The Calligrapher — Lù Yóu 陆游

Song poet of prolific, vigorous running and cursive script.

Song calligrapher (), master of running script/cursive script — known for 《自书诗卷》. Song dynasty

Cultural Story

In the classical tradition 妻 shows a woman's hand with a broom, picturing the married woman tending the household — though scholars caution this is a later interpretive image. The 詩經 celebrates 妻 in lines about hearth and loyalty, and rites fixed her place in the ancestral scheme as the mother of the husband's line and caregiver of his 妻儿.

Common words & phrases

• 妻子 wife
• 夫妻 husband and wife
• 妻儿 wife and children
• 娶妻 take a wife
• 妻室 wife

Read the story behind the character

In the modern world 妻 is the plain word for wife. A man introduces his 妻子 at a party; a couple's 夫妻 account holds the rent money and shared photos. He speaks of 妻儿 when describing what drives his long commutes, and the old phrase 娶妻 still marks the day he 娶妻 and started a family of his own.

Why this character belongs on skin

There is a woman in this character with a broom in her hand. 妻 is wife — the old pictograph shows a woman, her hair bound, holding the brush of the household, the one who sweeps and orders the home she is given. It is not a small meaning; it is the root of every family the language ever built. To carry 妻 is to honor the partner, the daily one, the person who turns a house into a kept and living thing. We romanticize the storm and forget the steady hand. This mark is for the one who loves the ordinary, who knows devotion is mostly showing up with the broom. There is a deep romance in the chosen companion, the face you will see older than any other. Let it sit where a ring would go. Some tattoos shout passion; this one keeps the home. Ink 妻 and you carry the quiet vow that the oldest love is the one who sweeps the floor beside you, for life.