<p>It doesn't really make sense in Chinese actually.
媳/媳婦means wife of one's son (or, wife of one's family) in Taiwan, and means wife of oneself in China. If we are to make sense out of this tattoo it'll be &quot;the wife should be independent&quot;.</p>
<p>The font of 強 is Traditional Chinese (Simplified Chinese would look like 强, notice the difference on the top-right corner), so I would interpret this tattoo in Traditional Chinese/Taiwan. In that sense this tattoo would be &quot;the wife who married into another family should be independent (presumably from her husband or her husband's family)&quot;.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-10-03T23:29:06.103Z
2021-10-03T23:29:06.103Z
Chiduru Okubo
<p>媳妇 = wife, but 媳 could generically mean woman in a historical / poetic use of Chinese (given pretty much all women were married back then)</p>
<p>自 = self
强 = strong
自强 = strong self / capable of being independent. Would say the self improvement interpretation is more likely to be expressed as 自进</p>

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2021-10-03T10:28:41.720Z
So how do you understand the meaning of the whole tattoo? Something like "strong independent woman"?
uUnwY
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-10-11T16:42:14.723Z
I'd get an impression in that vein yea. Although of course it's not a direct translation to those words. It could also be interpreted in the context of a tattoo as a mantra that women should be strong in themselves.
David Min
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-10-02T11:42:58.390Z
2021-10-02T11:42:58.390Z
David Min
<p>Tracking the meaning of the word &quot;媳&quot; in Japanese.</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/GlJM6.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/GlJM6.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/5phV8.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/5phV8.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/ROB0Q.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/ROB0Q.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a></p>
<p>&quot;The Bite&quot;?:) Another site relates it to the name (異名) of a poison snake. :) I suggest asking this question on the Japanese Language Forum to get the correct meaning. More often than not, you can't take (Japanese) Kanji as the Chinese equal (in meaning).</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-10-04T00:46:24.417Z
2021-10-04T00:56:20.197Z
2021-10-04T00:56:20.197Z
r13
<p>Ive had it for over 10 years kinda forget. I think it means daughter and inner strenth?
Its kanji if that helps.<a href="https://i.sstatic.net/jJZs1.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/jJZs1.jpg" alt="tattoo" /></a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-10-02T07:17:50.667Z
if it were kanji and you knew it was kanji why would you ask on a Chinese forum rather than a Japanese one? The characters are 媳(daughter-in-law)自強(strive for self improvement).
小奥利奥
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-10-03T05:28:15.013Z
Just a little casual diversion. You would notice that 媳, (or 媳 妇 in full), a word meaning daughter-in-law has these three elements ---  女, 自, 心, respectively meaning, "girl", "own", "heart", which in English  translates nicely into "A girl after my own heart", which was how the husband's parents consider their daughters-in-law, at least in the old days.
Wayne Cheah
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-10-04T00:22:11.343Z
(Please keep comments/answers about the meaning of the tattoo.)
Becky 李蓓
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-10-06T02:11:04.217Z
I guess you tried to mean "strong independent woman" but 媳 is kind of a strange choice of word here because it means wife from the husband's family's viewpoint. If you change it to 女, it would be much better. 女 means female or daughter. BTW, most Japanese kanji (including those in this question) have the same meaning as their Chinese counterparts.
Betty
<translation><meaning><character-identification>
What does my tattoo really mean? (Characters identified: 媳自強)
# What does my tattoo really mean? (Characters identified: 媳自強)

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-10-02)

Ive had it for over 10 years kinda forget. I think it means daughter and inner strenth?
Its kanji if that helps.[![tattoo](https://i.sstatic.net/jJZs1.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/jJZs1.jpg)

**Tags:** translation, meaning, character-identification
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: if it were kanji and you knew it was kanji why would you ask on a Chinese forum rather than a Japanese one? The characters are 媳(daughter-in-law)自強(strive for self improvement).  
> **username_2**: Just a little casual diversion. You would notice that 媳, (or 媳 妇 in full), a word meaning daughter-in-law has these three elements ---  女, 自, 心, respectively meaning, "girl", "own", "heart", which in English  translates nicely into "A girl after my own heart", which was how the husband's parents consider their daughters-in-law, at least in the old days.  
> **username_3**: (Please keep comments/answers about the meaning of the tattoo.)  
> **username_4**: I guess you tried to mean "strong independent woman" but 媳 is kind of a strange choice of word here because it means wife from the husband's family's viewpoint. If you change it to 女, it would be much better. 女 means female or daughter. BTW, most Japanese kanji (including those in this question) have the same meaning as their Chinese counterparts.  

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## 3 answers

### Answer by username_5 on 2021-10-03. Score: 1

It doesn't really make sense in Chinese actually.
媳/媳婦means wife of one's son (or, wife of one's family) in Taiwan, and means wife of oneself in China. If we are to make sense out of this tattoo it'll be "the wife should be independent".

The font of 強 is Traditional Chinese (Simplified Chinese would look like 强, notice the difference on the top-right corner), so I would interpret this tattoo in Traditional Chinese/Taiwan. In that sense this tattoo would be "the wife who married into another family should be independent (presumably from her husband or her husband's family)".


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### Answer by username_6 on 2021-10-02. Score: 1

媳妇 = wife, but 媳 could generically mean woman in a historical / poetic use of Chinese (given pretty much all women were married back then)

自 = self
强 = strong
自强 = strong self / capable of being independent. Would say the self improvement interpretation is more likely to be expressed as 自进

> **Comments:**
> **username_7**: So how do you understand the meaning of the whole tattoo? Something like "strong independent woman"?  
> **username_6**: I'd get an impression in that vein yea. Although of course it's not a direct translation to those words. It could also be interpreted in the context of a tattoo as a mantra that women should be strong in themselves.  

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### Answer by username_8 on 2021-10-04. Score: 0

Tracking the meaning of the word "媳" in Japanese.

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/GlJM6.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/GlJM6.png)[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/5phV8.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/5phV8.png)[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/ROB0Q.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/ROB0Q.png)

"The Bite"?:) Another site relates it to the name (異名) of a poison snake. :) I suggest asking this question on the Japanese Language Forum to get the correct meaning. More often than not, you can't take (Japanese) Kanji as the Chinese equal (in meaning).


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