元
surname Yuan; Yuan dynasty (1279–1368); currency unit (esp. Chinese yuan); (bound form) first; original; primary; (bound form) basic; fundamental; (bound form) constituent; part; (prefix) meta-; (math.) argument; variable; era (of a reign); (Tw) (geology) eon
Closest English meanings
origin·dollar·primary
The Calligrapher — Dǒng Qíchāng 董其昌
Late-Ming theorist and running-script master who shaped later taste.
Ming calligrapher (1555–1636), master of running script/regular script — late-Ming connoisseur-critic of understated, misty elegance. Ming dynasty
Cultural Story
The "Spring and Autumn" begins each reign with 元年 — "the first year," the duke's starting point, as the "Gongyang" commentary explains, "the beginning of the lord's years." The "Changes" ranks 元 first among the four virtues, the primal force before 亨, 利, 贞. The word 元 was the source from which a count or a cosmos commenced.
Common words & phrases
- 元旦 New Year's Day
- 元素 element
- 公元 A.D. · common era
- 元首 head of state · chief
- 单元 unit · module
Read the story behind the character
The city greets 元旦 with fireworks; a chemist names the 元素 on the chart. The era counts 公元 for the date, and the state names its 元首 in the paper. A flat is one 单元 in the block. The word still means the first — a year, a substance, a head — the origin point from which everything else is numbered.
Own this character
Purchase delivers the original SVG of this glyph, brushed by Dǒng Qíchāng 董其昌, ready to place on skin, paper, or screen.