本研究旨在透過文獻探討，回顧刺青在不同社會結構下所扮演的角色與轉變，以拓印現代刺青的歷史痕跡，並將焦點匯聚於身體，嘗試為現代刺青尋求另一種註解的可能性。從原始到當代社會的脈絡一路追尋，研究者發現，刺青在原始社會中標記著生命週期的轉變，在國家政體下標記著政權對個人的宣稱，當刺青的主權掌握在刺青者自身則成為個人的展現。這展現個人的刺青，在國家政體之下因其叛逆性格而成為一種「惡」的象徵，在叛逆躍居於合法性地位的當代社會中，則以反時尚姿態而流行並成為一種美學遊戲。由身體面向出發，刺青是具有強烈宣示性的身體標記，更是「肉身化自我」的標記。現代刺青不再是部落族群與國家對個人的宣稱，而是刺青者主動選擇的自我宣示，刺青成為彰顯個性、宣稱自我的美學遊戲。在允許任意指涉的美學遊戲中，由於「肉身化」的必然性令刺青不至於從意義中完全逃逸。懷著個人的「自我」認定、期許或想像（端看個人想展現出的『我是』為何），刺青者將「自我」以圖騰伴隨著深入肌理的疼痛展現於肉體，成為一種主動建構的肉身化自我。

This study aims to review the role and transition of tattoo in different social structures so as to trace the history of modern tattoo through literature review. Moreover, the focus will be on the aspect of body and tries to find the possibility of alternative explanations of modern tattoo. To trace from primitive to modern society, the researcher finds that while tattoo represents the transition of life circle in primitive society, it marks the political power's claim of the individual under the state power. What is more, when the choice of tattoo is held by the tattooist, tattoo becomes the performance of individual significance. Tattoo, with the representation of individual significance, becomes the "evil" symbol due to its rebel characteristic under state power. However, in modern society, when this rebel characteristic has legal status, it is popular for its anti-fashioned attitude and becomes an aesthetic game. From body aspect, tattoo is a sign of body with highly proclaim and a sign of "embodied self". Modern tattoo is no longer the claim of ownership towards the individual in tribe and state society but the self claim of the tattooist's free will choice. It has become the aesthetic game of showing personality and self. In this free signified aesthetic game, due to the necessity of "embodied self", tattoo will not demolish all of its meaning. With the identification, expectation or imagination of self (depending on what kind of "I am" that the individual would like to express), the tattooist present "self" on the body with the totem embodied by the pain in the skin, and becomes spontaneous construction of embodied self.