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

The form shows a child with a soft, unclosed skull fontanelle at the top — 兒, the small bare head. Mencius spoke of 赤子之心的, the heart of an infant. In the family chronicles, 兒女 meant sons and daughters owed duty to the household. A foundling left at a temple gate was recorded simply as 嬰兒, a nursling.

Common words & phrases

• 兒童 children · child
• 兒子 son
• 嬰兒 infant · baby
• 兒女 children · sons and daughters
• 兒科 pediatrics

Read the story behind the character

A 兒科 clinic fills with coughing children at dusk; 兒童 queue for the slide in the park. A grandmother calls her 兒子 on video chat, holding the baby so he can see. 嬰兒 formula sits on the supermarket shelf beside powdered milk, and a new parent reads the label twice.