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

Zhuangzi opens his book with the chapter 'Free and Easy Wandering' (逍遥游), where the giant peng bird lifts from the northern sea to ride the winds ten thousand li. The word 遥 — distant, far — sits at the heart of that title, naming the unbounded reach the sage pursues. Later poets kept the character for whatever lay beyond the horizon: 遥望 a far shore, 遥想 a remembered year.

Common words & phrases

• 遥远 distant · far away · remote
• 逍遥 carefree · free and easy · leisurely
• 遥控 remote control · telecontrol
• 遥望 look into the distance · gaze afar
• 遥想 recall from afar · think back
• 遥遥 far away · distant · long

Read the story behind the character

In a dim living room a child points the 遥控 at the television and the channels jump. His grandparents live in a 遥远 province, and each week the family phone bridges the kilometres with a video call. From the balcony he 遥望 the city lights and wonders when he will travel there himself, measuring the distance the small black remote cannot cross.