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

何 opens the question. Qu Yuan's "Tian Wen" is a long chain of 何 — what made the sky, why the floods. In the 论语 the master asks 何以 — by what means. 任何 leaves nothing outside the question; 何必 answers it with a shrug. To write 何 is to halt and demand an account.

Common words & phrases

• 如何 how · how about
• 为何 why
• 任何 any
• 何必 why bother
• 何时 when
• 何故 why · for what reason

Read the story behind the character

A tourist asks 如何 to reach the station; a child wonders 何时 the cake is ready. The form demands 任何 detail be filled in, and a friend texts 何必 so upset. In the office someone asks 为何 the meeting moved. Questioning — practical, impatient, curious — is what this character does all day.