The Calligrapher — Zhāng Yùzhào 张裕钊

Qing calligrapher who created the square-within-round Nangong script.

Qing calligrapher (), master of regular script — known for 南宫体. Qing dynasty

Etymology & Meaning · 字义溯源

2 · The Character: 与 与 (yǔ, 3rd tone; traditional 與) is, for Xu Shen, relational: 黨與也。从舁从与 — 'companions, partisans; from 舁 and 与.' It is the connective 'with, and, to give,' the bond between things. The classics use it socially and politically: the Lunyu (阳货) weighs '與其…不如' (rather than…); the Daodejing speaks of '與善仁' (sharing, one gives well); the Yijing (无妄) warns '勿藥有喜，不可試也' adjacent to 與 contexts of joining; the Liji (曲礼) and Shijing (唐风·采苓) both turn on '與' as alliance and assent. As a free morpheme 与 means 'with, and, to grant,' gentle and inclusive — 与其, 与人为善. Honest disclosure: alone on skin 与 is a near-abstract connector and reads as a check-mark or a stray stroke; it is never a noun and needs a partner (与…同, 与天地). In Japanese it is tomo/atau. Do not translate it as 'and' glibly — its root sense is companionship and giving, not mere conjunction.

Cultural Story

與 began as a hand offering a tray of provisions, to give, to share. The 論語 has 與朋友共, share with friends. Later it thinned into the conjunction and. 孙武 in the 孫子兵法 weighs 與敌 the relation of forces. A host 與客 drinks; a ruler 與民 rests his case on the people. The hand that gave became the word that joins.

Where a Western reader can stand: Where a Western reader can stand: 与 means 'with / and / to give' — the bond between things, gentle and inclusive. Its resonance is companionship and generosity, not mere conjunction. Honest caveat: alone on skin it looks like a stray tick or abstract connector and needs a partner word (与…同); we rate it excellent for love and friendship, weak for bare-tattoo statements.

Common words & phrases

• 与其 rather than · better than
• 参与 participate · take part in
• 给予 give · grant
• 与日俱增 grow with each passing day
• 与众不同 unusual · out of the ordinary
• 相与 together · with one another

Read the story behind the character

与 now is mostly a tidy printed and on signs and forms, 参与者 please register. 与其 walk, take the bus. 给予 shows up in charity appeals and HR letters. 与众不同 is the jacket nobody else wore. The spoken tongue prefers 跟 and 和, so 与 sounds official, the register of contracts and public service announcements, the character you sign beside rather than say.