Chinese soccer players with tattoos, such as Zhang Linpeng (above left) and Wang Yongpo (above right), have been told to cover them up and banned from getting new tattoos. Negative views of tattoos have a long history in China. Photo: EPA
Opinion
Opinion
Reflections
Why Han Chinese associate tattoos with criminality, and their long history as a punishment and marker of ‘otherness’
- China’s ban on football players having tattoos reflects a long-held attitude among Han Chinese that tattooed people are undesirable
- Tattoos were used as a form a punishment, and those thus punished could not be rehabilitated because they were inked and often joined gangs of criminals
Chinese soccer players with tattoos, such as Zhang Linpeng (above left) and Wang Yongpo (above right), have been told to cover them up and banned from getting new tattoos. Negative views of tattoos have a long history in China. Photo: EPA
