The Calligrapher — Lù Jiǎnzhī 陆柬之

Tang calligrapher and nephew of Yu Shinan; his running-script 'Essay on Literature' survives

Tang calligrapher (), master of running script — known for 《文赋》. Tang dynasty

Cultural Story

陸, now 陆, sets 坴 within the mound radical 阝 and means land, the solid earth against the water, a continent or dry ground. It also serves as the formal written form of the number six, used on checks and banknotes to prevent the alteration of “6” into “8.” The character thus stabilizes both geography and accounting, the firm ground and the uncounterfeitable figure.

Common words & phrases

• 陆地 land · dry land
• 大陆 continent · mainland
• 陆军 army · ground forces
• 陆路 land route · overland
• 内陆 inland · interior

Read the story behind the character

We walk on 陆地, the land, cross a 大陆, a continent or mainland, serve in the 陆军, the army, travel by 陆路, overland, and speak of 内陆, the inland heart of a country. On invoices 陆 is simply “six,” written large to foil fraud. 陆 is the word for solid ground underfoot and, in finance, the six that cannot be scratched into something else.