The Calligrapher — Qián Fēng 钱沣

Qing master celebrated for regular script in Yan Zhenqing's style.

Qing calligrapher (), master of regular script — known for 学颜真卿. Qing dynasty

Etymology & Meaning · 字义溯源

2 · The Character: 十 Shí (2nd tone). The Shuowen states 「十，數之具也。一為東西，丨為南北，則四方中央備矣」 — ten is the complete number: the horizontal is east-west, the vertical north-south, all quarters fulfilled. The Changes echo it: 《易·繫辭》「天九，地十」 and 「數生於一，成於十」 — one begins, ten completes. So 十 carries fullness: 十全十美 (perfect in every way), 十方 (all directions). It is a free, auspicious morpheme that stands alone beautifully — a tattoo of 'completion / wholeness.' No funeral or negative reading. One honest note for Western wearers: 十 is not the cross; do not assume a Christian reading, and 十 in addresses (e.g., 十號) is just 'number ten.' Element tables disagree — general dictionaries give Metal (金), some naming tables Earth (土) — verify.

Cultural Story

Confucius marks his life by tens: “三十而立，四十而不愚” — at thirty he stood, at forty he doubted no more. 十 was the full count, a cross that closed the fingers; 十万 the host a general feared, 十二月 the cold month the Odes sing. The word measures a life and an army with one stroke.

Where a Western reader can stand: Where the count completes: 十 is wholeness — the horizontal and vertical making all quarters (十方), the idiom 十全十美. Western readers must be told: it is not the Christian cross.

Common words & phrases

• 十分 very · extremely · quite
• 十年 ten years · decade
• 十万 one hundred thousand
• 十字 cross · the character ten
• 十二月 December
• 十足 full · complete · downright

Read the story behind the character

A child learns 十 before 百; 十分 is the “very” a review pins to a good meal. 十年 is the prison line in a court report, and 十万 the followers a small brand buys. 十字 marks the junction a driver turns at, and 十足 the discount a shop swears is real. The word counts from the abacus to the like.