The Calligrapher — Lǐ Liúfāng 李流芳

Ming literatus and calligrapher; one of the Four Masters of Jiading famed for running script.

Ming calligrapher (), master of running script — known for 《西湖诗》. Ming dynasty

Cultural Story

作 is making. Cao Xueqin spent his last years on the 红楼梦, his life's 作品; a 作家 in the Tang might copy sutras for a living. The 论语 warns against 作乱. In the field 作业 meant the day's labor. To 作 is to set the hand to something and produce it — text, trouble, or grain.

Common words & phrases

• 工作 work · job
• 作业 homework · assignment
• 作用 effect · function
• 作家 writer · author
• 作品 work · opus
• 合作 cooperate · collaborate

Read the story behind the character

A student finishes 作业 before the deadline; two departments 合作 on a report. The drug's 作用 is explained on the leaflet, and a 作家 signs books at the store. At the office the screen shows 工作 left for the week. Doing, writing, and teaming up all pass through this one busy character.

Why this character belongs on skin

There is a moment before the work where nothing exists, and then — you. This character is the person and the sudden arising, the act of making that brings something from absence into the world. It is to do, to create, to rise and begin; the first stroke of the brush, the first stone of the wall, the first honest word after the silence. The Daoists spoke of it as the natural arising of things, the world making itself without forcing. To carry this mark on your skin is to claim the power that sits on the near side of every creation: the decision to begin. You are not the one who waits for the sign. You are the sign. Wear it where the hand moves — the wrist, the fingers — a permanent yes to the making. The world is full of unfinished things that waited for someone to start them. This mark says you were that someone. Let it sit on the working hand, a small fire that reminds you: begin, and the rest will follow.