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

參 is the older script of 参: to join, to consult, the ginseng root. Du Fu set friends against the stars Shen and Shang -- 參商 -- that never meet. A 參謀 joined his counsel to the general's; a scholar 參考 the old commentaries. The traditional strokes carry the same reach, from the war council to the star chart to the root in the physician's drawer.

Common words & phrases

• 參加 to participate · to join · to attend
• 參考 reference · to consult · to refer
• 參观 to visit · to tour · to view
• 人參 ginseng
• 參数 parameter

Read the story behind the character

A student 參加 the exam; a visitor 參观 the factory floor. An engineer 參考 the manual and 參数 is the value he must tune. At the pharmacy 人參 sits in the glass jar. The word does the daily joining -- in, up, together -- and in code it names the variable passed to the function. The traditional form survives in books, on signs, and in older manuals.