要
(bound form) to demand; to coerce; to want; to need; to ask for; will; shall; about to; need to; should; if (same as 要是[yao4 shi5]); (bound form) important
Closest English meanings
want·need·important·key·must
The Calligrapher — Huáng Tíngjiān 黄庭坚
Song master of elongated, radical running and cursive script.
Song calligrapher (1045–1105), master of running script/cursive script — Song master of long, sweeping, deliberately stretched running strokes. Song dynasty
Cultural Story
The character yao began as a picture of the waist, the slender middle of the body, and the harsh Qin law punished with yao zhan, waist-cutting, the execution that severed a man at the middle. The pivot of the body became the pivot of the sentence, the necessary point. To be yao was first to be the waist.
Common words & phrases
- 重要 important · significant · major
- 需要 need · require · want
- 主要 main · principal · chief · primary
- 要求 require · demand · ask · request
- 不要 don't · do not · must not
- 必要 necessary · essential · needed
Read the story behind the character
On the office memo the zhong yao, important, tasks sit at the top, and a tenant xu yao, needs, a receipt to claim the deposit. The zhu yao, main, road is closed, a form yao qiu, requires, a signature, the sign says bu yao, do not, enter, and the permit is bi yao, necessary. The character is the key and the must.
Own this character
Purchase delivers the original SVG of this glyph, brushed by Huáng Tíngjiān 黄庭坚, ready to place on skin, paper, or screen.