The Calligrapher — Zhào Zhīqiān 赵之谦

Qing pioneer who fused seal-script vigor into every style.

Qing calligrapher (), master of 篆隶/running script — Qing eclectic who fused seal, clerical and painting sensibilities into one bold hand. Qing dynasty

Cultural Story

池 is a pool or moat; the 說文解字 gives '陂也', a pond. In ancient cities the 城池 meant walls and moat together — the defended town. Royal parks held fish 池; the 禮記 speaks of bathing 池. 池 was the still water that cooled, defended, and ornamented the settled, civilized world of the past.

Common words & phrases

• 池塘 pond · pool
• 水池 pool · pond
• 电池 battery
• 浴池 bath · bathing pool
• 花池 flower bed
• 池子 pool · pond

Read the story behind the character

池 is the still water we use: a 池塘 (pond) holds lotus, a 水池 (pool, pond) cools the courtyard, a 電池 (battery) — 'electric pool' — powers the phone, and a 浴池 (bath, bathing pool) soothes the tired. A 花池 (flower bed) rings the trees; a 池子 (pool) is wherever water rests.

Why this character belongs on skin

Stillness has a shape, and the Chinese drew it as 池—a pond, the water held in a settled basin, neither rushing nor rising, content to mirror the sky. Unlike the river or the sea, the pond asks for nothing and gives back only reflection: the moon, the willow, your own face leaning close. We are addicted to the current, to movement, to the next thing, and we forget the wisdom of the enclosed water. To wear 池 is to choose a quieter geometry of living, the life that deepens instead of widening, that holds rather than flows. A pond is a secret kept well. Let it sit on your skin as an invitation to stop, to let the surface settle until you can finally see yourself clearly in the calm, and stay there a while.