A lifetime of regret has surfaced as a young man in Asia has decided to remove his entire facial tattoo after continuous efforts to land a job. 

Since 2018, 24-year-old Xiaolong from Liaoning province in northeastern China has used his body as a human canvas, including getting a large skull design that covers his face. His neck, limbs, and even the sclera of his left eye have been tattooed. 

“I was rebellious back then, using tattoos as an outlet for my unhappiness,” he shared.

A 24-year-old in China has decided to go through the painful process of removing his facial skull tattoo

Image credits: Morning Star News

But as Xiaolong struggled to find a job, he realized it may be time for a fresh start. For him, that included deleting all his social media accounts and removing his tattoos.

“Over the past six years, they’ve caused significant difficulties for my family and me,” he said, according to South China Morning Post.

Image credits: Morning Star News

“Finding employment has been tough, I face constant insults during my livestreaming sessions, and even routine tasks like renewing my ID or using facial recognition become awkward and inconvenient.”

In October, the 24-year-old reached out to a tattoo removal specialist in Changzhou, Jiangsu province, north of Shanghai, to first erase a small design on his hand.

About two weeks ago, on December 18, he decided it was time to remove his facial tattoo  — a process much easier said than done.

Image credits: Diana Light / Unsplash

Described by Xiaolong as “one of the toughest tattoo removals” he’s ever gone through, he had to pause treatment due to the intense pain and heart discomfort he suffered, heading back to Hebei before continuing.

“I regret it so much now,” he revealed. “What seemed cool in the moment does not hold up in the long run. I just want to live a normal life again.”

Xiaolong’s “rebellious” nature motivated him to get inked all over his body

Image credits: Maixent Viau / Unsplash

Though the total cost has yet to be released, it seems the young man is determined to see it through.

As written in the outlet, tattoos are usually prohibited from certain professions in China, including national athletes and a select few categories of civil servants.

For example, the General Administration of Sport of China created a mandate that national football players with existing tattoos must remove or cover them up during training sessions and competitions.

This rule is a mere reflection of the negative stigma surrounding these designs in the eyes of someone who abides by traditional Chinese beliefs.

Image credits: Morning Star News

According to CKGSB, this attitude was adopted two millennia ago, during the times of Confucius. 

“In Confucian culture, you’re supposed to return your body to the ground as your parents gave it to you, unblemished, no piercings or tattoos,” informed Carrieb Wiebe, Professor of Chinese at Middlebury College. 

“That’s still a closely-held value to some people, but in the traditional period, tattooing was really one of the most unfilial things one could do.”

It’s often frowned upon by Chinese traditionalists to be covered in tattoos

Image credits: Getty Images / Unsplash

In the past, convicted criminals have also often tattooed their sins on different parts of their bodies.

As beliefs change and evolve, many people in China now — particularly the younger generations — have abandoned the centuries-old prejudice against the practice and embraced it as a form of expressing individuality.

There are now roughly 4,500 in Shanghai alone, according to Jing Xi, the author of the popular blog Patch Tattoo Studio, and as many as 300,000 nationwide. 

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