The Calligrapher — Bāo Shìchén 包世臣

Qing theorist whose 'Art Boat' (艺舟双楫) championed the stele school.

Qing calligrapher (), master of running script — known for 《艺舟双楫》. Qing dynasty

Cultural Story

报 began as the judgment returned — the 說文 ties it to the magistrate's verdict — and the 詩經's 木瓜 makes it the answering gift: cast a peach, 报 jade. The hand with 服, the report, is the reply given. It is the recompense and the account, the return that balances.

Common words & phrases

• 报告 report
• 报纸 newspaper
• 报复 revenge · retaliate
• 报到 report for duty
• 报名 to sign up

Read the story behind the character

报 is the news and the return: 报告 the deck, 报纸 the paper at the door, 报复 the grudge settled, 报到 the first day, 报名 the sign-up. It names the telling and the paying-back, the bulletin and the vengeance, the report and the reward.

Why this character belongs on skin

Nothing given is truly lost. 报 is the return—the repayment, the news sent back, the recompense that closes a circle opened by another's act. Its old form held the law and the consequence; do, and the world answers in kind. We know it as karma, as the letter that finally arrives, as the kindness repaid to a stranger because someone once repaid you. 报 is not cold accounting; it is the rhythm of relation, the proof that acts ripple outward and return. To wear it is to honor a debt you chose to carry, or a grace you received and mean to pass on. The ink becomes a quiet ledger on the skin, balanced not in coin but in care. Let it remind you the world keeps books, and the finest entry is the good you returned without being asked, freely, and forgot.