The Calligrapher — Zhì Yǒng 智永

Sui monk who spread Wang Xizhi's art via his 'Thousand Characters'.

Sui calligrapher (生卒年不详（陈/隋）), master of regular script/cursive script — monk and seventh-generation descendant of Wang Xizhi who wrote a thousand copies of the Thousand Character Classic to pass the family hand down. Sui dynasty

Cultural Story

俊 is the gifted one. The 楚辞 calls a youth 英俊; a court sought 才俊 for its exams. To be 俊杰 was to join the heroes of the age, and a 俊秀 face won the portrait. The 俊俏 scholar of the tale turns every head. The character mates looks with ability.

Common words & phrases

• 英俊 handsome · smart
• 俊俏 pretty · handsome
• 俊美 beautiful · handsome
• 才俊 talent · talented person
• 俊秀 elegant · handsome
• 俊杰 hero · talented person

Read the story behind the character

A coach praises the 英俊 striker's form; the firm recruits 才俊 from the university. The 俊杰 of the year lands on the magazine cover, and a 俊秀 model fronts the phone ad. Looks joined to ability — this word still flags the person who is both able and fine to see.

Why this character belongs on skin

The crowd parts for a certain kind of person—not the loudest, but the one whose excellence is effortless, whose beauty carries talent like a blade carries light. 俊 is exactly this: handsome and gifted, the outstanding one, the hero whose gifts serve the age. The ancients reserved it for men of rare ability and bearing; the poets used it for the stallion that outruns the herd. To be 俊 is not to be merely pretty but to be remarkable—graced with a capacity that asks to be used. The Confucian would have such a one lead; the Daoist would have him stay humble in his shine. We are taught to hide what we are given. To wear this mark is to refuse that modesty, to claim your distinction plainly. Let it rest on your skin like a kept promise to your own gift—proof you were made to stand out, and did not apologize for the light.