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

Etymology & Meaning · 字义溯源

### Soundqū — qū (1st tone); ōu (1st tone) as a surname. Free-standing morpheme ### Original meaningQū (1st tone; ōu when it is a surname). The Shuowen Jiezi defines it as 「踦區，藏匿也。从品在匸中。品，眾也」 — 踦區 is read as 崎嶇, the hidden hollows of a hillside: 區 originally means 'to stow away, to conceal', drawn as a number of vessels (品) shut inside a hiding-box (匸). Every later sense grows out of that box. 《論語·子張》「譬諸草木，區以別矣」 uses 區 for sorting out and distinguishing; 《左傳·襄公十七年》「宋國區區」 gives the self-deprecating 區區, 'small, trifling'; 《左傳·昭公七年》「吾文君文王作僕區之法」 keeps the oldest sense — a law about concealing. The graph is also an old grain measure (《左傳·昭公三年》「齊舊四量：豆、區、釜、鍾」) and a surname (柳宗元《童區寄傳》「我區氏兒也」). Kangxi stroke count 11 (匸部+9). Honest disclosure: in ordinary modern Chinese 區 is an administrative word — 地區, 區別, 自治區 — and its Shuowen root is 'to hide', not 'home'. Wuxing: Kangxi naming tables assign 木 (Wood); 區 has no classical seasonal or directional phase of its own (verify). ### The structure (會意 · 从品在匸中 — many vessels (品) inside a hiding-box (匸); old sense 藏匿 'to conceal', later 'region', later still 'to distinguish')①匸xìhiding enclosurethe box the things go into②品pǐnmany vessels / many thingsthe goods being stowed③區qūto stow away; districtthe box with the things in it④區別qūbiéto distinguishsorting, the sense that made 'district' ### In use todayItemReading / meaningNoteReadingqū (1st tone); ōu for the surnamesingle syllable, two readingsCore sensedistrict, area; to distinguishoriginally 'to stow away / conceal'Grammarbound morpheme地區 region, 區別 to distinguish, 區區 triflingTattoo fitcaution — honest but administrativereads 'district', not 'home' or 'refuge' ### Closest words in English — and what each misses - Region — 地區/區域 hold 'region' in full; a lone 區 reads as the administrative or sorted patch, with 'concealment' underneath - Hide / Stash — 藏/匿 hold plain 'to hide'; 區 kept that sense only in 《說文》 and in 僕區之法 — a modern reader will not see it - Small / Humble — 區區 means 'trifling', but only doubled; one 區 alone does not carry it - Distinguish — 區別 needs both syllables; 別 carries 'separate', 區 carries 'sort into places'An honest note on grammar. Bound morpheme in modern usage — 地區, 區別, 區區; free only in classical usage and as a surnameWhere a Western reader can stand: 區 (qū) means 'district / area' — the word inside 地區 (region), 區別 (to distinguish), 自治區 (autonomous region). Underneath, the Shuowen says 藏匿, 'to stow away': many vessels shut in a box. As a tattoo it is honest but plain — a boundary, a sorted place, something deliberately kept rather than displayed

Cultural Story

The Han agronomist Fan Shengzhi taught 區田法 — the pit-field method that planted grain in squared holes to wring more from poor soil. 區 was the square plot, the unit a farmer could water by hand. 區別 later sorted one thing from the next, and 區域 the map's clean bands. The word began in the earth.

Where a Western reader can stand: 區 (qū) means 'district / area' — the word inside 地區 and 區別. Underneath, the Shuowen says 藏匿, 'to stow away': many vessels shut in a box. As a tattoo it is honest but plain — a boundary, a sorted place, something kept rather than displayed. If you want 'home' or 'shelter', this is not that character, and decide the form first: 區 is 11 strokes, 区 is 4.

Common words & phrases

• 區域 region · area
• 地區 area · region
• 區別 distinguish · difference
• 山區 mountain area
• 特區 special zone

Read the story behind the character

A planner redraws the 區域 map; 區別 is the tag that flags a spam call. 山區 gets the school bus the valley does not, and 地區 the forecast a farmer reads. The traditional form now marks old land deeds and Hong Kong street signs, while the simplified 区 runs the app — same squares, new lines.