The Calligrapher — Lǐ Lóngjī 李隆基

Tang Emperor Xuanzong who wrote the Shitai Xiaojing in eight-division clerical script (bafen).

Tang calligrapher (), master of 八分/regular script — known for 唐玄宗，《石台孝经》. Tang dynasty

Etymology & Meaning · 字义溯源

2 · The Character: 及 Jí (2nd tone). The Shuowen: 「及，逮也。从又从人」 — 'to catch up with,' a hand (又) reaching a person; the old form shows one person seizing another from behind. The Songs broaden it: 《詩·大雅·皇矣》「覃及鬼方」 (reaching even to the far tribes), 《周頌》「燕及皇天」 (embracing even high Heaven). So 及 is reach, attainment, inclusion — 及時 (in time), 及格 (to pass), 愛屋及烏 (love the house and its crow). As a tattoo it stands for 'to attain / to reach' — affirmative and safe. One honest note: 及 also means 'and' (以及); a Chinese reader may read it as the conjunction, so 及時 or 及第 reads cleaner than 及 alone. Element tables assign Wood (木).

Cultural Story

及 meant to reach. The saying 风马牛不相及 -- oxen and horses that never mingle -- came from the Zuo Zhuan to mark things with no connection. A scholar who passed was said to "reach the rank" -- 及第, named on the board. The word measured arrival: at a place, at a standard, at the moment before it was too late.

Where a Western reader can stand: Li Longji (Emperor Xuanzong, 685–762) ruled the Tang at its cultural and political zenith and practised calligraphy himself, celebrated for clerical (隶) and running (行) script with imperial breadth — seen in the Stone Platform Classic of Filial Piety. His 及 therefore carries the confidence of a monarch at the peak of a golden age, written in monumental, luminous strokes. As a tattoo, 及 means 'to reach, attain, include' — affirmative and safe standalone. One honest note: 及 also simply means 'and' (以及), so a Chinese reader might first read a lone 及 as the conjunction; 及时 ('in time') or 及第 ('win through') reads cleanest. His splendour also carries tragic grandeur, the age that collapsed on his watch.

Common words & phrases

• 及时 timely · in time · promptly
• 以及 as well as · and · along with
• 及格 pass · be up to standard
• 普及 popularize · spread · universal
• 涉及 involve · concern · touch upon
• 来得及 in time · before it's too late

Read the story behind the character

A student checks whether he 及格 on the test; the rain came 及时 for the rice. News of the policy 普及 every phone in the township. The case 涉及 three offices and a former aide. Did the ambulance 来得及? The word reaches across the daily reckoning -- what arrives in time, what touches whom, what passes and what spreads from one hand to many.