The Calligrapher — Yán Zhēnqīng 颜真卿

Tang master of robust regular script; co-creator of the enduring 'Yan style'.

Tang calligrapher (709–784), master of regular script/running script — the Tang moral paragon whose upright, muscular regular script became the model of Chinese integrity in writing. Tang dynasty

Cultural Story

個 grew from 箇, a bamboo tally, a slip counted off to mark one item among many. It was the counter you reached for when the thing had no natural measure of its own. A 說文 note lists it as a bamboo piece. Before it, people just pointed; with it, they could count the uncountable, a person, an idea, a day, one slip at a time.

Common words & phrases

• 一个 one (measure)
• 个人 individual · personal
• 个性 personality
• 个子 height · stature
• 个头 size · build

Read the story behind the character

一个 is the most spoken phrase in the language, 一个苹果, 一个人, 一个笑话. 个人 is you versus the system; 个性 the trait dating apps ask about. 个子 and 个头 are your height, measured against the doorway. The character is pure grammar, the soft counter that lets Chinese number everything from a headache to a revolution. It has no meaning alone and total meaning in company.