The Calligrapher — Yú Shìnán 虞世南

Tang court calligrapher revered for refined, restrained regular script.

Tang calligrapher (558–638), master of regular script — Tang master of quiet, inward regular script and teacher to the imperial academy. Tang dynasty

Cultural Story

侔 is to match. The 庄子 writes of a man whose skill 侔 the art of heaven; in the histories two states 相侔 in strength before war. To 侔 is to set one thing level with another, measure against measure. The word keeps an old accountant's eye for equality.

Common words & phrases

• 相侔 to equal · to match

Read the story behind the character

Two bids 相侔 to the yuan, and the buyer hesitates. A graph shows profit 侔 last year's line. In the lab the result must 侔 the standard. Matching, equalling, and lining up two counts — this quiet word still does its work wherever measure meets measure.

Why this character belongs on skin

侔 means to be the equal of — to match, to rival, 侔于天地: on a level with heaven and earth, the phrase the philosopher Mozi used when he spoke of actions that align with the will of heaven itself. The person radical beside 谋, to plan, gives it a lovely inner story: equality here is not an accident of birth but the result of long scheming with oneself, a campaign fought privately until you stand level with what once looked down on you. We are all haunted by comparisons. There is always the taller career, the brighter talent, the love that seemed to arrive easier for someone else. 侔 is the answer written in classical grammar: not envy, not collapse — matching. The apprentice who becomes the master's rival. The student who surpasses the sea that taught her. Mozi went further: align with heaven, and the scale balances on its own. Wear this character as quiet ambition made visible — a single word on the inner arm meaning: I am coming level. Give me time. Watch me.