The Calligrapher — Fàn Chéngdà 范成大

Song poet-calligrapher famed for running script; one of the Southern Song's Four Great Poets.

Song calligrapher (), master of running script — known for 《中流一壶帖》. Song dynasty

Cultural Story

Confucius remarked of himself, 'I was not employed in office, and so I acquired many skills', wu bu shi, gu yi, turning shi, the test of being put to use, into the measure of a life unrecognized. The character joins words to a leaning toward; to shi was to set a thing in the fire of practice and see if it held. From the artisan's proof to the court's examination, shi was how worth got discovered by being dared.

Common words & phrases

• 考试 exam · test
• 试验 experiment · test
• 尝试 attempt · try
• 试穿 try on
• 测试 test
• 试用 trial · try out

Read the story behind the character

A student sits a kao shi, an exam; a lab runs an shi yan, an experiment; a cook chang shi, attempts, a new recipe; a shopper shi chuan, tries on, the coat; an engineer ce shi, tests, the software; a user downloads a shi yong, trial, version. The character runs from the classroom to the changing room, every place a thing is dared into the real. It names the moment of finding out.

Why this character belongs on skin

The speech radical gives 试 its voice: to try, to test, to attempt and see what answers. Life is mostly 试 — the first stroke of the bow, the risky word, the door pushed open to learn if it is locked. A warrior tests the ice before the river; a sage tests a teaching against his own life, not the page. To bear 试 is to refuse the safety of never beginning, to wear your willingness to fail in public. It is the tattoo of the one still in motion. Let it sit where you reach. The needle itself is a test you passed by letting it in. Begin, and the rest learns how — the mark is only proof you once did.