设
to set up; to put in place; (math.) given; suppose; if
Closest English meanings
set up·establish·suppose
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
When the First Emperor unified the realm in 221 BCE, he she jun xian, established commanderies and counties, replacing the old feudal lords with appointed officials, a single administrative stroke that shaped China for two millennia. The character she joins words to a gesture of placing; to she was to found, to array, to lay a thing down where it would stand. From the prefecture to the altar, she is the act of making an institution occupy ground.
Common words & phrases
- 设计 design · plan
- 设立 establish · set up · found
- 设备 equipment · facilities · device
- 建设 build · construct · construction
- 假设 hypothesis · suppose · assumption
Read the story behind the character
A studio she ji, designs, a phone; a firm she li, establishes, a branch; a lab buys she bei, equipment; a city jian she, builds, a subway; a scientist proposes a jia she, a hypothesis. The character runs from the emperor's map to the architect's screen, every place a plan is given a body. It names the moment intention becomes arrangement, the quiet decision that something not yet real should now have a place to stand.
Own this character
Purchase delivers the original SVG of this glyph, brushed by Lù Jiǎnzhī 陆柬之, ready to place on skin, paper, or screen.