类 calligraphy

类

kind; type; class; category; (classifier) kind; type; (bound form) to resemble; to be similar to

Closest English meanings

kind·type·class·category

The Calligrapher — Liáng Tóngshū 梁同书

Qing elegant running-script master of the imperial academy.

Qing calligrapher (), master of running script — known for 清四家. Qing dynasty

Cultural Story

类 means kind or species. The Yijing's commentary says things gather by kind — 方以类聚 — and Mozi's logicians argued by sorting claims into 类. Encyclopedic herb and bird books filed each entry by 类, and the maxim 触类旁通 urged scholars to extend one pattern to all its kindred cases — the classical art of analogy.

Common words & phrases

  • 种类 kind · type
  • 类似 similar · like
  • 人类 humanity · mankind
  • 类别 category
  • 类型 type
  • 同类 same kind

Read the story behind the character

In the modern world

Humans pride themselves as 人类; shoppers filter by 类型 and 类别 on shopping apps; programmers classify bugs by 种类. Look-alike things are 类似, kindred spirits are 同类, and AI headlines sort images into thousands of categories — the ancient logic of grouping by kind, now running at silicon speed.

Own this character

Purchase delivers the original SVG of this glyph, brushed by Liáng Tóngshū 梁同书, ready to place on skin, paper, or screen.