia1 : 1）settle down 2）set up a home
安宁 / an1 ning2 : 1）peaceful 2）tranquil 3）calm 4）composed 5）free from worry
安定 / an1 ding4 : 1）stable 2）quiet 3）settled 4）stabilize 5）maintain 6）stabilized 7）calm and orderly
安抚 / an1 fu3 : 1）placate 2）pacify 3）appease
安排 / an1 pai2 : 1）to arrange 2）to plan 3）to set up
安慰 / an1 wei4 : 1）comfort 2）console

宁愿 / ning4 yuan4 : 1）would rather 2）better
宁静 / ning2 jing4 : 1）tranquil 2）tranquility
宁肯 / ning4 ken3 : conj 1）would rather...
posted by troy at 12:59 AM on September 18, 2008

安寧 is also Japanese (pronounced an-nei). It does mean peace or well-being. The second one is not Japanese.
posted by misozaki at 4:02 AM on September 18, 2008

Native chinese speaker here; both the words you posted have the general meaning of 'serenity', 'quietness' but differ subtly in connotation.

The first, 安寧, would imply serenity and quietude of a person/situation because of peace of heart/mind etc, while the second, 宁静, refers more generally to surroundings, or simply being 'quiet'. Note that 寧 (second character in the first word) and 宁 (first character in second pair) are the same word, but the latter one is in Simplified script. I would recommend using the first, more complicated one (寧) for asthetic reasons, provided the tattoo artist gets it right.

To illustrate the difference in usage:
You would use the first word but not the second in this sentence: "I wish he would leave so that I can have some peace!
The second word but not the first: It's a very quiet and peaceful place.

Just my personal views, as this dictionary says the second word is OK as well. You won't go too wrong with either really.
posted by monocot at 5:12 AM on September 18, 2008

1) No matter what your intentions are, it smacks of exoticism (unless you're Chinese), 2) your tattooist, unless he/she knows Chinese, very well might make severe mistakes in copying the letters (see here), and 3) everyone I know thinks that Chinese tattoos are just plain tacky.

#2 is the only advice worth listening to. If you were genuinely worried about what everyone else thought of your tattoo, you'd never get anything.
posted by [NOT HERMITOSIS-IST] at 6:09 AM on September 18, 2008 [1 favorite]

Seconding [NOT HERMITOSIS-IST]. Tattoos in languages you don't understand is fraught with peril.
posted by electroboy at 7:13 AM on September 18, 2008