台
Taiwan (abbr.); surname Tai; (classical) you (in letters); desk; table; counter; platform; stage; terrace; stand; support; station; broadcasting station; typhoon
Closest English meanings
platform·stage·table·Taiwan
The Calligrapher — Cài Xiāng 蔡襄
One of the Four Song masters, known for graceful regular and running script.
Song calligrapher (1012–1067), master of regular script/running script — Song master of warm, disciplined regular script, the most 'proper' of the Song Four. Song dynasty
Cultural Story
台 was a high terrace. Cao Cao built the Bronze Sparrow Terrace -- 铜雀台 -- on the Zhang River, and there kept his court and his singers. The word named the raised platform that lifted a ruler above the plain, a stage for display and power. 讲台 and 台湾 came later, but the raised earth was first.
Common words & phrases
- 台湾 Taiwan
- 讲台 lectern · platform
- 台风 typhoon
- 台灯 desk lamp
- 台子 platform · stage
Read the story behind the character
A 台灯 lights the desk where the essay is written; a 台风 warning closes the schools. The 讲台 holds the lecturer and the glass of water. The word names the raised and the electric both -- the lamp, the storm, the island, the platform. It meets the day on the desk and the coast, a word stretched from a Han terrace to a weather bulletin.
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