Facial and body tattoos

"Facial tattoos", also known as "facial embroidery" or "cheek engravings", and "body tattoos", known as "body engravings", refer to pricking certain designs on a woman's face and body and dying them black. Although there is no exact conclusion as to when Li people's facial-and-body tattooing started, it is considered an ancient custom. Passing down through generations of the Li ethnic group, this is a primitive cultural phenomenon rarely seen. For over 3,000 years, facial-and-body tattoos have not only been a unique symbol for the Li ethnic group, but also gradually became the evidence of Li women's pursuit of beauty and fashion.

The origin of the tattoos varies: some say a woman without tattoos would not be accepted by her ancestors after she died, and she'd become a vagrant ghost unless her face was drawn some designs with charcoal before burial. Some say that women were tattooed to avoid being robbed by men from other tribes while others believed that tattoos were the symbol of loyalty in love.

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