The Calligrapher — Lǐ Yōng 李邕

Tang running-script master famed for his stele inscriptions.

Tang calligrapher (678–747), master of running script — known for 《麓山寺碑》（李北海）. Tang dynasty

Cultural Story

骑 joins 马 with 奇 and is glossed in the 《説文解字》 跨马也, "to straddle a horse." What began as the physical act of mounting broadened to any seat astride an animal or vehicle, and to the riders themselves.

Common words & phrases

• 骑马 to ride a horse · horseback
• 骑车 to ride a bike · cycling
• 骑兵 cavalry · horseman
• 骑士 knight · cavalier
• 骑行 cycling · to ride

Read the story behind the character

We 骑马 on trails and 骑车 to work; 骑行 is the cycling craze sweeping cities. History remembers the 骑兵, cavalry who decided battles, and the 骑士, the knight of romance and chess. From delivery riders to weekend bikers, 骑 marks anyone perched upon something moving.

Why this character belongs on skin

There is a word for the moment you stop walking and start moving with something larger. 骑 is to ride — to sit astride a horse and let its power become yours, the ancient cavalry charge, the traveler crossing a province on four legs instead of two. The character nests a horse inside it, as if to say the rider is only half the animal. To carry 骑 is to admit you were not meant to do this alone, that there are forces — love, grief, a calling — you can best meet by climbing on and holding the reins. The Daoists spoke of riding the breath; the warriors rode the wind. Either way it is surrender and command at once: you give yourself to the motion and you steer it. This is the mark for the person who has learned to be carried without being conquered. Ink it where your own pulse rides fastest, a quiet vow to mount whatever comes and keep moving. Some battles are won not by standing but by riding straight through.