类
kind; type; class; category; (classifier) kind; type; (bound form) to resemble; to be similar to
Closest English meanings
kind·type·class·category
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
类 means kind or species. The Yijing's commentary says things gather by kind — 方以类聚 — and Mozi's logicians argued by sorting claims into 类. Encyclopedic herb and bird books filed each entry by 类, and the maxim 触类旁通 urged scholars to extend one pattern to all its kindred cases — the classical art of analogy.
Common words & phrases
- 种类 kind · type
- 类似 similar · like
- 人类 humanity · mankind
- 类别 category
- 类型 type
- 同类 same kind
Read the story behind the character
Humans pride themselves as 人类; shoppers filter by 类型 and 类别 on shopping apps; programmers classify bugs by 种类. Look-alike things are 类似, kindred spirits are 同类, and AI headlines sort images into thousands of categories — the ancient logic of grouping by kind, now running at silicon speed.
Own this character
Purchase delivers the original SVG of this glyph, brushed by Wáng Xīzhī 王羲之, ready to place on skin, paper, or screen.