The Calligrapher — Chǔ Suíliáng 褚遂良

Tang chancellor and regular-script master of elegant, balanced strokes.

Tang calligrapher (596–658), master of regular script — Tang master of graceful, tensile regular script favored by the imperial court. Tang dynasty

Cultural Story

In his letter to Ren An, Sima Qian opens with 仆 — "your servant" — the humble word a man used of himself before a friend or a throne. The "Records of the Historian" are thus signed in self-deprecation. To call oneself 僕 was the learned posture of lowliness, a courtesy that cost nothing and conceded everything.

Common words & phrases

• 仆人 servant
• 仆从 footman · retinue · flunkey
• 女仆 maid · housemaid
• 公仆 public servant

Read the story behind the character

A hotel rings for the 仆人; the 女仆 cleans the floor by noon. The official is hailed as a 公仆, a servant of the public, on the poster. The word still means the one who serves — a maid, a footman, a pledged official — the hand beneath the task, whether hired, born into it, or merely promised in a speech.