The Calligrapher — Wáng Xīzhī 王羲之

The 'Sage of Calligraphy'; his running script has set the standard for 1,700 years.

Eastern Jin calligrapher (303–361), master of running script/cursive script/regular script — the Sage of Calligraphy; his Orchid Pavilion Preface is the most celebrated work in the tradition, and nearly every later master traces lineage to his hand. Eastern Jin dynasty

Cultural Story

會 showed a gathering under a roof, to meet, to assemble, the confluence of paths and people. The 說文 reads it as to gather, to reckon. 社會 was the community at the altar; 會計 the one who reckoned the accounts. 開會 is the council convoked. The character is the coming-together, the moment separate lines become a roomful, the count taken when everyone arrives.

Common words & phrases

• 会议 meeting · conference · session
• 机会 opportunity · chance
• 社会 society · community
• 开会 hold a meeting · meet
• 学会 learn · master · society
• 会计 accountant · accounting

Read the story behind the character

会议 is the calendar's tyrant; 机会 the chance you missed. 社会 is the society and the news; 开会 the meeting that ate the afternoon. 学会 is the society and the skill you finally picked up; 会计 the accountant and the exam. The character names the assembly, the meeting, the chance, the body. It still means the gathering under the roof, the reckoning taken when the separate arrive and become a we.