勸 calligraphy

勸

to advise; to urge; to try to persuade; to exhort; to console; to soothe

Closest English meanings

to advise·urge·persuade·to exhort

The Calligrapher — Zhào Jí 赵佶

Song emperor who created the slender, jewel-like 'Slender Gold' script.

Song calligrapher (1082–1135), master of regular script/cursive script — Emperor Huizong of Song, artist on the throne and inventor of the slender 'Slender Gold' script. Song dynasty

Cultural Story

Xunzi opens his essay 勧学 — “encouraging learning” — with the line that blue comes from the indigo plant yet beats it. 勧 here is persuasion by patience, not command. 勧善 the temples preached, and 勧農 the magistrate who walked the fields urging the spring plowing. The word trusted reason over the whip.

Common words & phrases

  • 勸告 to advise · counsel · admonition
  • 勸導 to persuade · to guide · to exhort
  • 勸說 to persuade · to convince
  • 勸阻 to dissuade · to discourage

Read the story behind the character

In the modern world

A friend 勧告 a smoker to quit; 勧阻 is what a bystander does when a fight starts on the platform. 勧說 fills the helpline script at a debt office, and 勧導 the park ranger's gentle word to a rule-breaker. The character moves from the Confucian classroom to a stranger's voice stopping a worse evening.

Own this character

Purchase delivers the original SVG of this glyph, brushed by Zhào Jí 赵佶, ready to place on skin, paper, or screen.