The Calligrapher — Ráo Jiè 饶介

Yuan cursive master famed as a founder of the Wu gate school.

Yuan calligrapher (), master of cursive script — known for 《草书诗》. Yuan dynasty

Cultural Story

怎 is the how of the puzzled, a word that ripened in the spoken tongue of the Song and Yuan, too late for the classics. It carries none of the bronze's gravity — only the plain human stuck at a step, asking the room which way the thing is to be done.

Common words & phrases

• 怎么 how · why
• 怎样 how · what kind
• 怎么办 what to do
• 怎能 how can

Read the story behind the character

怎么 is the question under every confusion, 怎样 the form's blank, 怎么办 the panic at 2 a.m., 怎能 the protest at an injustice. The bronze is a dictionary now; the puzzle is constant. We ask the how a hundred times a day, and the word, though young, has earned its place by never once pretending to know.