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

Cultural Story

陸, now 陆, sets 坴 within the mound radical 阝 and means land, the solid earth against the water, a continent or dry ground. It also serves as the formal written form of the number six, used on checks and banknotes to prevent the alteration of “6” into “8.” The character thus stabilizes both geography and accounting, the firm ground and the uncounterfeitable figure.

Common words & phrases

• 陆地 land · dry land
• 大陆 continent · mainland
• 陆军 army · ground forces
• 陆路 land route · overland
• 内陆 inland · interior

Read the story behind the character

We walk on 陆地, the land, cross a 大陆, a continent or mainland, serve in the 陆军, the army, travel by 陆路, overland, and speak of 内陆, the inland heart of a country. On invoices 陆 is simply “six,” written large to foil fraud. 陆 is the word for solid ground underfoot and, in finance, the six that cannot be scratched into something else.