Chinese Tattoo 白头偕老: Meaning & Design Guide
白头偕老 means “(idiom) (of a married couple) to live together until old age; to remain lifelong companions”, pronounced bai2 tou2 xie2 lao3. Below: each character broken down, and how the phrase works as a tattoo.
Character by character
| Character | Pinyin | Meaning | Strokes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 白 | bái | white; pure, unblemished; bright | 5 |
| 头 | tóu | head; top; chief, first; boss | 5 |
| 偕 | xié | together; be in order | 11 |
| 老 | lǎo | old, aged; experienced; Kangxi radical 125 | 6 |
Per-character data: Unihan (Unicode).
Words using these characters
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 明白 | míng bai | clear | newest-3 |
| 白色 | bái sè | white | newest-2 |
| 白天 | bái tiān | daytime | newest-1 |
| 头发 | tóu fa | hair (on the head) | newest-3 |
| 镜头 | jìng tóu | camera lens | newest-6 |
| 回头 | huí tóu | to turn round; to turn one's head | newest-6 |
Words: HSK vocabulary list · meanings: CC-CEDICT.
Placing 白头偕老
白头偕老 mixes heavy and light characters — the dense 偕 (11 strokes) sits beside the lighter 白 (5) — so equal measured sizes can look uneven on skin. Ask your artist to match the optical weight instead, and to keep the baseline level across all 4 characters. It totals 27 strokes, so it needs a placement with room — the inner forearm or upper back rather than a narrow spot. Four-character phrases are usually set 2×2 or in one line; pick one and keep it consistent. Bring the stencil together with the pinyin and the meaning, and ask the artist to follow the stencil rather than redrawing the character freehand — freehand redrawing is the most common way a correct character loses a stroke and becomes a different one.
Design notes for 白头偕老
白头偕老 is a fixed four-character expression meaning “(idiom) (of a married couple) to live together until old age; to remain lifelong companions”, read bai2 tou2 xie2 lao3. Because it is set, swapping any character changes the meaning — have the exact wording checked by a native reader before it goes on skin. Regular script (楷书) keeps every stroke countable, which matters when a Chinese reader checks it. Avoid mirroring or rotating the character, and avoid very fine or cursive styles at small sizes, where strokes merge into a shape that reads as a different character.
Frequently asked questions
What does 白头偕老 mean?
白头偕老 means “(idiom) (of a married couple) to live together until old age; to remain lifelong companions”.
How is 白头偕老 pronounced?
白头偕老 is pronounced bai2 tou2 xie2 lao3.
Is 白头偕老 a fixed expression?
Yes — it is a set phrase, which is safer than assembling characters yourself. Fixed expressions keep their established wording and meaning.
How should 白头偕老 be laid out?
A four-character expression is usually written as a 2×2 square block or a single horizontal line. Keep the characters the same size and do not mirror or rotate any of them.
Which style suits 白头偕老?
Bold regular script keeps every stroke clear. With multiple characters, avoid very fine or highly cursive styles — the smaller each character gets, the more the strokes merge.
Do I need to verify the phrase?
Yes. Confirm the wording, the meaning and the full context with a native reader, and check that the phrase is not a quotation about misfortune or parting.
How many strokes in total?
白头偕老 is written with 27 strokes across 4 characters — which is why it needs more space than a single character.
Want 白头偕老 as a ready-to-use stencil with a native-checked meaning card, sized for your tattoo artist?
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Character data: Unihan (Unicode) · words: HSK vocabulary & CC-CEDICT · How we verify this