Chinese Koi Fish Tattoos

The Koi or "dragon fish" is the king of fish and holds special significance in China. The legend says:

Any carp able to climb to the Dragon Gate along the Yellow River
will be transformed into a dragon.

As such, the koi has become symbolic of aspiration for lofty goals and dreams.

Koi Tattoo Design

Sharing much of its imagery with the Japanese for the koi's strength and determination, the Chinese koi is also associated with life-long good fortune. Koi tattoo art will bring you wealth and abundance. Since koi can eat a hefty portion of their body weight every day, they were expensive to keep. The wealthier one was, the more koi one could afford to have.
More often than not koi tattoos are very large tattoos, with intricate shading and colors to depict their rainbow of scales and their strong swimming motion against the current.
Koi fish tattoos are popular for the back and both shoulders, or as a sleeve tattoo. Their backgrounds are often as spectacular as the fish itself: with crashing water, suns and moons, and even lotus petals floating along.
The imagery these animals evoke in koi tattoos speaks, without any doubt, through the centuries.