The Calligrapher — Dīng Dàohù 丁道护

Sui regular-script calligrapher of the Qifa Temple Stele, a precursor to Tang standard script.

Sui calligrapher (), master of regular script — known for 《启法寺碑》. Sui dynasty

Cultural Story

The form showed two hands around a vessel, 共, doing a thing together. The Documents summoned the princes to 共和, to rule in common during an interregnum later called the Gonghe era. A family 共 an altar at the new year. Sharing here was liturgy before it was politics.

Common words & phrases

• 共同 common · joint
• 一共 altogether · total
• 共享 share · enjoy together
• 共事 work together
• 共识 consensus

Read the story behind the character

Flat users 共享 bikes by scanning a code; a team reaches 共识 after an hour of talk. The couple 共同 rents the flat and splits the bill. A colleague 共事 across the desk for years. The fund totals 一共 three hundred, counted twice and slipped into the envelope.

Why this character belongs on skin

Alone we are only halves of a sentence. 共 is together — two hands reaching toward one thing, the old form showing figures bent to a common task. It means to share, to hold in common, to be joined in the same motion. The Dao speaks of the ten thousand things arising as one breath; the Christians call it communion, the partaking of a single body. To carry 共 is to admit you were never meant to be a solitary mark. It is the quiet faith that what we build together outlasts what we hoard alone. A tattoo of this character is a covenant worn openly, a small declaration that your life is entangled with others — the one who held you, the many you have not met. Let it sit close to the heart, where the shared warmth begins.