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

In the classical tradition: 員 (simplified from 員) originally pictured a circle and a person, meaning a rounded unit or member, and came to denote an official or staff person. The 周禮 counted 員 of clerks, and every bureau had its 員, its personnel. 黨員 served the state's creed, 演員 played before the emperor, and a 隊員 marched in the army — the character measures a person fitted into an ordered, numbered whole.

Common words & phrases

• 员工 staff · personnel · employee
• 队员 team member · crew member
• 党员 party member
• 学员 student · trainee · learner
• 演员 actor · performer · actress

Read the story behind the character

In the modern world: Your 員工 — staff and personnel — get a bonus at the company, while a 隊員, team member, scores the winning goal on TV. A 黨員, party member, volunteers at the community center, a 學員, student trainee, studies coding online, and a 演員, actor, trends after a hit drama. 員 is the quiet suffix marking everyone's place in China's busy web of roles.