The Calligrapher — Bèi Yìyuān 贝义渊

Liang calligrapher of the regular-script Xiao Dan Stele, a rare Southern Dynasties monument.

南朝梁 calligrapher (), master of regular script — known for 《始兴忠武王碑》. Liang dynasty (Southern Dynasties)

Cultural Story

Jia Yi, in his 過秦論, tells of the people who cut trees for weapons and 揭竿為旗, lifted bamboo poles for banners against the Qin. 揭 is the raising of what was on the ground into a standard, the poorest revolt's first flag, and the bamboo that had held beans that morning held a dynasty's end by the afternoon.

Common words & phrases

• 揭开 uncover · reveal
• 揭露 expose · unmask
• 揭示 reveal · show
• 揭幕 unveil
• 揭穿 expose

Read the story behind the character

You 揭開 the lid; a paper 揭露s the scandal; a statue is 揭幕d; a lie is 揭穿. The bamboo pole is a headline now. The lift from the ground into a standard is the same, whether it starts a rebellion or merely shows a crowd what was hidden under the cloth, and the headline is only the pole, printed and planted in a feed.

Why this character belongs on skin

The curtain parts and the room you imagined is not the room you enter. To uncover is to lift the lid the world has kept on the truth, and to stand unafraid in the colder, brighter air. The old healers used this word for lifting the covering from a wound so it could finally close. We spend years bandaging what we will not see, until the honest hand pulls the cloth away. The Daoists knew that naming a thing is the first step to freeing it; the Christians spoke of the veil torn so the hidden could walk out. Revelation is not comfort. It is the sharp grace of seeing. To wear this is to pledge yourself to the uncovered life, the one that no longer hides behind its own curtain. Let the ink be the hand at the cloth. What is revealed can at last be healed.