The Calligrapher — Wáng Cí 王慈

Southern Qi calligrapher son of Wang Sengqian; master of cursive in the Wang family line

南朝齐 calligrapher (), master of cursive script — known for 王僧虔之子. Southern Qi dynasty (Southern Dynasties)

Cultural Story

(In the 出师表 Zhuge Liang promised the throne that "必能使行阵和睦，优劣得所" — the ranks kept in order, the good and the poor each in their place. The character 劣 is the weak stone under the strong. It names the low grade, set by the eye that reads a thing's true weight.

Common words & phrases

• 恶劣 bad · vile
• 劣势 inferior position
• 低劣 poor quality · inferior
• 伪劣 fake and inferior
• 劣等 inferior grade

Read the story behind the character

(The raid seizes 伪劣 milk by the crate. The team sits in a 劣势 after the first half. The 低劣 weld fails the test. The 劣等 lot goes back. The word names the fake, the poor, and the grade stamped below the rest. The raid seizes 伪劣 milk by the crate, the team sits in a 劣势, the 低劣 weld fails, and the 劣等 lot goes back.

Why this character belongs on skin

Take away strength and what remains is 劣 — the character is built from "few" and "power," and it means the inferior thing, the lesser, the not-quite. We spend our lives hiding the lack, pretending at more. But there is a dignity in the admitted lesser: the underdog, the late bloomer, the man who knows his smallness and refuses to fake the rest. To wear 劣 is not self-hate. It is a kind of freedom — once you've said the worst of yourself out loud, no one can use it against you. The mark is honest to the bone. It says I am not the best, and I am not pretending. Quiet ink for the quietly strong, who turned their shortage into a stance.