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There is no historical document about tattoos in China. We do not know when it
started in the ancient China. But there is a historical heroic and touching story which may interest you.
In
the Southern Song dynasty, there was a patriot and military general, called "Yue Fei" 岳飛. He
was named in this way because when he was born, a "dapend" (a great bird lived in ancient China) flew over the roof.
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His mother tattooed 4 big Chinese characters on Yue Fei's back because he joined
the army. Those 4 Chinese symbols were 精忠報國 (jìn zhōng bào guó)
which meant "serve the country with the utmost loyalty". This was the tattoo which we could trace back
in the Chinese history.
To continue the story, China was very weak politically and militarily at that time.
The "barbarian", Jin, whom were the ancestors of the Manchu always attacked the borders of China.
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With Yue Fei's military leadership, there was a great progress which could drive
the Jin out of the Chinese territories.
However, at the same time, his talent aroused the jealousy within
the kingdom, including the emperor and his right-hand man, Qin Hui.
The emperor tried to call off the military
attack of the Jin by Yue's troops. It was not successful until the 12th time. Finally, Yue's gave up and
returned.
On his arrival, he was arrested and executed with the crime 莫須有. It
meant that there was nothing serious, but he still did something wrong. He died when he was 39.
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Qin Hui, whom led to the death of Yue Fei, had a statue in the temple where people
worship Yue. Worshippers always hit on Qin's statue to express their hatred.
Also, there are fritters of twisted dough served during the breakfast. People believe that the dough symbolizes the mesh and bones of Qin. Cook it and
eat it will help them to memorize Yue.
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