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

The Shuowen reads 嘉 as 美也, excellent and fair, a character joining 壴, the drum of celebration, with 加, 'to add.' The Shi Jing sings '我有嘉賓' — I have excellent guests — as the host fills the cups, and the Classics use 嘉 for what is praiseworthy in both things and people. Emperors took 嘉 as an auspicious name, as with the 嘉慶 reign, and the word blessed harvests, virtue, and visitors alike. To call something 嘉 was to commend it before gods and guests.

Common words & phrases

• 嘉奖 commend · cite · award
• 嘉宾 honored guest · distinguished visitor
• 嘉年华 carnival · festival · fair
• 嘉许 praise · approve · commend
• 嘉勉 commend · encourage · praise
• 嘉庆 Jiaqing reign · auspicious

Read the story behind the character

A company 嘉獎 (commends, cites, awards) its top salesperson at the annual dinner; a hotel welcomes 嘉賓 (honored guests, distinguished visitors) at the gala. The city throws a 嘉年華 (carnival, festival) by the river, and a teacher 嘉許 (praises, approves) a student's effort. A manager 嘉勉 (commends, encourages) the tired team, while history buffs recall the 嘉慶 (Jiaqing reign, auspicious) era. 嘉 still marks the good, the praised, and the celebrated in modern Chinese life.

Why this character belongs on skin

嘉 is praise with a drumbeat in it: excellent, auspicious, 嘉奖 a commendation, 嘉宾 the honored guest for whom the good wine is opened. The character carries 加, to add—goodness added upon goodness, the drum adding joy to the feast. Confucian rites are built on such words: to honor virtue publicly, to name what is worthy so it multiplies. There is an old tenderness here too—嘉禾, the miraculous double-eared grain that augured a good reign, heaven's small yes. To wear 嘉 is to become a source of blessing, the one who speaks well of others and means it, the drum at the gate. Praise, done rightly, is a sacrament. Bronze inscriptions from three thousand years ago still carry it—the vessels cast to honor ancestors with excellent grain and excellent words, praise hammered into metal so it would outlast the mouths that spoke it. This character is its permanent ordination.