Chinese Symbol for Love

The emotion of love has been used, reused and used all over again over centuries, in many art forms, symbols and images. The Chinese symbol for love competes with all these other symbolic representations of love and wins hands down in terms of popularity. There are other Chinese symbols, like the Chinese symbol for strength, Chinese symbol for hope, etc. In this article however, we deal with the Chinese symbol for love and its meaning.

Chinese Symbol for Love: Origin and History
Chinese symbols have a history of more than 100,000 years. The Chinese symbol of love is not an easy-to-write symbol and has developed many different forms over the years. History has seen many different Chinese symbols for love, with varying degrees of complexity, due to variations in the traditional writing style and the modern simplified writing style. The traditional Chinese writing system was dropped by the Chinese government, some fifty years ago, but was later reintroduced. The reintroduced version was a little simpler and contained fewer writing strokes. So, while the traditional Chinese symbol for love is highly detailed and artistic, the simplified version is easy to write and understand. The simplified version of the Chinese symbol for love is used in Mainland China, while the traditional Chinese symbol of love is still valued in Taiwan.

Chinese Symbol for Love: Chinese Symbols and Meanings
What can be said about the meaning of the Chinese symbol for love, other than that it means 'love'. But love is only one of the meanings of this symbol as it is composed of more than one Chines symbols. Its meanings differ according to the variations in strokes and it can also mean fond of, like, cherish, first love, true love, love you forever, etc. The Chinese symbol of love is made up of more than one Chinese characters and captures the essence of love in the following manner.

In the traditional version of the Chinese symbol of love, the first component is the xin, or the heart, which lies exactly in the center of the symbol. The symbol that lies exactly above the xin means' breathe into' and the one exactly below it means 'gracious motion'. The meaning of love is thus conveyed as something that breathes into the heart and inspires gracious motion. The simplified or modern form of the Chinese symbol for love is more practical and emphasizes on friendship rather than a romantic liaison. The lower part of the symbol, you3, means friend.

The following are some of the other variations of the Chinese symbol of love and their meanings.

• ai4 qing2 means love between man and woman.
• ai4 ren2 means lover, husband or wife.
• ai4 hao4 means a love interest or just a past time.

There are more of these, but the ones mentioned above are the most prominent. In China, love is synonymous with happy marriage and family life.

Chinese Symbol for Love: Pronunciation and Usage
The pronunciation or the Chinese pinyin of the Chinese symbol for love is written as ai4. This basically means that it is pronounced as 'eye' in the fourth tone. This Chinese symbol is contained in the Chinese names of Alice and Edward. The Chinese symbol of love is used in arts, crafts and popular Chinese symbol tattoos.

Other Auspicious Chinese Symbols and Meanings
Here are some other interesting Chinese symbols.

• The Mandarin ducks symbolize lovers.
• The double happiness Chinese symbol symbolizes conjugal happiness and fertility.
• China's queen of flowers, the red peony, symbolizes romance and youthful amorous feelings.

The Chinese symbol for love is really, truly awesome, not only for its artistic beauty but also for its clarity, lucidity and effectiveness. It is truly a stylish symbol if you wish to get it tattooed on your arm or lower back. Go for it!