David Beckham seems to add a tattoo to the canvas that is his body every few years. But he's had a few of them for a long time, long enough that fans have forgotten what some of them even mean. And yet, the ink keeps coming!
He's long had a reputation for being a 'bad boy,' of course, and fans wonder whether David has truly settled down. But at the same time, he's made his life all about family for over a decade already. So some think his tattoos might be an indication of rebellion.
So what does his Chinese tattoo mean, and does it have anything to do with his wild and youthful ways?
How Many Tattoos Does David Beckham Have?
Though sources disagree on the exact count, David Beckham seems to have at least sixty tattoos. That's a lot of ink! But then again, David's got plenty of very visible tats all over his body, including sleeves and torso tattoos, plus ink on his hands.
He hasn't run out of space yet, but there's one tattoo that's been around longer than most. And though he's since added to his stomach area, the soccer star's one stomach/side tattoo earns a lot of attention.
What Is David Beckham's Chinese Tattoo?
David Beckham's Chinese tattoo runs along the side of his stomach, from just under his left pec all the way to below his waistband. It's clearly visible in many of his shirtless photoshoots and social media posts, but what's less clear is what the script actually means.
The characters themselves read " 生死有命，富贵在天."
But where does the phrase come from, and why is it in Chinese characters rather than something in English -- Beckham's mother tongue?
What Does David Beckham's Tattoo Mean?
Plenty of people get tattoos in Chinese, with many younger folks selecting tattoos that, when translated, represent a single word in English. There's something about the Chinese characters that make the tattoos seem "exotic."
But in David's case, he seems to have selected the tattoo because it's actually a Chinese quote. Sources say that the script is part of a famous saying of one of Confucius' students, Zi Xia.
The quote does come from the Analects of Confucius, but the meaning is somewhat muddled. For anyone who can't read Chinese, sources say that the characters translate to, roughly, "Life and death are predestined, wealth and honor are decreed by heaven."
Others say the quote more closely translates to, "Life and death are determined by fate, rank and riches decreed by Heaven." In short, it seems like what David wants to say is that his riches in life are granted by Heaven.
Interested in Beckham's other tattoos and their meanings? Fans can see plenty of his tattoos and his muscles on Instagram, though David doesn't seem overly concerned about explaining his tattoo choices.