The Calligrapher — Lǐ Lóngjī 李隆基

Tang Emperor Xuanzong who wrote the Shitai Xiaojing in eight-division clerical script (bafen).

Tang calligrapher (), master of 八分/regular script — known for 唐玄宗，《石台孝经》. Tang dynasty

Cultural Story

燕 is the swallow, the bird of spring in the Shijing: '燕燕于飞,' two swallows winging home, a poem of parting. The Yan state of the Warring States took the char; swallows nesting under eaves meant peace, and Tang poets watched 乳燕 feed in the warm eaves. The bird became a symbol of gentle, returning fortune and the quiet joy of home.

Common words & phrases

• 燕子 swallow (bird)
• 燕窝 bird's nest (edible)
• 海燕 petrel
• 乳燕 young swallow

Read the story behind the character

In spring the 燕子 swallow returns, darting over rice paddies, while 乳燕 young swallows squeak in the nest. Food lovers prize 燕窝 bird's nest soup as a luxury tonic, and stormy seas bring the 海燕 petrel skimming the waves. We post photos of swallows on the balcony and call their chatter the sound of a happy home.

Why this character belongs on skin

The swallow returns to the same eaves every spring, and the whole village relaxes when it does. 燕 is the swallow—a bird painted in oracle bone script with spread wings and a forked tail, so faithful that an empty nest was the classical image of a vanished household. It is also one of the oldest names of beauty: Yan, the ancient northern state; the swallow towers where lovers met; 燕尔新婚, the blissful days just after a wedding, sweet as swallows pairing in flight. In Chinese poetry the bird carries all of this at once—homecoming, spring, the slim dark curve of a woman who has just laughed. And swallows skim water at dusk, wingtips kissing the pond, the most graceful animal in the air for its size. To ink 燕 is to claim the omen: love that returns, luck that nests, the soul's homing instinct. Small over the ankle or the collarbone, it fits exactly where the body is most like a bird. Then every spring, when one cuts low over the water, you will feel it answer.