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

条 is a slender twig, the small branch you can count one by one — hence its long life as a measure word. The 條理 of a well-kept garden was praised by the essayists. In law a 條 is a clause, a single visible line of rule. The character bends from wood to any countable item on a list.

Common words & phrases

• 条件 condition
• 条理 order · method
• 条纹 stripe
• 枝条 branch · twig
• 条款 clause · article
• 一条 one (classifier)

Read the story behind the character

条 runs the paperwork: 条件 the clause you negotiate, 条款 the fine print you skip, 条理 the order a good argument has. 条纹 is the stripe on a shirt; 枝条 the twig a storm breaks. 一条 news is the item you scroll past. The character became the unit of lists, the syllable that numbers small divisions.