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

预 builds on 頁 'head' with 予 as sound, originally written 豫, meaning to anticipate and prepare ahead. The idea is to take thought before the act. To 预 is to meet the future with the head, not be caught unprepared when it arrives.

Common words & phrases

• 预防 prevent · guard against · precaution
• 准备 prepare · get ready · arrange
• 预测 predict · forecast · projection
• 预告 preview · announce in advance · trailer
• 预习 preview · prepare lessons · pre-study

Read the story behind the character

预 means beforehand: 预防 to prevent illness, 准备 to prepare a meal, 预测 to forecast the weather, 预告 a trailer or preview, and 预习 to pre-study lessons. A doctor 预防 disease; a student 预习 the chapter before the morning class.

Why this character belongs on skin

The archer draws before the deer appears; the farmer seeds before the rain. This is the looking-ahead, the provision made in calm for the storm not yet come. It is not anxiety, that is a different beast, but the quiet competence of the prepared mind. The strategists of old won wars not by courage alone but by the plan laid while the enemy still slept. To carry this character is to trust the future enough to meet it halfway, to believe the coming day deserves a hand already lifted toward it. Let it rest where you make your decisions, a small vow to the tomorrow you cannot see: I have already begun to reckon with you. Foresight is a kind of love for the self that will have to survive.