The Calligrapher — Chǔ Suíliáng 褚遂良

Tang chancellor and regular-script master of elegant, balanced strokes.

Tang calligrapher (596–658), master of regular script — Tang master of graceful, tensile regular script favored by the imperial court. Tang dynasty

Cultural Story

樽 was the noble wine vessel of bronze and lacquer, raised at every feast. The Shuowen calls it a wine cup, and Li Bai cried that his 金樽 golden wine cup held wine worth ten thousand coins yet he could not drink for sorrow. At court the 樽俎 — cup and meat tray — stood for banquets and, by extension, the art of diplomacy conducted over wine. To fill a 樽 was to honour a guest and the moment itself.

Common words & phrases

• 酒樽 wine vessel · wine cup
• 金樽 golden wine cup
• 樽俎 wine cup and meat tray · feast

Read the story behind the character

Modern Chinese meet 樽 mostly in poetry and ceremony: a restaurant named 金樽 evokes elegance, a wedding toast recalls the ancient 樽俎 feast, and a calligrapher copies Li Bai's line about the golden 酒樽. Though we drink from glasses now, the character survives in toasts, hotel names, and period dramas where a lord lifts the 樽 to bind an alliance. It remains the graceful ghost of every Chinese banquet.