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

渥 means soaked and rich; the Shijing speaks of dew 渥 on the grass, and a prince given 优渥 (ample, generous) lands was a favored vassal. A face 渥然 (moist and glossy) showed health and vigor in old physiognomy. Rain 渥 the fields meant a year of full granaries and contented, settled households.

Common words & phrases

• 渥太华 Ottawa
• 优渥 generous · ample · favorable
• 渥然 moist and glossy

Read the story behind the character

The embassy in 渥太华 (Ottawa) flies the flag, and the new post comes with 优渥 (generous, ample) pay. Her skin looks 渥然 (moist and glossy) after the spa, and the morning dew 渥 the lawn before work. The scholarship is 优渥 enough to cover the whole tuition bill.

Why this character belongs on skin

The Book of Songs gives this character its warmth in one image: 颜如渥丹—a face like freshly burnished cinnabar, color so rich it seems anointed. 渥 is richness by saturation: thick, generous, deeply wet, and by extension the warmth a person can be drenched in—渥恩, weighty kindness; favor that soaks rather than sprinkles. Nothing thin qualifies. The word is used of the patron's real generosity, the host's real welcome, the red so complete it looks deliberate. There is an ethic hiding in the etymology: whatever you give, give it at saturation—half-measures bead up and roll off, but what soaks in becomes part of the grain. You have been both the receiver of such drenching kindness and, rarer, its source. This ink marks that richness in you: the deep-wet color, the warmth that goes all the way through, the love applied generously and to the wood.