Editing Tattoo (section)

=== China ===
[[File:Yue statue.jpg|thumb|180px|A [[Baiyue|Yue]] ("barbarian") statue of a tattooed man with short hair from the [[para-Austronesian]] cultures of southern China, from the [[Zhejiang Provincial Museum]]]]
Cemeteries throughout the [[Tarim Basin]] ([[Xinjiang]] of western China) including the sites of [[Qäwrighul]], [[Yanghai]], [[Shengjindian]], Zaghunluq, and Qizilchoqa have revealed [[Tarim mummies|several tattooed mummies]] with Western Asian/Indo-European physical traits and cultural materials. These date from between 2100 and 550 BC.<ref name="Oldest Tattoos" />

In ancient China, tattoos were considered a barbaric practice associated with the [[Baiyue|Yue]] peoples of southeastern and southern China. Tattoos were often referred to in literature depicting bandits and folk heroes. As late as the [[Qing dynasty]],{{when|date=August 2013}}<!--specifically--> it was common practice to tattoo [[Chinese characters|characters]] such as {{lang|zh|囚}} ("Prisoner") on convicted criminals' faces. Although relatively rare during most periods of Chinese history, [[Slavery in China|slaves]] were also sometimes marked to display ownership.

However, tattoos seem to have remained a part of southern culture. [[Marco Polo]] wrote of [[Quanzhou]], "Many come hither from Upper India to have their bodies painted with the needle in the way we have elsewhere described, there being many adepts at this craft in the city". At least three of the main characters {{ndash}} [[Lu Zhishen]], Shi Jin (史進), and Yan Ching (燕青) {{ndash}} in the classic novel ''[[Water Margin]]'' are described as having tattoos covering nearly all of their bodies. [[Wu Song]] was sentenced to a facial tattoo describing his crime after killing Xi Menqing (西門慶) to avenge his brother. In addition, [[Chinese mythology|Chinese legend]] claimed the mother of [[Yue Fei]] (a famous [[Song dynasty|Song]] general) tattooed the words "Repay the Country with Pure Loyalty" ({{lang|zh|精忠報國}}, ''jing zhong bao guo'') down her son's back before he left to join the army.