令
to order; to command; an order; warrant; writ; to cause; to make sth happen; virtuous; honorific title; season; government position (old); type of short song or poem
Closest English meanings
order·command·make·cause
The Calligrapher — Huáng Tíngjiān 黄庭坚
Song master of elongated, radical running and cursive script.
Song calligrapher (1045–1105), master of running script/cursive script — Song master of long, sweeping, deliberately stretched running strokes. Song dynasty
Cultural Story
令 showed a man under a roof receiving commands, to order, to cause, the word of authority. The 說文 reads it as to command, to make. 法令 were the statutes; 號令 the general's call before the charge. A 令 was also a good magistrate, 縣令. The character is the voice that makes things happen, the order that bends the room.
Common words & phrases
- 命令 order · command
- 指令 instruction · command
- 法令 law · decree
- 令牌 token · sign
- 号令 order · call
- 夏令 summer
Read the story behind the character
命令 is the boss's email; 指令 the code and the coach's play. 法令 is the regulation; 令牌 the token you tap to enter. 号令 is the rallying cry; 夏令 the summer program and the 夏令时 daylight saving. The character names the authoritative word, the decree, the instruction, the season's name. It still means the command that causes, the voice under the roof that tells the world to move.
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