The Calligrapher — Ōuyáng Xún 欧阳询

Tang regular-script master whose 'Ouyang style' is a basic learning model.

Tang calligrapher (557–641), master of regular script/running script — Tang codifier of regular script; crisp, architectural strokes you could measure with a ruler. Tang dynasty

Cultural Story

珥 means an earring or ear ornament; the 說文 gives '瑱也,' a jade plug worn in the ear. Ladies of the Han court wore 珠珥 and 金珥, and 珥珰 were the dangling jade that swayed as they moved, signs of rank and of quiet, careful ornament.

Common words & phrases

• 珠珥 pearl earrings
• 珥珰 ear ornaments
• 金珥 gold earrings

Read the story behind the character

Brides wear 珠珥 (pearl earrings) for the wedding photo, and a 金珥 (gold earring) marks a festive outfit. We meet 珥珰 (ear ornaments) in costume dramas set in the Han palaces. Rare in daily speech, the character survives in jewelry and historical dress, a small grace at the ear.

Why this character belongs on skin

Long before earrings were fashion, they were doctrine. 珥 names the jade plug or drop worn at the ear in ancient China — and courtly etiquette explained its purpose precisely: jade does not shatter when it strikes something; it rings, it reminds. The ornament brushed the cheek and cooled hasty words, a constant small lesson hanging beside the mouth's neighbor. The jade radical crowns the character; the phonetic means ear itself. So 珥 is beauty with a built-in conscience, adornment as philosophy — the Confucian conviction that even what glitters on the body should teach the person. There is a sensual grace to it too: jade warms to the skin it lives against, taking your temperature, becoming yours. As a tattoo, 珥 suits the small, deliberate beauty you wear that actually means something. Place it near where your own earrings end. Let it whisper its old instruction: shine, yes — and gently.