The Calligrapher — Yǔ Yì 庾翼

Jin general and calligrapher of cursive script who once rivaled Wang Xizhi.

Jin calligrapher (), master of cursive script — known for 与王羲之齐名. Jin dynasty

Cultural Story

攀 is the hand on the branch. Qu Yuan, exiled, 攀 the orchid on the riverbank; the Tang poet 攀 the willow to bid the friend farewell, for 折柳 was the parting gift. 高攀 is to marry or befriend above one's station, a polite fear. The monkey 攀 the cliff; the lover 攀 the window. It is the body reaching past its height.

Common words & phrases

• 攀登 climb · scale · ascend
• 攀爬 climb · scramble · clamber
• 攀比 compare · keep up with · rival
• 攀谈 chat · engage in conversation · talk
• 高攀 reach too high · marry above oneself

Read the story behind the character

A climber 攀登 the crag at Yangshuo; kids 攀爬 the jungle gym. 攀比 is the neighbor who must match your new sofa — comparison as a kind of grasping. 攀谈 is the old man who strikes up talk on the bench. 高攀 is what you say when the rich relative calls, denying you ever reached.

Why this character belongs on skin

攀 means climbing with the hands—fingers closing on branch, rock, ledge, pulling the whole body toward something that never comes down to meet you. It carries the hand radical twice over, as if once were not enough for this hunger to ascend. Classical poetry is full of 攀: plucking blossoms too high on the branch, gripping crags where mist hides the summit, reaching for the moon's reflection in the water with a hand that will come up wet and empty—and reaching anyway. The Confucians taught 攀登 as the scholar's whole life, level after level; the warriors trained it; the lovers know it best of all, the climb toward someone, hand over hand, undignified and magnificent. Falling is the risk that gives the word its pulse. Ink this along the calf or the long muscle of the inner arm, in the line your own grip travels, and let it honor the truth your hands already know: some heights are worth the whole climb, and the reaching itself is already living.