The Calligrapher — Liǔ Gōngquán 柳公权

Tang regular-script master famed for 'bones' of strength; rival to Yan Zhenqing.

Tang calligrapher (778–865), master of regular script — Tang master of bone-strength regular script, paired forever with Yan Zhenqing as 'Yan sinew, Liu bone'. Tang dynasty

Cultural Story

休 is a man leaning against a tree, to rest, to stop, the pause in the shade. The 說文 reads it as to rest, to cease. 休養 is the convalescence; 退休 the official stepping back from office. 罷休 is the let it go of the exhausted. The character is the body against the trunk, the oldest image of a break in the day's labor, the stop that refreshes.

Common words & phrases

• 休息 rest · take a break
• 退休 retire · retirement
• 休养 recuperate · rest · convalesce
• 罢休 stop · give up · let it go
• 休假 vacation · holiday · leave

Read the story behind the character

休息 is the break you are owed; 退休 the gold watch and the mornings free. 休养 is the sanatorium and the sick leave; 罢休 the quarrel that will not end. 休假 is the trip and the out-of-office. The character names the pause, the rest, the retirement, the holiday. It still means the man against the tree, the stop that the day requires, the leaning into shade when the work has worn you thin.