The Calligrapher — Kǒng Línzhī 孔琳之

Liu Song calligrapher famed with Yang Xin as 'Yang-true, Kong-grass'; master of cursive script

南朝宋 calligrapher (), master of running script — known for 《日月帖》. Liu Song dynasty (Southern Dynasties)

Cultural Story

但 is 人 with 旦, originally the bare, the only, a man at daybreak with nothing else. The 說文 reads it as to bare, to be empty. It shifted to the conjunction but, the turn that empties the previous clause's force. 但願 is the hope; 不但 the not only. The character is the pivot, the bare point where the sentence changes direction.

Common words & phrases

• 但是 but · however · yet
• 不但 not only
• 但愿 hope · I wish · if only
• 但凡 as long as · every time · if
• 非但 not only · not merely

Read the story behind the character

但是 is the but of every argument; 不但 the not only that sets up the real point. 但愿 is the wish, 但愿如此. 但凡 is the as long as of a condition; 非但 the not merely. The character names the turn, the exception, the hope, the condition. It still means the bare pivot, the daybreak point where the sentence shifts from what was to what is, the but that empties and then refills.