The Calligrapher — Wáng Ānshí 王安石

Song statesman and reformer famed for his vigorous running script.

Song calligrapher (), master of running script — known for 《楞严经旨要》. Song dynasty

Cultural Story

The graph 北 shows two figures turning their backs — to face north was to flee, so 救北 meant defeat long before any compass. The Odes already name 北风 as the cruel one. 北京 became the northern capital under Yongle, who moved the Ming court there in 1421 and built the Forbidden City behind its walls.

Common words & phrases

• 北京 Beijing · Peking · capital · city
• 北方 north · northern · northland · the north
• 北部 northern part · north · north side · section
• 北极 arctic · north pole · pole · north
• 败北 defeat · be defeated · lose · routed
• 北面 face north · north · submit · serve

Read the story behind the character

A train board flashes 北京; 北方 is the heating a renter bargains for each winter. 北极 ships the chilled air in a weather map, and 救北 the scoreline a fan posts after a loss. The word points from a grandma's directions to the satellite view a driver trusts more than she does.

Why this character belongs on skin

Two figures stand back to back and walk away. That is the oldest shape of 北—not the cardinal north we map by, but the act of parting, of turning your shoulder to someone and going. The north wind that blows from behind the departure is cold, and so the character gathered that chill. To wear 北 is to make peace with leaving, with the friend or the country or the younger self you had to turn from. There is a Norse melancholy in it—the long exile, the boat pushed off without looking—and a Taoist one too, in knowing that not all threads are meant to stay woven. A tattoo of 北 is for the one who has said goodbye and not died of it. Carry it on your spine, the line that faces away, and let it mean you left, and you are still warm.