The Calligrapher — Lǐ Ruìqīng 李瑞清

Qing 'Northern' master of seal and clerical script, founder of the jinshi school.

Qing calligrapher (), master of regular script/seal script — known for 清道人. Qing dynasty

Cultural Story

告 shows 牛 (ox) under a roof with a mouth—traditionally to announce, especially to ancestors or spirits, or to accuse. 詩經 and rites have one 告 the spirits of a sacrifice; 論語 speaks of 告 to parents. Later 告 meant to report, warn, or charge. The character is the solemn act of making something known—to family, to court, to heaven—with weight behind the words spoken aloud before witnesses and gods alike.

Common words & phrases

• 告诉 tell
• 报告 report
• 广告 advertisement
• 告别 farewell · leave
• 警告 warn

Read the story behind the character

A friend 告诉 (tells) you a secret, and a colleague 报告 (reports) the sales numbers. On the bus a 广告 (advertisement) blinks for milk tea, while a sign 警告 (warns) of wet floor. At the airport couples 告别 (bid farewell). The character carries modern news at every scale—gossip, briefings, marketing, and the quiet goodbyes that start a trip or end a chapter of someone's life.

Why this character belongs on skin

The mouth opens and the silence breaks. To bear this character is to speak what must be spoken — a confession, a decree, a word carried upward to the ancestors who listen from the other side of the veil. The sign sets the mouth above the threshold, as if every true announcement is also a kind of prayer. In the temple, the oracle was consulted and the answer proclaimed; in the court, the crime was named aloud so the empire would know. To ink this on your body is to refuse the luxury of the unspoken. You are the one who tells, who names the thing, who will not let silence keep its secrets. It is a mark of the witness, the herald, the lover who says the dangerous word. Let it rest near the throat — the place the voice is born — a permanent vow that you will always speak, even when the telling costs you something. The word, once given, cannot be unspoken.