傾 calligraphy

傾

to overturn; to collapse; to lean; to tend; to incline; to pour out

Closest English meanings

to lean·incline·collapse·to pour

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

Zhuge Liang, in his "Memorial Before Departing," recalls "afterward I met with 倾覆" — the defeat at Changban where he took up duty in a broken army. The word 倾覆 was the overturning of a state, the moment a house of order fell. For the minister it named the ruin he was summoned to mend, the very edge of the realm's collapse.

Common words & phrases

  • 傾斜 to tilt · to lean · inclined
  • 傾向 tendency · inclination · to lean
  • 傾听 to listen attentively · to incline one's ear
  • 傾覆 to overturn · to overthrow · to capsize
  • 傾倒 to admire · to fall for · to pour out

Read the story behind the character

In the modern world

The tower 傾斜 after the quake and engineers 傾听 the sensors for a groan. A voter shows a clear 傾向 in the poll, and fans 傾倒 as the team lifts the cup. The word still means tipping — a lean, a leaning will, a fall — the swerve of things from upright, watched now by instruments and by crowds.

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Purchase delivers the original SVG of this glyph, brushed by Yán Zhēnqīng 颜真卿, ready to place on skin, paper, or screen.