The Calligrapher — Lù Jiǎnzhī 陆柬之

Tang calligrapher and nephew of Yu Shinan; his running-script 'Essay on Literature' survives

Tang calligrapher (), master of running script — known for 《文赋》. Tang dynasty

Cultural Story

桔 is a variant of 橘 in some readings, but on its own it names the 桔梗, the balloon flower whose root is a cough medicine, and the 桔槔, the counterweighted well-sweep a farmer used to draw water — a clever old machine of wood and stone. The character is a tool and a remedy, the well's first pulley.

Common words & phrases

• 桔梗 balloon flower (platycodon)
• 桔槔 well sweep (old irrigation)

Read the story behind the character

桔 is the herb and the sweep: 桔梗 the white-root platycodon in a Korean cold soup, 桔槔 the primitive lever you see in a farm museum. Most people meet it only in 桔梗 at a pharmacy or a stew. The character is a plant medicine and an antique irrigation gadget, kept by kitchens and museums alike.

Why this character belongs on skin

A tangerine fit in the palm is a small sun, its skin giving off that clean citrus prayer when you break it open. 桔 is the round fruit that travels well, that families stack at the new year for luck that sounds like the word for gold. To hold one is to hold a closed circle of sweetness, a secret kept whole until the moment you decide. There is a Confucian hospitality in it — welcome, abundance, the round table where no one is a stranger. To tattoo it is to keep a little gold in the pocket of your skin, a promise of warmth in the lean months. Let it sit where a hand might rest, as if you carried one quiet orange through every winter, and offered it without a word to whoever sat beside you.